A lot of people think that body building is designed only for brave and determined guys who would call themselves bodybuilders. But do you know that there’s a lot more that body building can offer other than massive chests and gorgeous muscles? You have got to learn more! Some simple exercises like Tricep Pressdown, Close- grip bench press, Reverse grip tricep pressdown, Tricep pressdown with V-bar attachment or Tricep rope pressdown can make a real positive impact on your overall health. Anyone who wants to enhance and multiply their natural strength, endurance, resistance and energy can try these exercises.
Now, maybe you would really want to try and incorporate body building techniques in your routine. But the problem is, there’s just so many techniques out there and you don’t know which to follow or what’s worth it, what’s not.
Or, maybe you are a beginner who wants to try out body building stunts but just don’t how and where to start. Say no more! In this article, we are going to introduce to you a very important body building technique that most people, even religious gym goers, tend to neglect.
Today we are going to give you the proper guide on how to do the tricep pressdown exercise. We are also going to pick powerful effects or benefits that you can get when you plan to do this technique or have been doing this for quite some time now.
And because we care for you, we will also incorporate exciting alternative exercises that has almost similar, if not similar, effects as that of the tricep pressdown. Just keep on reading.
What is triceppress down?
The tricep pressdown or the tricep cable press down is probably one of the most popular exercise to develop your tricep muscles. Scientifically, the triceps consist of three major muscles, namely; the medial, the lateral and the long head. With the execution of this exercise, you can target each muscle head through the isolation move of pressing down.
The exercise is completed by pressing the object or the bar from the cable downward against the resistance. This targets a little bit of the biceps and the chest muscles as well. But note that this exercise is slightly different from tricep push down and has a completely different effect, too, which I’ll explain later in this article.
The standard procedure of pressing in this exercise is flaring the elbows wide as supposed to keeping them close to your body.
How is it any different from the tricep pushdown?
Both exercises kind of look the same, and when observed, they also seemed to have the same procedure and effect. A lot of trainers do this interchangeably, as if they are the same. But they are not. They are technically two different movements, even though they are both done in a vertical axis and they also use similar cable equipment, but there is actually a major difference between the two:
- In the tricep pressdown technique, you basically press the bar instead of pushing it. The hands are inside, of shoulder-width, so the body gets a lot of assistance from the shoulders and a little bit from the chest. Also some resistance force is provided a little bit from the PEC minor.
- The push down is a more common variation that people often see in the gym. The elbows are not nearly as flared as that of the press down. Although, you don’t want to try to artificially keep them in either. So, the distance that you can resist by force is a little bit wider; you can come up as high as the nose or chin.
What can I get from doing the tricep pressdown technique?
It targets more muscles in your shoulder region
Its name declares the exercise’s primary function, which is your triceps, but this exercise has other several parts to hit too, other than your triceps.
It also targets the large and small heads of your biceps. And when done appropriately, that is keeping the right distance between your shoulders and your body, and the right distance between your body and the cable bar, you are actually developing the muscles on the hinge of your elbows that does the work as well.
It targets your chest muscles too
As to compare from that of the tricep pushdown technique, the pressdown has more advantage to the development of your chest muscles because of the positioning of your shoulders and arms.
The variation is wider, and the upper part of your body is a little bit leaned on towards the bar. Just a little bit though. This process involves a little bit chest work and needs the assistance of the weight of your upper portion of your body.
It is beginner friendly
Before you react to this, let me clear some things out. We are not saying that this exercise is as simple and easy as the treadmill and squats. All we are saying is that, this exercise is definitely advisable for new body builders who are just starting up with the sport.
The steps are not too complicated, plus, it is a good and natural way to introduce to your triceps which are just new to the routine. The process is not immediately as hard and as exhausting as other body building techniques in the gym.
It is a good warm up exercise as well
It is not akin to say that this exercise is an equal replacement to your basic warm-up routine. But the tricep pressdown is a good way to start off your lifting. Basically, the pressing procedure helps send efficient blood that is needed for the weight and it flows to the elbow joint to help your arms prepare for the workout ahead and even the rest of your workout.
And as we have said, this exercise is not as hard and heavy to begin with, so this may be a great way to warm up your body and condition your muscles for the rest of the routine.
It improves your breathing pattern
One of the tips that we can add also upon doing this exercise is the breathing organization. Most body builders advice this way as well. It is better to parallel your breathing pattern with the pressing reps of this routine. You would want to inhale deep, as deep as your pressing, and exhale wide as the distance of the bar going up when you release the resistance. Through this way, it develops your lungs’ stability and it improves your breathing pattern.
This exercise is a good resistance and endurance training
The tricep pressdown is definitely one for the improvement of your resistance skills and endurance. This is in the context of your muscles, of course! This helps your muscles develop more strength for resistance when you press really hard and it keeps you trained to be more able to lift or carry more weight as your shoulder and your arm muscles gains more strength and size.
Is there an alternative exercise for this?
As matter of fact, yes. As promised, we are going to list down 5 amazing alternatives if for some reasons you can’t do this exercise. We are going to explore some techniques that have similar advantages or at least ones that have the closest effect to that of the tricep pressdown routine. Learn more.
The tricep rope pressdown
Basically, this exercise has the same substantial effect to your triceps but a little bit different when it comes to the other areas of your body. This process takes the use of the rope instead of using the cable long bar. So, there is less chest activity compared to the usage of the bar.
The tricep pressdown with V-bar attachment
Same thing as the tricep rope pressdown, this exercise has a similar effect to your triceps as well but instead of using the rope or the long cabled bar, we use the v- shaped bar. So, similarly, this exercise has less involvement with the chest. But, most body builders prefer this technique more than the other when it comes to the purpose of convenience. The V-bar is easier to hold on to as your hands is more in a grabbing position compared to the cabled long bar and the rope.
Reverse grip tricep pressdown
This exercise is the underhand version of the tricep pressdown. Although they have almost major difference when it comes to their benefits and advantages, but they both target the triceps primarily.
The reverse grip tricep pressdown is as good as the standard pressdown. Better even. Not only that this exercise is an overall isolation technique, this is at the same time a single-joint move which isolates the heads in the tricep without needing the help of other muscle group or joints.
Dumbbells or dumbbell lifting
Nothing develops your triceps like the basic dumbbells or dumbbell weight lifting as well. This body building technique is not only good for your triceps, but this is an overall pressing of your muscle strength in all regions of your shoulders and arms, including most heads of your biceps.
Plus, the dumbbell is really common to all the gyms, and even in most homes, so you wouldn’t have a hard time doing this exercise. You can basically do this anywhere without the need of a heavy equipment.
Close- grip bench press
This exercise is done by lying on a flat bench using a close grip of the bar and lifting the same thing up. This exercise is a little bit harder though, for some body builder but the benefit you can get from it is all worth it. Not only it develops your triceps and biceps but it also works on your chest muscles. So basically, it’s a triple threat.
So, that is all you need to know for the tricep pressdown exercise. We really encourage you to add this to your routine, especially if your just starting up as a beginner. You’ll be surprise to find more of this exercise; it’s benefits and convenience. And don’t forget to share this to your pals who are not familiar with this exercise yet, as well.
Have a great day in the gym!
