Muscles worked
The machine triceps press isolates your triceps, with all three heads straightening the elbow. The pad holds your upper arms in place, so your shoulders and trunk have little to do and balance does not matter. That makes the machine easy to learn and safe to take close to failure, since the weight simply settles back on the stack when your strength runs out. Some machines have you press forwards and others downwards, but the muscle doing the work is the same.
Common mistakes
- The seat is set wrong. The machine pivots around a point, and your elbow should line up with it. Sit too high or too low and your arm is pulled along a path that does not suit the joint, often felt in the elbow.
- Letting the plates touch between reps. Each landing gives your triceps a short rest and makes the set easier than it looks. Change direction just before the plates meet.
- Half reps. When the weight is heavy, it is easy to press only the last few centimetres. Straighten your arms fully, and let your elbows bend properly before the next press.
Variations and alternatives
- The triceps pushdown trains the same muscle standing, when the machine is busy or missing.
- Machine dips let your chest and shoulders help, so your triceps can handle heavier weights.
- The skull crusher when you want to train your triceps with free weights.
- The overhead triceps extension gives the long head more work and complements the machine well.
Sets and reps
For muscle, 8 to 15 reps over 2 to 4 sets works, with 15 to 20 for endurance. The machine lets you go all the way, but stopping with one or two reps in reserve is usually enough. The guide to sets and reps covers how sets and reps relate to your goal.
Machine weight steps are fixed and often large for an isolated triceps, so add reps first and move to the next plate once you reach the top of your range on every set. Note the seat position along with weight and reps, or your sessions will not be comparable. Then progressive overload on the machine is simple to track.