Can you lift more on a straight bar than on a rope?

Usually, yes. The rigid bar keeps both hands together and takes less effort to stabilize than a rope, so most people can use a heavier weight on it, which makes the straight bar a good choice for heavier triceps work.

Should I use an overhand or underhand grip on the straight bar?

Both train the triceps. The overhand grip is the standard version and usually allows more weight, while the underhand, palms-up grip usually means a lighter load and suits some people's elbows and wrists better. Use the grip that lets you keep your wrists straight and your elbows still.

How wide should my hands be on the bar?

About shoulder-width apart or a little narrower, so your forearms travel straight down from your elbows. A much wider grip tends to pull the elbows out to the sides.

What should I change if my wrists hurt on straight-bar pushdowns?

First lighten the load and keep your wrists stacked straight over your forearms instead of letting them bend back. If they still hurt, an angled bar, the Cable Triceps Pushdown (Rope) or the Cable Single-Arm Pushdown lets your hands turn to a more natural angle.

Is the straight-bar pushdown enough on its own to build the triceps?

It builds the triceps on its own, but it is worth pairing with an overhead movement. In a 12-week study on 21 adults, each person trained cable elbow extensions with one arm at the side, as in a pushdown, and the other arm overhead, and the overhead arm gained about 1.4 times more total triceps volume (19.9% versus 13.9%), with the biggest gap in the long head. The Cable Overhead Triceps Extension covers that overhead position.

Cable Triceps Pushdown (Straight Bar)

What Is the Cable Triceps Pushdown (Straight Bar)?

Cable Triceps Pushdown (Straight Bar) is an isolation exercise that primarily targets the triceps and also engages the lats, forearms and core as stabilizers. It is a beginner-level movement performed at a high cable pulley: you hold a short straight bar with an overhand grip and straighten your elbows to press it from chest height down to your thighs while your upper arms stay at your sides.

The exercise builds triceps size and elbow extension strength, the same lockout strength that finishes a Barbell Bench Press or a Triceps Dip. The cable keeps tension on the triceps through the whole rep, and the weight stack changes in small steps, which makes steady progression easy. Most programs place it after the main pressing work, as an accessory for moderate to high reps.

The straight bar is the most stable pushdown attachment. Both hands lock onto one rigid handle, so neither side can drift, and most people can move more weight with it than with a rope or a single handle. The trade-off is a fixed, fully palms-down grip: the wrists and forearms cannot rotate the way they do on the Cable Triceps Pushdown (Rope), and the bar stops at the front of the thighs instead of passing beside them. Coaches often say the bar favors the lateral head, but all three heads of the triceps straighten the elbow together whichever attachment you use. Because the arms stay at your sides, the long head works at a shorter length than it does in overhead work, so the lateral and medial heads do most of the lifting.

It suits beginners learning to isolate the triceps and experienced lifters who want a heavy, stable triceps movement. If the palms-down grip bothers your wrists, the rope or the Cable Single-Arm Pushdown lets the hand settle at a more comfortable angle. Almost anyone can start at the lightest plate on the stack, and if even that pulls your elbows forward, slow the tempo and keep the sets short until the upper arms stay still.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Triceps Brachii (Lateral Head): Primary
Triceps Brachii (Medial Head): High
Triceps Brachii (Long Head): Medium
Flexor Carpi Radialis: Low
Flexor Carpi Ulnaris: Low
Latissimus Dorsi: Low
Teres Major: Low
Deltoid: Minimal
External Oblique: Minimal
Rectus Abdominis: Minimal

Instructions

Attach a short straight bar to the high pulley and select a light weight for your first set.
Stand facing the machine, close enough that the cable runs almost straight down to the bar, with your feet about hip-width apart and your knees soft.
Grab the bar with an overhand grip, palms facing down, hands about shoulder-width apart or slightly narrower.
Stand tall with your chest up, shoulders down and core braced.
Pull your upper arms against your sides so the bar sits at lower-chest height with your elbows fully bent.
Keep your wrists straight in line with your forearms and press the bar down by straightening your elbows.
Continue until your arms are straight and the bar reaches the front of your thighs, then squeeze your triceps for a moment.
Let the bar rise slowly, over about two seconds, back to lower-chest height while your upper arms stay still.
Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Common Mistakes

