Can you get a complete triceps workout with cables only?
Heck yes, you can. In fact, if you told me I could only use cables for triceps for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t even be mad about it.
Cables are arguably the absolute best tool for building juicy horseshoe triceps.
Let me explain why it works, and then I’ll give you my ultimate cable-only workout that covers everything your triceps need.
Why Cables Work So Well
Cables are awesome for building your triceps for three main reasons: 1) you can hit all three heads by adjusting your arm position, 2) it’s harder to cheat the movement, and 3) you put tension on the muscle through the entire range of motion.
Your triceps literally never get a break, which is exactly what we want for growth.
Speaking of the three heads, you have:
- The lateral head, which gives you the horseshoe on the outside of your arm (when you’re lean enough to see it distinctly).
- The medial head, the smaller part on the lower inside of the arm.
- The long head, which is the big meaty part on the back/inside of your arm, responsible for ~50% of your triceps mass.
You hit the lateral and medial heads maximally with any pushdown or pressing movement. But the long head crosses the shoulder joint. To get a maximum stretch and contraction on the long head, your arm needs to be up over your head.
With cables, you can quickly and easily manipulate the angle of resistance to hit all three heads without ever leaving the cable station.
Cable-Only Triceps Workout
This workout hits all three heads of the triceps, giving you the heavy mechanical tension you want to grow, plus the pump to finish them off.
It only takes around 25 minutes (or even less), and it’s free in our workout log app, StrengthLog.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| Triceps Pushdown | 3 | 8 |
| Overhead Cable Triceps Extension | 4 | 10 |
| Crossbody Cable Triceps Extension | 3 | 12 |
The Cable Triceps Exercises
Time to get a-liftin’. Here are the three exercises you’ll be doing. Your arms are going to feel like they’re going to explode after this, but in the best way possible.
1. Triceps Pushdown
The triceps pushdown is the first triceps exercise most lifters learn, and it never gets old. If the bench press is the cake, pushdowns are the icing that makes your sleeves dangerously tight.
- Setup: Set the pulley high. A slight lean forward at the hips is fine and gives the bar room to move. Pin your elbows to your ribs, and press the weight down until your arms are fully locked out. Squeeze at the bottom, then control the weight on the way up.
- Sets & Reps: 3 sets of 8 reps.
You can do pushdowns with either a bar handle or a rope, but I recommend the bar since this is the first exercise, and you want to be able to go heavy and stable.
2. Overhead Cable Triceps Extension
As I mentioned, the long head needs your arms overhead to stretch fully, and no exercise does it better than overhead extensions.
- Setup: Set the pulley low. Grab the rope, turn away from the machine, and bring your hands behind your head. Keeping your elbows pointed toward the ceiling (or slightly forward), extend your arms straight up.
- Sets & Reps: 4 sets of 10 reps.
A stretched muscle under load is a growing muscle, and research shows that long head growth is ~40% greater with overhead extension than with pushdowns alone.1
3. Crossbody Cable Triceps Extension
Crossbody extensions look like they would be pretty much the same as regular pushdowns at first, but they feel quite different once you try them.
You get a little more long head action and even better peak contraction at full extension. You can’t use as much weight, though, but that’s not the point here.
- Setup: Stand in the middle of a dual cable crossover station. Set both pulleys to the very top. Take off the attachments and just grab the rubber balls at the end of the cables (left hand grabs the right cable, right hand grabs the left cable). With your arms crossed over your chest, push your hands down and out to your sides.
- Sets & Reps: 3 sets of 12 reps.
Crossbody extensions feel super smooth and give you an absurd pump to end the workout. If you don’t have a dual cable machine, you can do this exercise one arm at a time instead.
Pro Tip: Ditch the momentum.
If you shrug your shoulders or your elbows are swaying back and forth, the weight is either too heavy or your focus is off.
The only joint that should be moving is your elbow. Training heavy is all well and good, but to build your triceps, chasing PRs shouldn’t come at the expense of form.
And remember to progressively overload. If you aren’t eventually clicking the pin into a heavier plate or doing more reps than last week, your triceps won’t see a reason to grow.
How Often Should You Do This Cable Triceps Workout?
If you’re looking for the sweet spot for muscle growth, it’s somewhere in the range of 10–20 weekly sets per muscle group.2 3
This workout gives you 10 direct triceps sets right off the bat, so doing it once per week can be plenty. Especially considering you hit your triceps indirectly whenever you do chest or shoulder presses.
If you’re an advanced lifter, you can do it twice weekly, but make sure your recovery is on point, especially if you’re in a heavy pushing phase with a lot of chest and shoulder work.
Track This Cable Triceps Workout in StrengthLog
This is one of the many free workouts in our workout log app, StrengthLog.
StrengthLog remembers what weights you used in your last session and automatically loads them into your next one.
That makes it super easy to keep track of your weights and reps and make sure you’re on the fast road to progress.
Download it and start tracking your gains today!
StrengthLog is free to use, and so is this cable triceps workout.
Track Your Training. See Real Progress.
Log your workouts in one place and watch your numbers climb, week after week.
- Free to get started
- Fast workout logging
- Cardio and strength training
- Beginner-friendly
- Free weights, cables, and machines
- Progress over time, personal bests
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Final Rep
If you were stranded on a desert island that had a functional cable crossover machine and a protein shake spring, you could build world-class triceps without ever touching a dumbbell while waiting for rescue.
While old-school purists might scream “close-grip bench or bust,” the triceps are one of those muscle groups that might even prefer cables.
Free path of motion, full tension throughout, and simple to adjust the angle to hit all three heads—what’s not to love?
So, if you want to turn your pipe cleaners into actual pipes, cables are more than capable of doing the job.
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Last reviewed: 2026-03-02
References
- Eur J Sport Sci. 2022 Aug 11;1-11. Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead versus neutral arm position.
- J Hum Kinet. 2022 Feb 10:81:199-210. A Systematic Review of The Effects of Different Resistance Training Volumes on Muscle Hypertrophy.
- International Journal of Strength and Conditioning, Vol 1 No 1 (2021). Resistance Training Recommendations to Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy in an Athletic Population: Position Stand of the IUSCA.
