Machine Tricep Extension
Seated machine triceps extension that drives the handles forward on a fixed path with the arms supported.
How to do it
- Adjust the seat so your upper arms rest flat on the pad and your shoulders stay down.
- Sit with your back against the support and your feet flat on the floor.
- Take the handles with a neutral grip and start with the elbows bent.
- Brace your abs so the lower back stays against the pad.
- Exhale and extend your elbows to push the handles forward.
- Stop just short of lockout, then return the handles slowly and repeat.
Key technique cue
Shoulders on the pad, lower back pressed in — extend the elbows, stop short of a hard lockout.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Locking the elbows hard at the end of each rep, which shifts load onto the joint.
- ✕ Arching the lower back to press the handles, which recruits the trunk instead of the arms.
- ✕ Letting the upper arms lift off the pad, so the shoulders help the triceps.
- ✕ Turning the head to watch the stack, which puts the neck in a loaded rotated position.
Benefits
- ✓ The fixed path means the triceps can be loaded with no balance demand at all.
- ✓ Simple to teach and quick to adjust between users in a circuit.
- ✓ Supports pressing strength by training elbow extension directly.
Progression: from easier to harder
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Step 1 You are here - Machine Tricep Extension
- Cable Bar Pushdown
- Cable Rope Pushdown
- Machine Cable V Bar Push Downs
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Step 2
About the exercise
The machine tricep extension seats you with the upper arms braced and the hands on neutral grip handles, then asks for one thing: straighten the elbows. Because the frame fixes the shoulder and the path of the handles, the triceps work without the balance and stabilizing demands of a free weight extension, and the load changes a plate at a time. Stopping just short of lockout keeps tension on the muscle instead of parking it on the elbow joint. The abs stay braced so the lower back does not arch as you press the handles away. It is a low skill triceps exercise that suits beginner arm sessions and any machine based program.
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