Machine Tricep Extension
The machine tricep extension is a seated movement where you straighten your elbows against a lever with your upper arms braced on a pad. It isolates the triceps, all three heads. The fixed setup protects your elbows from wobble, making it a joint-friendly way to add triceps volume after pressing.
Muscles worked
The machine tricep extension 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 machine tricep extension
- 01Set the seat so your elbows line up with the machine's pivot point.
- 02Rest your upper arms on the pad and grip the handles with your wrists straight.
- 03Start with your elbows bent so your hands are near your shoulders.
- 04Extend your elbows until your arms are straight and your triceps are fully contracted.
- 05Return slowly to the bent position without letting the stack touch down.
Coaching cues
- Upper arms stay still
- Lock out and squeeze
- Slow on the way back
Common mistakes
- Leaning your torso forward to push the handles turns it into a press, so sit back and move only at the elbow.
- Flaring your elbows outward shifts load away from the triceps, so keep them in line with the handles.
- Cutting the range short at the bend skips the stretch, so let your elbows bend fully between reps.
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.
Machine Tricep Extension 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 machine tricep extension free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.