Cable Rope Pushdown
The cable rope pushdown is a triceps pushdown with a rope, where you split the ends apart at the bottom of each rep. The rope allows a neutral grip and a slightly longer range than a bar, which many lifters find easier on the wrists and elbows. Use it as a triceps finisher or when bar pushdowns feel cramped.
Muscles worked
The cable rope pushdown trains the triceps.
Primary
Weekly sets for triceps
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for triceps, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the cable rope pushdown
- 01Set the pulley at the top position and attach a rope with the knots at the bottom.
- 02Grab the rope ends with palms facing each other and step in close to the stack.
- 03Lean forward slightly and pin your elbows to your sides with forearms about parallel to the floor.
- 04Push the rope down and spread the ends apart until your arms are fully straight beside your thighs.
- 05Squeeze at the bottom, then let the rope rise slowly back to the start.
Coaching cues
- Push down, then pull the rope apart
- Hands finish beside your thighs
- Elbows stay still
Common mistakes
- Keeping the rope ends together at the bottom shortens the rep, so split them apart as your arms straighten.
- Letting the rope pull your elbows up high resets the movement as a pulldown, so keep your upper arms fixed.
- Using too much weight forces a body lean to finish, so stand steady and pick a load you can fully lock out.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers isolation work toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Cable Rope Pushdown alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your cable rope pushdown free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.