When it comes to building a strong arm and strong muscles, most people always tend to pay more attention to biceps than to triceps muscles, and this is a mistake that makes your arm less strong and does not appear sporty, and your muscles may suffer from a lack of balance here you need an exercise such as the triceps rope extension to target the triceps muscles and build toned muscles.
Tricep rope extension is one of the powerful exercises that will definitely increase the strength of the triceps. There is no doubt that you will spy on your back arm in the mirror every time, and you will definitely start to notice the difference and continuous improvement as long as you adhere to this exercise and its variables.
In this post, you will learn the correct way to do triceps rope extension as well as we will benefit from the advice of professionals to improve performance and gain muscle professionally, as we will learn about mistakes and work to avoid injury, and finally we will learn about the benefits and the best variables that you can rely on to train the muscles under different resistance pressure and so on.
Let’s continue together!
What is Tricep Rope Extension and why it’s important fot targeting triceps
It is an isolation exercise for the triceps muscles that is done through a cable machine using a rope grip and your grip is neutral. It is one of the exercises that makes you focus on pressing the triceps muscles without the involvement of any other muscle, so that you exhaust the triceps by pulling the weight with your elbows upside down and you go with your fist behind your shoulders and then Slowly pull and push the weight up over your head.
- Force : Push
- Mechanics : Isolated
- Utility : Auxiliary
Tricep rope extension muscle worked
The target muscles during the triceps rope extensions are the triceps muscles located behind the arm and consist of 3 heads (long head, medial head, and lateral head). No other muscles are targeted because this exercise only occupies the elbow joint, and the muscles involved in the movement are muscles Triceps only.
Target muscle:
- Triceps Brachii : Triceps muscles work when the elbows are upside down while pushing the weight above the head. The muscles contract with each repetition and then expand when letting the weight fall behind the back.
Triceps anatomy explained by specialists
Stabilizers:
- Wrist Flexors
- Deltoid Anterior
- Pecs Major
How to perform tricep rope extension like a pro
Triceps rope extension is an easy exercise and it can be done regardless of your fitness level, it only requires the availability of technique and proper form, and this is of course what we will learn about shortly, all you have to do is practice the steps below and you can gradually develop your movement but first let’s get to know On the proper and correct way to do this exercise.
To prepare :
Adjust the cable machine to a low position, choose the weight that suits your physical fitness, grab the rope and turn your back to the cable machine and take a step, grab the ends of the huge rope attachments with one of your hands and keep them behind the neck to recover for execution.
How to get started doing the triceps extension:
- First, grab the rope with your fists and keep your palms facing each other.
- Turn your elbows up so that the forearms are perpendicular behind the head.
- Take the appropriate form, keep one of your feet back a little, and support yourself with the front foot.
- Try to keep your body straight before you pull the weight up.
- Keep your elbows close to your head and steady throughout the exercise and work your triceps well.
- Start by lifting both ends of the rope by extending your forearms and pulling the weight up until your elbows and forearms are straight over your head.
- Pause there, then allow the weight to pull your forearms back until they are opposite your arms in the back, then repeat and so on.
Professional advice for improving performance:
With the correct form and the correct technique, you must therefore take advantage of the range of motion available to you to compress the triceps muscles throughout the exercise. The more you contract your triceps, the more effective the exercise will be, and this will reflect positively on future results.
Try to go with weights that are appropriate to your fitness level, because weight is one of the factors that will help you to perform the correct form, and you will also be able to do this exercise easily, then you can add heavier weights and increase the repetitions later, that is, after gaining fitness and getting the muscles used to the pressure of the exercise.
Just remember that the quality and effectiveness of the exercise increases whenever your elbows are fixed and not doing any momentum or swinging during the exercise. Leave the triceps muscles to deal with that weight throughout the exercise and try to exhaust them as much as possible and allow them to rest and recover.
Know the effect on triceps when elbows are fixed beyond
Training program :
- Beginners : 3 sets / 8 – 10 reps / 60 sec rest
- Intermediate : 4 sets / 10 – 12 reps / 60 sec rest
- Advanced : 5 sets / 12 – 15 reps / 60 sec rest
Mistakes to avoid during tricep extension
Mistakes will not get you anywhere, yes we all make mistakes during exercises and this is due to lack of experience and so on, but we must hurry to correct mistakes in order to get a clean exercise and avoid injuries and so on.
