Cable Bent-Over Triceps Extensions

by Mark McManus on November 7, 2011

I’m introducing a new exercise to the THT family and have added it to the THT Exercise Bank.

It’s my new favorite exercise and has really introduced some soreness into a body part that for me hasn’t experienced DOMS in quite a while!

Cable Bent-Over Triceps Extensions

But, there is one condition…

only add this tricep exercise at the end of your workouts

Why? This is not a movement that you can typically handle a lot of weight with. But it does have an excellent range of motion and really stretches the triceps in a way that many other movements can’t replicate.

For this reason, think of this exercise as a FINISHER to your THT workouts. For example, if you are doing 3 sets of 2 different exercises as in THT Volume 2 routine:

Lying Tricep Extensions (x 3 sets)

Tricep Cable Pushdowns (x 3 sets)

You might consider adding another set or 2 of Cable Bent-Over Triceps Extensions to the end for a total of 7 to 8 sets.

You’ll lighten the load a little and work to positive failure as normal.

One caveat here, use the 8-12 rep range (or even 12-15 reps) no matter what THT cycle you’re on. So if you’re doing THT Volume 2 in the 6-8 rep range, still use the higher rep range for this particular exercise.

Now the tutorial…

Cable Bent-Over Triceps Extensions

You’ll note that my form is a little different from that typically recommended.

As with my lying tricep extension tutorial, I recommend a little rotation at the shoulder joint as well. Technically speaking, this turns the movement from an isolation exercise to a compound exercise.

A nice bonus is that doing it in this manner also works the rear delts to a degree. This will help add a little thickness there and have a positive knock-on effect on your shoulder workouts.

Check out the video below, my instructions follow…

Choose the attachment you work best with. I’m not making a hard and fast rule on this. I’ve tried both rope and v-bar attachments. I definitely work better with a v-bar (the same one I use for tricep pushdowns).

I feel the rope introduces a little bit too much instability into the movement for me. And if you’ve read my previous work, you’ll know that instability in an exercise reduces the amount of force you can generate. You therefore end up doing less reps and/or lifting lighter loads. Experiment with this and use whatever feels best and most comfortable to you.

Grab the attachment from a high pulley

Turn away from the pulley and hold attachment behind your head.

Bend over and put one leg out in front of the other, this helps stabilize the body throughout the set.

TIP! For futher stabilization assistance, note how my back leg is pressed firmly up against the bar of my smith machine. This is helping me not get dragged all over the place by the weight. Try to get something similar going at your gym. At the very least, ensure that your back foot is pressed firmly about something sturdy.

Now fully extend the forearms out in front of you.

Then allow the attachment to come back to the starting position under full muscular control. Don’t allow the cable to swing back on the negative, feel the weight all the way back.

I recommend that you allow some rotation at the shoulder joint here to take advantage of a fuller range of motion and move more in harmony with how your body would naturally want to perform this movement (technically called biomechanically optimized form). You’ll feel a MUCH larger stretch in the triceps and be able to handle more load, which means a greater OVERLOAD on the triceps!

Start factoring this bad boy into your THT workouts straight away, guys!

And please give me your feedback on it.

I want to know:

How it felt on the triceps when actually performing the movement
Any additional soreness starting 24-48hrs afterwards
The impact on your rear delts during and after the exercise

Do it. Thicker triceps are there to be had!

Train With Intensity!

Mark

{ 23 comments }

1 Nate November 7, 2011 at 2:03 pm: Thanks Mark. I do this exercise already but not in the form you’re recommending. Can’t wait to try it out! I’ll let you know.
2 Niklas Wallis November 7, 2011 at 2:21 pm: Hi Mark, we did this as a part of our THT HIT training since we couldn’t do the recommended tricep excercise (can’t remember which one that was) with the same form that you have just showed us. It worked great even in a 6-8 rep range – had some small difficulties with getting the first rep right, but the results were very good. The reason we started using this excercise to start of with was that we were sliding along with the weight when trying to do tricep push downs – perhaps you could give some tips on how to prevent that?

Thank you for a great site! Greetings from Finland.
3 cudd2287 November 7, 2011 at 2:25 pm: was trying to do this in my power rack the other week but couldnt due to wobbling back n forward maybe try it with 1 leg forward n a lighter weight and see how that works cheers mark
4 John November 7, 2011 at 2:34 pm: Hi Mark,
A good variation – will give it a go this week, and will let you know the outcome.

