HOW TO DO OVERHEAD CABLE TRICEPS EXTENSION
- Clip a rope to a low or mid pulley, face away from the stack, and step into a split stance until the cable is taut.
- Bring the rope behind the head with the elbows bent and pointed forward, not flared to the sides. Ribs stay down.
- Straighten the elbows until the rope ends separate slightly at lockout. The upper arms barely move.
- Return until you feel a long-head stretch, not until the stack slams or the elbows drift into a pushdown.
COMMON MISTAKES
- Turning it into a pushdown halfway through the set. If the elbows creep down toward the ribs, you are no longer overhead. Reset the upper arms by the ears or drop the pin.
- Flaring the ribs to fake the stretch. Lumbar extension is not triceps length. Brace, keep the ribs over the pelvis, and take the range the shoulders allow.
- Logging this as a cable pushdown. Overhead vs pushdown is a different long-head demand and a different load. Keep this slug. Single-arm overhead work has its own slug too.
- Slamming the lockout with a shrug. The triceps finish the elbow. If the shoulders jump, the stack is too heavy.
VARIATIONS
- Seated overhead dumbbell triceps extension — Free-weight overhead pattern, less constant tension.
- Single-arm overhead cable triceps extension — Fixes a side-to-side gap; log it separately.
- Rope triceps pushdown — Elbows by the ribs instead of by the ears.
- EZ-bar skullcrusher — Lying isolation when the cable station is taken.
PROGRESSIONS
- Light rope, full stretch, quiet ribs.
- Add load when every lockout stays overhead instead of drifting into a pushdown.
- Pause in the stretch before you chase a heavier pin.
- Single-arm version only after the two-arm groove is automatic.
PROGRAMMING NOTES
Long-head accessory: 3–4 sets of 10–15 after a press or pushdown, not both heavy overheads on the same day. Scan the high/low pulley tag if the gym has one — it should open this slug, not the pushdown. Rest just long enough that the stretch does not turn into a heave.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
A rope usually lets the wrists and elbows find a friendlier line and gives you a split at lockout. A bar is fine if that is what is on the cable. Note the attachment if you switch; the load will not match.
