10 Best Tricep Cable Exercises To Grow Those Horseshoes

For total triceps development, you've got to work the muscle from all angles with constant tension and progressive overload. Cable machines allow you to do all three better than any other type of equipment. By prioritizing tricep cable workouts, you'll be able to stimulate all three heads optimally to promote maximum gains.

As a veteran personal trainer, I've worked with a lot of bodybuilders over the years. Switching from dumbbell to cable exercises has often been the key to bringing up lagging triceps for many of them.

In this article, I'll lay out ten cable tricep exercises to work every triceps muscle fiber. I'll also explain why cables are so effective for triceps training and provide some personal trainer tips for working the triceps.

Top Ten Triceps Cable Exercises

1. Seated Cable Extension
2. Single-Arm Cable Extension
3. Triceps Pushdown
4. Overhead Tricep Extension
5. Lying Cable Tricep Extension
6. Cable Tricep Kickbacks
7. One-Arm Reverse Grip Pushdowns
8. Kneeling Overhead Tricep Extension
9. Cable Concentration Extension
10. Dual Rope Triceps Extension

#1: Seated Cable Extension

1. Place a back-supported bench about three feet in front of the machine, facing away from it. Set the heights of the pulleys higher than your head when seated. Place a straight bar or cambered bar attachment on the cable machine.
2. Sit on the bench and lean back so your shoulder blades are on the back pad. Grab the handles with an overhand grip and bend your elbows so they're slightly higher than your eyes.
3. Extend your arms down on an angle that aligns with the cable angle until your elbows lock out.
4. Return to the start position, controlling the eccentric part of the movement.

#2: Single Arm Cable Extension

1. Set the height of a single cable pulley slightly higher than your head. Place a rope handle on the end of the cable. Stand facing away from the machine, about two feet from it.
2. Grab the rope handles with a hammer grip in your right hand and bend your elbow so your hand is at chin level. Grab the frame of the machine with your left hand for support.
3. Extend your arm down on an angle that aligns with the cable angle until your elbow is locked out.
4. Return to the start position, controlling the eccentric part of the movement.
5. Do all of your reps on the right arm and then repeat with the left arm.

#3: Triceps Pushdown

1. Set the height of the cable pulley slightly above your head level. Place a rope handle on the end of the cable.
2. Stand facing the cable pulley machine, about two feet away from it. Hold the rope handle at the base with both hands. Bend your elbows to bring your hands up to your chin level in the start position.
3. Keeping your elbows in at the sides of your waist, extend your arms down and out in line with the angle of the cable. Lock out your elbows in the fully contracted position.
4. Return to the start position, controlling the eccentric part of the rep.

#4: Overhead Tricep Extension

1. Set the height of the cable pulley slightly above your head level. Place a rope handle on the end of the cable.
2. Stand facing away from the cable pulley machine, about two feet from it. Grab the rope handle, holding it at its base in each hand. Bring your hands up to your forehead, keeping your elbows in line with your hands.
3. Extend your arms out in line with the angle of the cable. Lock out your elbows in the fully contracted position.
4. Return to the start position, controlling the eccentric part of the rep.

#5: Lying Cable Tricep Extension

1. Set the pulley on a cable pulley machine to its lowest setting and place a short handlebar on the end of the cable.
2. Lie on the floor with your head about 18 inches from the base of the machine. Reach up to grab the handle and bring it to the level of your forehead in the starting position.
3. Extend your arms out in line with the angle of the cable. Lock out your elbows in the fully contracted position.
4. Return to the start position, controlling the eccentric part of the rep.

#6: Cable Tricep Kickbacks

1. Set the pulley on a cable machine to its lowest setting and place a rope or D handle on the end of the cable.
2. Stand about three feet away from the machine in a staggered stance, with the knee furthest away from the cable forward. Grab the handle and bring it to the side of your waist with your elbow bent at a 90-degree angle.
3. Extend your arm back to full extension. Be sure to keep your elbow at your side throughout the movement.
4. Return to the start position, controlling the eccentric part of the rep.

#7: One Arm Reverse Grip Pushdowns

1. Set the height of the cable pulley slightly above your head level. Place a 'D' handle on the end of the cable.
2. Stand facing the cable pulley machine, about two feet away from it. Hold the handle in your right hand with your palm up. Bend your elbows to bring your hands up to your waist level in the start position.
3. Keeping your elbows in at the sides of your waist, extend your arms down and out in line with the angle of the cable. Lock out your elbows in the fully contracted position.
4. Return to the start position, controlling the eccentric part of the rep.

#8: Kneeling Overhead Tricep Extension

1. Set the height of the pulley on a cable machine just above your head when you are in a kneeling position. Place a rope handle on the end of the cable. Now, position a flat bench about three feet in front of the machine so it is perpendicular to the machine.
2. Kneel about two feet from the machine, facing away from it. Reach up to grab the rope handle above your head, with your elbows resting on the bench and bent back to fully contract the triceps.
3. Extend your arms out and in line with the angle of the cable. Lock out your elbows in the fully contracted position.
4. Return to the start position, controlling the eccentric part of the rep.

