Reverse-Grip Cable Triceps Pushdown
The reverse-grip cable pushdown is a pushdown at a high pulley holding a straight or EZ bar with the palms facing up, which isolates the triceps with the upper arms at your sides and taxes the grip.
TRICEPS · PUSH
How it is executed
- Stand facing a high cable pulley and grab a straight or EZ bar with an underhand (supinated) grip, palms facing up.
- Keep your elbows pinned to your sides and push the bar down by extending your elbows until your arms are straight.
- Squeeze the triceps at the bottom, then slowly let the bar rise without letting your elbows flare forward.
- The reverse grip shifts emphasis onto the medial head and recruits the forearms.
Common mistakes
- Letting the bar slip toward the fingers. With the palms up, the cable pulls the bar out of the hand and, if the grip opens, the wrist bends. Wrap the thumb around the bar and lower the load.
- Bending the wrists toward the body to hold the bar. That flexion shows up when the weight beats the grip, and it loads the wrist on every rep. Keep the wrist in line with the forearm or switch to the EZ bar.
- Using the same load as with the overhand grip. Palms up, the forearm gives out before the triceps and the technique breaks down right away. Start with considerably less weight and raise it only when the grip holds for the whole set.
- Driving the elbows forward as the bar comes up. When the elbows travel forward, the shoulder joins the movement and the triceps loses its fixed point. Keep the elbows against the ribs and move only the forearm.
Frequently asked questions
- Which muscles does the reverse-grip triceps pushdown work?
- The whole triceps brachii, because extending the elbow is its job with any grip. The reverse grip is often said to isolate the medial head, but that head works in every elbow extension and turning the hand does not separate it from the other two. What does change is the forearm: with the palms up, the bar pulls the fingers upward and the wrist flexors and the grip work quite a bit harder than in the overhand version.
- Underhand or overhand grip for the triceps pushdown: what really changes?
- Three things change. The grip: overhand, the palm pushes the bar; underhand, the fingers hold it, so the forearm tires sooner and the load drops. The elbows: with the palms up it is hard to flare them, so the position comes out stricter. The wrist: some people find the underhand grip more comfortable, others the opposite. The share of work among the triceps heads barely changes. Use overhand for the heavy sets and underhand as a lighter, stricter variation.
- How many sets and reps of the reverse-grip pushdown should you do?
- A common starting point is 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps, leaving 1 to 3 reps in reserve, with a clearly lighter load than you use overhand. The grip sets the limit, so chasing weight makes no sense: if the bar slips out of the fingers, the triceps has not reached failure yet. It goes as the second triceps exercise, after a heavy extension, or at the end of arm day.
- Straight bar or EZ bar for the reverse-grip pushdown?
- Both work; the difference is at the wrist. The straight bar forces full supination, which many wrists find strained under load. The EZ bar leaves the hands at an intermediate angle and is usually more comfortable, with a slightly firmer grip. With either one, wrap the thumb around the bar, use shoulder width or narrower and keep the wrist straight: if it bends toward the body, the load is too high.
Sources and editorial approach
The explanation, variations and FAQs are Kaizer’s editorial synthesis. ACSM’s 2026 guidance provides general context on progression and resistance training in healthy adults; it does not independently validate the technique of each variation.
No individual professional review is recorded for this page.
Variations and substitutions
Cable Incline PushdownCableCable Straight Bar Triceps PushdownCable · Straight bar attachmentCable Rope Triceps PushdownCable · Rope attachmentCable V-Bar Triceps PushdownCableBanded Overhead Tricep ExtensionResistance bandSingle-Arm Cable Triceps PushdownCableCable Rope Overhead Triceps ExtensionCable
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