Elbows drifting forward
Letting the upper arms swing forward as the bar rises turns the pushdown into a partial pulldown and lets the lats and shoulders take over.
Leaning over the bar
Folding the torso over the bar lets body weight push it down, taking load off the triceps and putting it on the chest and shoulders.
Wrists bending back
Letting the knuckles tip back toward you under a heavy bar strains the wrists and forearms and usually cuts the lockout short.
Flaring the elbows
Pointing the elbows out to the sides, common once the bar gets heavy, shifts work to the shoulders and away from the triceps.
Stopping short of lockout
Ending each rep with the elbows still bent skips the final part of elbow extension, which is the part the pushdown is meant to train.
Letting the bar fly up
Letting the stack pull the bar back up fast skips the controlled lowering phase and jerks the elbows into full bend.

Injuries

Cable Triceps Pushdown (Straight Bar) is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The load is modest, the body stays upright and the cable fixes the path of the bar, so the problems that do occur usually come from too much weight, too much volume or poor wrist position.

The spots that take the strain are the elbow, the wrist and the front of the shoulder. Repeated heavy pushdowns, especially when the elbows are snapped into lockout, can irritate the triceps tendon where it attaches at the back of the elbow. The fixed palms-down grip is the straight bar's own weak point: under a heavy bar the wrists tend to bend back, which can leave the wrist and forearm sore. Leaning over the bar and rolling the shoulders forward shifts load onto the front of the shoulder.

Keep your wrists straight and stacked over your forearms, choose a weight you can move without leaning or swinging, reach the lockout smoothly rather than snapping into it, and add weekly triceps volume gradually. If the straight bar keeps bothering your wrists, switch to the Cable Triceps Pushdown (Rope), whose neutral grip lets the wrists turn, or the Cable Single-Arm Pushdown. The Machine Triceps Extension guides the arm path for anyone still learning to keep the elbows still, and once the pushdown is well controlled, the Cable Overhead Triceps Extension trains the triceps at a longer length.

Stop the set if you feel sharp pain at the back of the elbow or in the wrist, a click that comes with pain, or a sudden loss of strength. Elbow pain that lingers after training or grows from week to week is worth having a professional assess before you load it again.

Overview

Primary Focus: Triceps
Equipment: Cable
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can you lift more on a straight bar than on a rope?: Usually, yes. The rigid bar keeps both hands together and takes less effort to stabilize than a rope, so most people can use a heavier weight on it, which makes the straight bar a good choice for heavier triceps work.
Q: Should I use an overhand or underhand grip on the straight bar?: Both train the triceps. The overhand grip is the standard version and usually allows more weight, while the underhand, palms-up grip usually means a lighter load and suits some people's elbows and wrists better. Use the grip that lets you keep your wrists straight and your elbows still.
Q: How wide should my hands be on the bar?: About shoulder-width apart or a little narrower, so your forearms travel straight down from your elbows. A much wider grip tends to pull the elbows out to the sides.
Q: What should I change if my wrists hurt on straight-bar pushdowns?: First lighten the load and keep your wrists stacked straight over your forearms instead of letting them bend back. If they still hurt, an angled bar, the Cable Triceps Pushdown (Rope) or the Cable Single-Arm Pushdown lets your hands turn to a more natural angle.
Q: Is the straight-bar pushdown enough on its own to build the triceps?: It builds the triceps on its own, but it is worth pairing with an overhead movement. In a 12-week study on 21 adults, each person trained cable elbow extensions with one arm at the side, as in a pushdown, and the other arm overhead, and the overhead arm gained about 1.4 times more total triceps volume (19.9% versus 13.9%), with the biggest gap in the long head. The Cable Overhead Triceps Extension covers that overhead position.