#9: Cable Concentration Extension

1. Set the pulley on a cable pulley machine at head height. Place a 'D' handle on the end of the cable.
2. Grab the handle in your right hand and then kneel on the floor with your left knee on the floor and your right knee bent at a right angle with the foot planted on the floor.
3. Press your elbow into your knee with the elbow bent at a right angle.
4. Extend your elbow down to full extension, holding the end position for a two-second count.
5. Return to the start position under control to take advantage of the eccentric part of the movement.

#10: Dual Rope Triceps Extension

1. Set the heights of the pulleys slightly higher than your head. Place two rope handles on the cable. Stand facing the machine, about two feet from it.
2. Grab the rope handles with a hammer grip and bend your elbows so your hands are as high as they can be while keeping tension on the cable.
3. Extend your arms down on an angle that aligns with the cable angle until your elbows lock out.
4. Return to the start position, controlling the eccentric part of the movement.

Triceps Anatomy

The triceps is a three-headed muscle group located at the back of your upper arm. It consists of the following triceps heads:

1. Lateral head
2. Medial head
3. Long head

The function of the triceps is elbow extension. It is the antagonist to the biceps muscle so that when the triceps muscles are flexed, the biceps relaxes, and vice versa.

The long head of the triceps is the part of the muscle closest to your torso. It originates on the scapula and runs all the way to the elbow joint.

Unlike the other heads, the long head crosses both the shoulder and elbow joints. As a result, it plays a part in shoulder and scapula stabilization.

The other two heads originate at the top of the upper arm bone (humerus) and insert into the elbow joint.

The Benefits of Using Cables for Triceps Exercises

When you use a cable machine to work your triceps, you provide yourself with a number of benefits over free weights like dumbbells and barbells. Here's a breakdown:

1. Constant Tension

Cables provide steady resistance throughout the entire range of motion—something dumbbells and barbells can't match due to gravity. This keeps your triceps fully engaged from start to finish.

2. Angle Variety

Cables let you train at multiple angles, allowing for better alignment with your triceps’ natural movement. You can target each head more precisely and follow the principle of opposite position loading for maximum effectiveness.

3. Triceps Isolation

Cable machines minimize involvement from secondary muscles like shoulders and core. This allows for cleaner, more focused triceps isolation—think triceps pushdowns vs. overhead dumbbell extensions.

4. Adjustable Resistance

With cables, you can change the weight instantly, making them perfect for drop sets. Just reduce the weight and keep pushing for extra volume without skipping a beat.

Tricep Training Tips (from a Certified Personal Trainer)

1. Vary Your Weights and Reps

The triceps are made up of both fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers, with the fast twitch being slightly more numerous. Fast twitch fibers respond best to heavy weights and low reps, with the opposite being true for slow twitch fibers. To work the muscle completely, you need to do a combination of high and low reps.¹

Here's a suggested tricep workout set and rep scheme for all versions of press downs that has been very successful with my bodybuilding clients:

• Set One: 30 reps
• Set Two: 20 reps
• Set Three: 12 reps
• Set Four: 10 reps
• Set Five: 8 reps
• Set Six: 6 reps

Increase the weight on each succeeding set.

2. Keep Your Elbows In

When you are doing any type of triceps pressing exercise, you should consciously keep your elbows tucked at the sides of your body. Doing so forces the triceps to take all of the load.

When you allow the elbows to flare out, other muscles in the shoulders and chest are brought into play. Flared elbows also place undue stress on the shoulder joint.

3. Use Full Range of Motion

I see a lot of people in the gym who pile too much weight on and then only do half, or sometimes quarter, reps of an exercise. You don't want to be one of these people. Unless you fully extend the muscle from full contraction to full extension, you'll be leaving most of your gains on the table. So, never sacrifice the full range of motion in order to lift more weight.

In order to get ready for your workout, discover the eight best stretches for your triceps.

Wrap Up

Few things are as impressive as fully defined, shirt-splitting triceps. To get them, you've got to train smart as well as hard. That means prioritizing cable tricep workouts. Cables allow for the ideal resistance angle, versatility, constant tension, and isolation ability you need to promote optimum muscle growth.

I recommend including at least two cable machine exercises in every triceps workout. Then, add in a dumbbell exercise, such as the skull-crusher, to round out the session. Do a total of 10-14 sets for triceps twice per week, with at least 72 hours rest between sessions. Do this consistently, and you'll be rewarded with a pair of muscular horseshoe-shaped triceps.

References:

1. Lucas-Osma AM, Collazos-Castro JE. Compartmentalization in the triceps brachii motoneuron nucleus and its relation to muscle architecture. J Comp Neurol. 2009 Sep 20;516(3):226-39. doi: 10.1002/cne.22123. PMID: 19598170.

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