Hey, what's going on Nation, I'm Scott from Muscularstrength.com and today's video
I want to talk to you guys about three of the most commonly made mistakes when it comes to the triceps
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I want to just jump right into it and give you the tips and we're gonna start out with the rope push down
there's a couple variations of a triceps press down triceps push down, whatever you want to call it
we're gonna go over three of them relatively quick starting with the rope because at the end of the day
This is where the most mistakes are made in my opinion and I'll show you what I mean
I've been scrolling through Instagram lately. Just checking out work outs. Seeing what people are putting out there
I don't want call out anybody in particular because this is actually just something I notice all the time
Okay, and I'm sure you guys notice it too. You probably already know what I'm gonna say
It's when you're doing a rope push down when you get to the bottom of the movement
Doing this with your wrists and then coming back up to the top
Pressing down and then doing this with your wrists again. Okay?
When you get to the bottom of the movement and do this with your wrists, this is not doing any extra triceps activation
I mean if it were you could step away from the machine and do this
where you flex out your arms and you fully extend at the bottom you feel those triceps
Engage and then move your wrists around. Do you feel any triceps engagement?
No
You might feel some when you're holding this
But that's because the weight of the pulley is pulling up as you're trying to fully extend your arm
That's all what's happening here. The function of your triceps is elbow extension
And this is gonna play into the other two mistakes as well
so remember that so as long as we're extending our elbow and getting a full extension
We're maximizing the exercise
so for me
I have no issues pressing straight down and
Locking out my elbows for some of you maybe have flexibility issues
Maybe you're a bit bigger than me, and you can't get your arms in this position
It might be helpful for you to turn your wrist just to allow that extension of the elbow
But as long as you're able to get that full extension at the bottom
There should be no reason why you have to maneuver your wrists
another way
You can maybe help gain more benefits from this exercise is when you get to the bottom and you're fully extending your arms
Pulling back a little like this
so actually instead of turning your wrists in you're pulling it back this way and spreading the rope now this isn't
activating more triceps because the movement from here to here is
Activating the triceps more what's actually happening is in this movement
We're activating a bit more, you know deltoids and upper traps to pull the rope up hot as we move our body this way
but because you have to now really focus on
Locking out your arms as hard as you can and then maintaining that locked position as you pull back
It's just gonna force you to flex your arm even harder
Otherwise you'd be in this position and as you pull back your elbow would bend
Okay, so that's mistake number one now mistake number two
and the reason why a lot of people do this also as well is because they try to overload with this exercise a
Triceps press down in any form is not an exercise where you're supposed to overload
You save that for the big compound movements like a close grip bench
Press like a dip and even though it's not a compound movement
You can still overload quite a bit with an overhead tricep extension as I like to call it a powerbomb
so if you're trying to overload with too much weight
That's gonna force you to get to the bottom here with a rope
You're not gonna really be able to fully press down unless you do this
But if you want to lift a bit heavier weight the goal isn't to use the rope
in fact
That would only really use the rope if you're trying to get a bit more tricep engagement
Like I had mentioned with pulling it back this way if you're trying to lift as heavy as you can
With this exercise as intended, hopefully at the end of your workout, you know
What check this video out right here
If you want to learn more about why to use the triceps
Press down at the end of your workout versus starting with it and I'll just kind of go over in that video
So check that out
But if you want to press more weight you need to you V-bar
The V-bar is gonna allow you to press more weight because it's a stationary bar with a rope
You know, you have all this movement going back and forth
So you're not even be able to really get on top of the rope to push it straight down
But with the V-bar you can do that
It's gonna lock your hands in place right here
and then you can kind of get your body on top of it and push straight down like this and
Again, full extension at the bottom all the way up to the top all the way down
So don't overload to the point to where
You have to press it this way and really get on top of it like this. It defeats the whole purpose of the exercise
You will be able to lift heavier weight, how much heavier? Maybe 15-20 pounds not a lot
But it will allow you to put a bit more weight on those triceps and as you press down get a bit more activation now
the third mistake is
actually using a straight bar and
You could use a triceps. I mean a V-bar or straight bar to kind of overload as much as you want
Some of you guys probably don't like to use a straight bar and prefer
The V-bar because it might bother your wrists to be like this
It's a little easier on the wrists if your hands are turned in a bit, but if you're using a straight bar like this
It's the same exact form as the V-bar you stand in this position
You push straight down and you flex and squeeze your triceps as hard as you can and you come back to the top
the third mistake is
Thinking that if you reverse your grip that it's a different exercise, okay?
Remember we talked about in the beginning elbow extension is a function of your triceps
Whether we're holding it like this and pulling down or we're putting our hands on top and pushing down
We're still extending the elbow and we're activating the triceps the same way
The only time I would recommend doing an underhand grip is maybe you know
You're getting kind of sick and tired of the same old form and you want to switch it up. That's fine
Like I said, this isn't an exercise where you overload with a lot of weight
Anyways, you won't be able to pull down as much weight doing it underhand
But if you want to switch it up, I guess it's okay
the main reason I would tell somebody to do an underhand grip is if you find yourself falling into this habit of
Pressing the weight down and leaning over the bar and turning it more into a press down like this
Versus a push down like that. It's a triceps push down. Okay if you find yourself
Going on top and pressing it down and getting more chest activation than triceps
then I would say hey take a step back lower the weight a little bit and do an underhand grip and focus on form and
Activating your triceps and then that's the only other time I would recommend using an underhand grip versus an overhand grip
So these are the three most common mistakes I see when it comes to this exercise
And if you're making any of these mistakes now you know how to correct them
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