Allowing your elbows to flare out:
- The elbows are the key to the success of this exercise, because the elbow has a close relationship with the triceps, and it is easy to get off track if the elbows interfere in the exercise, so when you allow your elbows to flare out, this will put pressure on the shoulders, and thus may keep the triceps muscles relaxed and the quality of the exercise will decrease.
You swing and momentum excessively:
- You must first train to do the movement without weights only in order to control the swing and momentum because you will not benefit from the exercise if you cheat or use the momentum and swing to pull the weight.
You’re not extending your arms well:
- You must fully utilize the range of muscle stretches that you have. So when you leave some bending at the elbow, you may prevent the medial head from benefiting from the pressure of the exercise, and your muscles may not grow perfectly, so try to extend your arms as much as possible and try to contract the triceps well.
You are going with heavy weights:
- Isolation exercises work well when you go with light or moderate weights because they are not designed to build muscle 100%, so do not rely on them completely. You must do some compound exercises that engage the triceps muscles in order to achieve muscle hypertrophy.
- Going with heavy weights may be unsafe, especially with this type of exercise, because you are in a weak position and do not have enough effort to pull heavy weights in this position, and therefore you may be injured in one of your elbows joint.
Benefits you get with triceps rope extensions
- The most important thing is that this exercise contributes to building and strengthening the triceps well, and this allows you to improve your performance with other exercises.
- You get a muscular and complete arm, in addition to biceps exercises, triceps extension can help you sculpt triceps and get an athletic look.
- It reduces the risk of injury, so that the triceps become strong and can handle heavy weights during compound exercises that target the muscles of the upper body without suffering shoulder or elbow injuries.
- It raises muscle temperature and stimulates the body to lose calories, and thus can increase metabolism and continue to lose calories throughout the day.
How to include tricep extension to your workout routine
The tricep rope extension exercise can be incorporated into strength training classes that target the muscles of the upper body. It is best to get a compound exercise such as a close grip bench press and then do the triceps extension directly after it.
It is better to use the energy to do a compound exercise first, then you can do an isolation exercise because it does not require a lot of energy and at the same time increases your focus on the triceps muscles and stimulates them to work and grow.
Go with 8 to 15 repetitions with weights that suit your fitness level. Also try adding sets from 3 to 4 and so on and then allow your muscles to recover well.
Tricep rope extension : best 3 variations
Variables are important to set new challenges and challenge muscles with new equipment and different weights, so here are the 3 best dependable variables to try during triceps training routine.
1 – Dumbbell triceps extension:
This is one of the most powerful variables common among weightlifters, so that the dumbbells are more challenging and help to strengthen the grip and target the triceps muscles in a different way, so that the weight of the dumbbells puts your muscles under pressure throughout the exercise so that it provides a different range of motion, and this positively affects the heads of the triceps and stimulates them to Gain strength and mass.
This exercise can be done in a standing or sitting position, and the exercise steps remain the same as extending the triceps on a cable machine.
2 – Seated rope triceps extension:
This is also a variable that can be relied upon. Instead of extending the triceps through a standing position, you can sit on the edge of a bench and do the same exercise. This exercise is beneficial for the muscles because it increases your focus on the triceps muscles so that you exclude the lower body and the pressure of the weight is completely on the muscles. Triceps, and this is a good thing and helps to increase muscle strength and endurance.
3 – Barbell lying triceps extension:
This is also a very reliable variant that can challenge your muscles with the triceps grip so that the barbell provides a more challenging grip and a different muscle extension range, and the barbell also allows you to go with different grips close, wide or reverse grip, all of which help in targeting the muscles more Different and pressure of all triceps heads.
This exercise can be done by lying on a flat bench, hold the bar above your chest with a straight arm, keep your fists shoulder-width apart, then start extending the triceps by turning your elbows to lighten and allowing the barbell to pass your head down without moving your arms, then press the weight up again.
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