How to PROPERLY Do Cable Rope Pushdowns

What's up? Coach Josh here from Colossus Fitness, your form expert and online coach. I'm going to waste none of your time and I'm going to show you how to do my favorite tricep movement, the cable rope push down. So let's jump right into it. So first and foremost, you want to set the cable up well above your head. I just recommend putting it to the top. In my opinion, this is the easiest. You're going to grab your cable rope attachment. Because we're learning, let's start a little lighter because I'm going to show you how to go through this to get the most engagement out of your triceps so you can blow them up. Now from here, you're going to want your feet shoulder width. It's really imperative you're not too close. This is awkward. I feel like I'm about to like kiss this thing or something. I'm not trying to do that. If I'm out here, this is an awkward motion too. This isn't where you want to be. Instead, be just in front of it. I recommend just like a foot pretty much of you in the machine. You're going to grab the handles right with your hands at the bottom of the rope. From here, a common issue is your elbows are meant to stay fixed, right? Your elbows aren't meant to slide around and be active in the movement. They're a stabilizer for you for this motion because I'm keeping my elbows pinned tight to my side. I'm leaning forward a little bit, squeezing through my abs. From here, I'm pushing down and separating the rope with control. You don't want to over separate like this. This can cause your elbows to hurt. This can cause your elbows to flare out. Instead, my elbows are pinned to my side. I'm pushing down with control and I'm letting it drag up and I'm starting back in that initial position, not letting the cable hit, coming down, not over separating, letting it come up with control, down with the breath, big squeeze, let it come up with control. While you're learning, I highly recommend just going slower like this because you're going to get more feel for the movement and you're going to really want to make sure to avoid the common mistakes I want to show you. Before I show you those common mistakes, if you want to improve your form and you want to get the most out of your gym sessions, I have a free personal training in your pocket guide, over 100 pages, a ton of exercises, befores, afters, how to do everything perfectly correct. That's my free gift to you. Just message me, form guide to my Instagram at Colossal Fit. C-O-L-O-S-S-U-S-F-I-T. Pause the video, shoot me a quick message. Now let's show you those common mistakes. So first common mistake, and this is a big one, is overextending down. Like I said, pulling those elbows apart. You can see I'm losing the motion and it's making me awkward. My elbows go forward. The second issue, just the same, is letting it lift you up too much. This cable doesn't go as high, so it's harder for me to visually show you. I'll come down here so you can see, but if I let it lift me up, I'm taking tension off my triceps, I'm putting it into my lats, and then I can cheat. I can use momentum like this in my body and turn into a power push. This isn't meant to be like a really heavy, crazy movement. We're trying to isolate the tricep. We're trying to really maximize that squeeze all the way through. So instead, just let your hands come just ever so slightly above your elbow, maintaining tension on that tricep. And then on that push down, the elbows stay fixed to the side, a little bit in front of us, and we separate that rope ever so slightly. We're coming up to that position and pushing down from here. This is your perfect range of motion. Don't exit it. That's how you can begin to cheat and cause problems. That's the first mistake. Just the same, the second mistake, you probably know this because I just taught you, but it's easy for it to get heavy. Lean forward and boom. You'll see people in here doing this, right? These little tiny micro reps. You are neglecting so much of the movement and your tricep is actually getting the most development through that full range of motion. Tricep is for three in Greek, so you got three heads. And to work them best, you need the full extension and the full contraction. When you're just working this bottom motion, you're only isolating certain heads of the tricep and you're missing out on so much of this movement. So drop the ego, use a lighter rep, and trust me, this will make a world of difference. I really hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, smash like and support. I'm happy to help where I can. I got that free form guide waiting for you. Just message me at formguide on my Instagram at klossisfit and I'll send that right over to you right away. No catches. My gift to you. Get in the gym, have better form, get better results. Let's crush it together. Peace out, everyone.