Cable Lying Triceps Extension
A skullcrusher fed by a low pulley: you lie on a flat bench with a straight bar held over your chest and lower it toward your forehead. Because the cable pulls back along the line of your body rather than straight down, the triceps stay loaded at lockout - the exact point where a barbell skullcrusher hands you a free rest.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Attach a straight bar to the lowest pulley setting and put a flat bench about a metre in front of it, square to the cable.
- Sit at the far end, take the bar in a pronated grip around shoulder-width, then lie back with it already in your hands.
- Press the bar up until the arms are straight and the upper arms are vertical - a right angle to your torso.
- Plant your feet and press your shoulder blades into the bench so your torso stops moving before rep one.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Inhale as the bar lowers, exhale as you extend. Two seconds down, controlled on the way up, one second holding the lockout.
Before you load it
- Take the bar sitting up, or have someone pass it to you. Reaching back over your head for a loaded cable bar while already lying flat is how shoulders get tweaked before the set even starts.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Expect noticeably less than your barbell skullcrusher weight - 10-20 kg on the stack is a realistic start - because there is no easy top of the rep to recover in. Good looks like a still upper arm and a complete lockout on the final rep. Add load only when you reach the top of your rep range with the elbows completely quiet.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Hold the upper arms vertical and think of the elbows as hinges bolted to the ceiling. Drop the stack until that is true for every rep of the set.
Move the bench back until the cable runs at a shallow angle just past your head. You should feel resistance with your arms locked, not only when they are bent.
Slow the descent to two seconds and stop deliberately above the hairline. If you cannot control it that far down, the stack is heavier than your triceps can lower.
Squeeze the upper arms in so they stay about shoulder-width for the whole set. Flared elbows hand the rep to your chest and shoulders and leave the triceps short-changed.
Why bother
With a barbell, the top of a skullcrusher is a break: the bar sits over the joint and gravity stops asking anything of you. The cable arrives from behind your head at a shallow angle, so it keeps trying to fold your elbow even with the arms locked. Every rep is loaded end to end.
That changes how the set feels. Barbell skullcrushers spike at the bottom and go easy at the top; this one is fairly even, so the burn accumulates instead of coming in waves. Expect to use less weight than you would on a bar and to feel each set for longer.
Where it fits
Second or third movement on a push day, after close-grip pressing, 3-4 sets of 10-15. It is the first swap to try for anyone whose elbows complain about a fixed bar path, because the cable lets each arm settle into the line it prefers.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
Asked and answered
Why use a cable instead of an EZ bar?
Two reasons: the tension stays on at lockout, and the cable lets your arms find whatever path your elbows tolerate instead of locking them to a fixed bar. If EZ-bar skullcrushers make your elbows ache, this is the first substitution to try before you drop extensions entirely.
Should the bar go to my forehead or behind my head?
Either works. To the forehead keeps the upper arms vertical and isolates the elbow cleanly. Behind the head lets the shoulders extend a little and stretches the long head further, but it invites the elbows to drift. Pick one and stay consistent within a set so the reps are comparable.
Is it normal to feel this near my elbow rather than mid-triceps?
A pump low on the arm near the tendon is common and harmless. Sharp, pinpoint pain on the inside of the elbow is not. Cut the weight, shorten the bottom of the range by a few centimetres and see whether it settles across a couple of sessions before you continue.
Can I get the same thing with a band at home?
Partly. A band anchored behind your head gives you the same rising tension toward lockout, which is the main reason to pick a cable over an EZ bar. What it will not give you is a constant load at the bottom - the band is nearly slack exactly where the triceps is longest, so the stretched position goes untrained. Run a band skullcrusher when that is what you have, and add an overhead extension to cover the stretch.