One of my favorite go-to exercises is the classic cable press down.
I love this exercise because of the variety it offers from different attachments (rope, straight bar, V-handle, EZ bar, etc.) to how it’s performed (straight sets, drop sets, single-arm, and many more).
My least favorite triceps exercise is dumbbell triceps kickback. Let me explain.
If you think of the position of your arm, gravity, and the action being performed in this movement, it starts to make sense. It’s a super ineffective exercise.
Your upper arm is positioned parallel to the floor, your elbow is bent at 90 degrees, and the dumbbell is just hanging down.
In this position, essentially zero force is applied to the triceps and it remains this way for the first third of the exercise.
Your 20 lb dumbbell feels like 3 lbs at the start of the movement and progressively gets more difficult. Gravity pulls the dumbbell down more and more as you reach lockout.
If you’re like most people, you’re at your weakest when trying to lock out your elbow with your triceps. And this movement places the maximum amount of force at this position.
Cables reign supreme for certain exercises and a lot of triceps work. This is because the force placed on the acting muscles is continuous throughout the entire range of motion.
When you grab the attachment, pull in your elbows, and lift the weight off the resting stack, you’re loading your triceps with the weight on the cable.
Unlike the dumbbell triceps kickback, the exact same tension is applied throughout the movement (even at lockout).
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