Triceps Extension
Seated with your upper arms resting on a pad, you straighten your arms against the machine's resistance and return slowly, isolating the triceps on a fixed path.
- Primary muscles
- Triceps
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weight × reps
Why do it
The pad pins your upper arms in place, so there's little room to cheat with your shoulders or torso, and changing the weight takes a second. That makes it a simple choice for beginners and a good way to push sets close to failure late in a workout. The catch is setup: if your elbows don't line up with the machine's pivot, the movement feels awkward and the resistance shifts through the rep. Take a moment to set the seat before your first set.
How to do it
Set the seat so your upper arms rest flat on the pad and line up with the machine's pivot.
Grip the handles with your elbows bent.
Extend your arms until they're straight and hold the end position for a moment.
Return slowly without letting the weight stack touch down. Keep your upper arms on the pad so the triceps do the work.
Common mistakes
Misaligning your elbows with the pivot
If your elbows sit in front of or behind the pivot, the handles arc against your arms. Adjust the seat until your elbows line up with the axis.
Lifting your upper arms off the pad
Raising them to finish a hard rep lets your shoulders push. Keep your upper arms flat on the pad; when you can't, the set is done.
Letting the stack touch down
Resting the weights between reps gives the triceps a break. Stop just short of the stack and go straight into the next rep.
Bouncing out of lockout
Rebounding straight out of full extension skips the hardest contraction. Hold your arms straight for a moment before returning slowly.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
