One Arm Tricep Extension with Cable
How to do the one arm tricep extension with cable
- Place a cable pulley on the highest setting and adjust a stirrup handle to the pulley.
- Stand facing the weight stack and grasp the handle with and underhand grip.
- Keep your back straight, your abs drawn in and your knees slightly bent.
- Starting at the top, push your arm down until it is straight, feeling the concentration in your tricep.
- Slowly return to starting position.
- Tips: Keep your elbow close to your side while performing this exercise.
Muscles worked
The prime mover is the triceps brachii, which straightens the elbow, and through its long head helps pull the arm back at the shoulder.
Every exercise for:Triceps
How this movement works
One joint moves, and it moves the load away from the body. With nothing recruited to assist, the target muscle reaches its own limit rather than the limit of the weakest link in a chain — which makes this useful for adding volume after the heavy compound work, not for opening a session.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
A cable holds tension for the whole range, including the point where a free weight would go slack. Moving the pulley changes the angle the resistance arrives from without changing the movement.
Every exercise using:Cable
These train the triceps too, using equipment this one does not:
- One Arm Triceps Extension with Dumbbelldumbbell
- Overhead Tricepsbody only
- Pin Pressesbarbell
- Smith Machine Close Grip Bench Presssmith machine + machine
- Speed Band Overhead Tricepsband
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 99 triceps exercises in this database, 44 are listed at beginner level.
Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.