Low Cable Triceps Extension
Lie face-up on a seated row bench with your head towards the pulley and extend a rope straight up towards the ceiling. Pulling from below your head instead of above it means the cable fights you hardest at lockout, where a lying dumbbell extension has already gone weightless.
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 rope to the low pulley of a seated row station and lie face-up on the bench, head at the pulley end.
- Grab the outside of each rope end with a neutral grip, palms facing each other.
- Set the upper arms vertical, pointing at the ceiling and perpendicular to your torso, elbows bent to about 90 degrees.
- Slide up or down the bench until the cable runs cleanly past your ear without brushing your head.
- Press your lower back into the bench and plant your feet before the first rep.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Exhale as you extend, inhale on the way back. One second up, one second held at lockout, three seconds down.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Start around 10-15 kg on the stack and expect the numbers to look small — the strict lying position removes every source of help. A good working set locks out every rep with a one-second squeeze and a three-second return. Add one plate only when the top of your rep range comes with the elbows still pointing dead vertical.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Have someone check your elbows stay pointed at the ceiling, or set up beside a mirror. Reduce the weight until the elbows hold that line for all 15 reps.
Choose a weight that keeps the plates hanging a couple of centimetres clear at the bottom. Constant tension is the entire argument for using a cable here.
Treat this as a 12-20 rep movement. If you need a heavy triceps lift, use a close-grip press and keep this one for volume at the end of the session.
Shuffle towards the machine until the rope clears your head with a few centimetres to spare. A rope rubbing your face means you will shorten the rep to avoid it.
Why bother
Line of pull decides where a movement is hard. A dumbbell lying extension is brutal at the bottom and trivial at the top, because gravity pulls straight down and the forearm ends up in line with it. Here the cable runs from a low pulley past your head, so resistance stays close to constant and the hardest point moves to full elbow extension.
That is worth having because lockout is the position the triceps own outright, and it is the one most people never train under real tension. Lying down also takes your torso out of the equation entirely — no swaying, no leaning in, no help from the lats.
Where it fits
A finisher, at the end of a push day, 3 sets of 12-20. It pairs well with heavy pressing precisely because the load is light and the elbow never goes into a deep loaded bend. If your elbows are grumbling and you still want triceps volume that week, this is the movement that survives the cut.
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
What if my gym has no seated row bench?
Set an adjustable bench flat in front of any low pulley, head end towards the machine, and slide it until the cable clears your head. The only thing the row station gives you is a bench already at the right height and distance. Check the bench cannot slide once you start pulling.
Why not just do skull crushers?
Skull crushers load the bottom of the range hardest and give you almost nothing at lockout, and they put more strain on the elbow tendon in that deep bend. This loads the top hardest and stays gentle throughout. They are complements, not substitutes — use the barbell version when you want load, this when you want tension and clean joints.
Rope or straight bar?
Rope. The neutral grip lets the wrists sit naturally and lets the hands spread at lockout, which is where you get the hardest contraction. A straight bar on a low pulley forces the wrists into an awkward pronated angle for the whole set with no upside.
Does the long head get worked here?
Partly. The shoulder is flexed to about 90 degrees, so the long head is more lengthened than in a pushdown but less than in a true overhead extension. If long head length is the goal, keep one genuinely overhead movement in the week and use this for lockout tension.