Reverse Grip Triceps Pushdown

How to do it

1. Clip a straight bar to a high pulley and take it with an underhand grip about shoulder-width apart.
2. Stand upright a step back with your elbows tucked at your sides.
3. Start with the forearms at about parallel to the floor.
4. Push the bar down until your arms are straight, keeping the elbows pinned and the palms up.
5. Squeeze briefly at the bottom.
6. Let the bar rise under control until the forearms are back to parallel.

Common mistakes

• Letting the palms rotate. The underhand grip is the whole difference; once the hands turn it is an ordinary pushdown.
• Keeping your overhand pushdown weight. The supinated grip is a weaker position for the wrist and forearm, and the stack comes down.
• Letting the elbows drift forward. Once the upper arm moves, the shoulder and the lat are pushing the bar down.
• Expecting the grip to select a head of the triceps. Turning the hand rotates the forearm below the elbow; with the elbow at the side the long head is shortened whichever way the palm faces.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Lateral HeadTriceps
• Medial HeadTriceps