Quick Tip: How to Perfect Your Tricep Pushdowns

Not too long ago, the Muscle & Strength media team travelled up to Toronto to visit with Kaged Muscle athlete, Fouad Abiad.

Fouad shared some of the insight he’s gained over his long bodybuilding career with us.

In this video, Fouad breaks down the tricep extension and provides tips on how you can get the most out of your tricep training with this exercise.

Perfect Your Tricep Pushdowns

Normally on a tricep extension, you’ll see guys grab the bar with an inside grip. The inside grip will work more of the medial head of the tricep.

If you go with a wider grip, you’ll work more of the long head of the tricep. So, make sure you are gripping the bar accordingly based on which head of the tricep you’d like to work.

Secondly, Fouad sees a lot of guys lock their elbows all the way out during the tricep extension. Doing so might give you 10% more contraction in the triceps, but you’ll also risk injury the further you get into your lifting career.

It’s ok to come down as far as possible without locking out. So, you’ll stop just shortly before lock out, squeeze your triceps and return to the starting position.

Lastly, Fouad doesn’t recommend you lean over while performing the tricep extension. You want to keep the cable in front of you. That said, you can step forward as a burnout technique at the end of your workouts. Just don’t start off your workouts by doing so.