How the Straight Bar Tricep Extension Is the Superior Arm Builder

November 8, 2023

Using a cable machine for triceps extensions will keep constant tension on your muscles at each degree of the press.

Focusing on your triceps allows you to build sculpted arms and enhance strength with compound pressing movements. This post will cover the ultimate exercise to isolate and build your triceps: the straight bar tricep extension. We’ll explore its incredible benefits in this post, how to do them, and compare them to other extension alternatives. But first, let’s dive into what a tricep extension is and why it leads to arm hypertrophy.

What Is a Tricep Extension?

Tricep extensions are isolation exercises that target your triceps and work by extending your elbow (1). Push movements help you improve your strength and definition of this muscle. You can do a tricep extension with your bodyweight, resistance bands, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, or a cable machine.

Benefits of Tricep Extensions

Tricep extensions are an essential exercise to include in your arm routines. Options like the straight bar tricep extension allow you to lift heavy, leading to muscle hypertrophy and strength in your arms. Below are more benefits of tricep extensions.

Bigger Triceps

Tricep extensions isolate and engage your triceps muscles in multiple ways that compound exercises can’t match. Thus, adding tricep extensions to your routine leads to an increase in arm girth.

Stronger Arms

While many gym enthusiasts focus on the biceps, the triceps are the bigger muscles in the arms — two-thirds. Building them leads to not only an increase in size and aesthetics but also increases your arm strength. With more muscular arms, you can perform your upper body exercises better.

Better Shoulder Mobility & Stability

Tricep extensions work on the muscles that surround your shoulder joint. This helps to relieve stress on your shoulders and improves your mobility. As a result, your shoulder stability and function improve, and the joint becomes less prone to injuries.

Arm Aesthetics

The isolation that triceps extensions give helps boost the aesthetics of your arms by activating each of the three tricep heads. Unilateral and overhead tricep extensions focus more on the long head, while pushdowns hit your medial and lateral tricep heads.

Carryover to Pressing Exercises

Your triceps play a crucial role in many exercises that involve using your shoulders and chest to extend your arms and push the weight. Strengthening them with tricep extensions will lead to better form and more weight lifted in those exercises, e.g., bench press and dip variations.

Types of Tricep Extensions

As we pointed out earlier, you can do tricep extensions with different equipment. So, there are many good variations of this exercise. Below is a list of some great tricep extensions:

Overhead Tricep Extensions
Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extension
Rope Triceps Extension
Skullcrushers
Single Arm Cable Pushdown
Reverse Grip Triceps Extension
Triceps Kickbacks
Straight Bar Triceps Extension

Straight Bar Tricep Extension Vs. Other Tricep Extension Variations

The straight bar tricep extension strengthens your triceps using a straight bar attachment on the cable machine. Due to the use of a straight bar, this variation allows you to lift more weight. Research shows load is critical for increased muscle hypertrophy and growth (2).

A straight bar tricep extension allows you to move more stable and controlled. The bar doesn’t shift like rope attachments so that you can focus and improve your mind-muscle connection. Contrary to the belief, this research shows that using machines to build size and increase growth in your triceps works as well as free weights (3).

Finally, when doing the straight bar tricep extension, you can easily adjust your grip to increase or reduce your forearm stimulation.

Techniques and Muscles Worked

The straight bar tricep extension primarily works on your triceps, of course. However, this exercise involves your pecs and back muscles, like the rhomboids and traps. You use your upper back and upper body muscles to stay stable while your lower arm moves the weight while doing a straight bar tricep extension.

To do the straight bar tricep extension, you need a cable machine and a straight bar attachment. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to do straight bar tricep extensions in proper form.

Attach a straight bar to the highest pulley of the cable machine and adjust the weight to meet your strength level or goals.
Take a half step away from the machine and stand with your feet at shoulder-width distance.
Grab the attachment using a pronated grip (palms facing down), and draw to chest level. Your arms should be closer than shoulder width.
Hinge at your hips to lean forward slightly and then brace your core. This is your starting position.
Focusing on your triceps, extend your elbows until you’re almost at lockout.
Pause and slowly return to the starting position to complete the rep and control the weight.
Repeat for as many reps as you desire.

Benefits of Straight Bar Tricep Extension

The straight bar cable extension offers all the benefits of tricep extension exercises. However, compared to other variations, you also get the following advantages.

More Growth

Using a straight bar allows you to lift more when doing this variation. This is due to the ease of gripping this attachment. The pronated grip is also strong and contributes to your ability to lift more weight during this routine.

Better Conditioning

Straight bar cable extensions work on all three heads of your triceps and isolate your triceps, putting more load on them. This leads to better definition and conditioning.

Constant Tension

Using a cable machine ensures that the tension is constant throughout the range of motion. Not locking out your elbows when you do this exercise also does the same, ensuring that your triceps work to failure, leading to growth.

Better For Beginners

The straight bar attachment is more stable and allows you to be more in control when doing the triceps extension. This is great for beginners and will enable them to use better form when doing triceps extensions.

References

Kholinne, E., Zulkarnain, R. F., Sun, Y. C., Lim, S., Chun, J. M., & Jeon, I. H. (2018). The different role of each head of the triceps brachii muscle in elbow extension. Acta orthopaedica et traumatologica turcica, 52(3), 201–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aott.2018.02.005
Marcotte, G. R., West, D. W., & Baar, K. (2015). The molecular basis for load-induced skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Calcified tissue international, 96(3), 196–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00223-014-9925-9
Schwanbeck, S. R., Cornish, S. M., Barss, T., & Chilibeck, P. D. (2020). Effects of Training With Free Weights Versus Machines on Muscle Mass, Strength, Free Testosterone, and Free Cortisol Levels. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 34(7), 1851–1859. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003349