All the best,
John
5 Mark McManus November 7, 2011 at 2:36 pm: @Niklas. If you’re not already using a stance similar to the one in this video, do that immediately. After a while doing pushdowns, the loads get so heavy that this becomes absolutely necessary. It will really help stabilized your body. Put one foot forward and allow yourself to lean into the movement a little on the pushdown.
@cudd2287. Yes that will probably work, mate. Plus a lighter weight will allow more reps, which I really like in this movement.
6 Niklas Wallis November 7, 2011 at 2:38 pm: I’m using exactly that stance – only problem is I’m lifting myself of the floor. :/
7 Mark McManus November 7, 2011 at 2:49 pm: Have a look at the vid again. Can you see that my back leg is pressed firmly up against the bar of my smith machine? That is really helping stabilize my body. Also, just try a lighter load and higher reps.
8 John A Davis November 7, 2011 at 4:26 pm: what? you wearing an earring? In the right ear?
9 stickupkid November 7, 2011 at 5:33 pm: Mark could this be added to the TSPA routine as well?
10 Muhammad Fawaz November 7, 2011 at 5:34 pm: Hey Mark,
Do you feel a lotta strain in your abs while doing this? I kinda get that problem while doing regular pulldowns, i guess maybe my abs aren’t strong enough lol; amma try this out tomorrow though! seen some guys doing some variation of it

@John A Davis that looks like an earpiece to me, you can see the wire at the negative of the movement haha.
11 Mark McManus November 7, 2011 at 5:46 pm: @John. Earphones, buddy lol
@stickupkid. Sure. With the same conditions i.e. as a finisher.
@Muhammad. Yep. Even more so on pushdowns actually. The abs are kicking in to help stabilize the body.
12 brett martin November 7, 2011 at 7:40 pm: Hi Mark, I’ve been doing this same excercise for several years now and I still use in in all my tricep workouts it is an awesome finisher to totally blast the tris
13 Graham November 7, 2011 at 8:07 pm: Mark,
I did my Triceps today this morning, cable skull crushers x3 and tri’ push downs x4. But I’m doing shoulders tomorrow and I’ll do a couple of sets at the end and report back. I have done these in the past but mainly with the rope attachment.
do you have a vid showing french curls?

Cheers mate, Graham
14 tim November 7, 2011 at 9:06 pm: if you rest your elbows on a bench you will be able to use more weight
15 Matt November 7, 2011 at 9:24 pm: Great video Mark, but I have one question. You don’t seem to mention anything about pausing at PCP and in the video, you don’t seem to do it. Does this mean it’s not necessary?
16 Mario November 7, 2011 at 10:11 pm: Mark, I’m currently doing a THT HIT cycle so should I perform just one set after my one set of triceps pushdowns for a total of 2 triceps sets?
17 John A Davis November 7, 2011 at 10:46 pm: @Muhammad
Naw, I’m thinking that is a silver decorative chain hanging off the earring.
“No thank you Mark, I don’t need a spot”.
18 Mike Huber November 8, 2011 at 2:01 am: Looks like a good one Mark. on THT 4.0 cycle 1. Wednesday is tricep day, starting on Saturday w/cycle. Going to throw in a nice 12-14 rep at the end of workout. Anxious to feel some delayed soreness in my traps also!!
@John A Davis,
forget about earrings… Focus On Ice Cream!! We’re all counting on you Man!! Ha,Ha!!
19 tony November 8, 2011 at 2:41 am: Great demonstration Mark. I already do this add on but with the rope. I was happy to hear you experimented with more then 1 variation. I’m going to try switching from the rope this week.
20 John A Davis November 8, 2011 at 4:44 am: @Mike
I posted an article on non-fat frozen yogurt with splenda using ice cream making machine on Mark’s thingy but it has to be approved. Froze to hard.
Full fat goats yogurt next time.
21 Mark McManus November 8, 2011 at 9:12 am: @Graham. Yes. The article and video is here http://www.musclehack.com/how-to-perform-french-curls-skull-crushers-correctly/ . Note the difference in form and the larger range of motion. Everyone who does them this way never goes back to the old method.
@Matt. No I wouldn’t pause during this movement.
@Mario. Yes. If you want to incorporate these into the HIT cycle, do a set after your pushdowns.
@Tony. Try a solid attachment. You might like it better.
@John. Cool. I’ll get that approved and posted shortly!
22 Graham November 8, 2011 at 8:38 pm: Mark,
Thanks for the link to the french curls.
I did the cable tri ext’s today after my shoulder w/out as promised. I did 15, 12, 10 and found them very affective but would have been better for me if I had done them at the end of a tri routine (after pre-exhaust). A couple of things for hackers to remember when doing these. keep enough body weight forward to stabilise yourself- after shoulder rotation keep arms paralel to floor before tri extension- but most importantly don’t let your elbows flare out, keep them tucked in tight to your ears.
Graham
23 Graham November 8, 2011 at 8:53 pm: Mark,
Thanks for the french curls vid. These are exactly what I was doing yesterday only I was doing them on the cables with the rope attacment, although I’m going to try the small straight bar as we don’t have a curl/Z bar type handle. Yet!

Graham