Cable Triceps Kickbacks Exercise Guide: How To, Benefits, Muscles Worked, and Variations

No longer are triceps kickbacks thought of as just a ‘toning’ or women’s arm exercise. They’re a versatile exercise that targets the back of the upper arm, unlike any other isolation movement. 

With optimal form and progressive overload, you’ll see the arm gains you’re looking for by incorporating this gem into your training. We like the cable triceps kickback variation, in particular, because it has many advantages over the classic dumbbell version.

By the end of this guide, you’ll understand the benefits of training your triceps with the arms extended behind you. You’ll also learn about the triceps anatomy and the many kickback variations and alternatives that we personally love to include on arm days. 

Muscles Worked During Cable Triceps Kickbacks

Kickbacks are purely an isolation exercise, therefore, the triceps are the target muscle group. 

Triceps brachii

The triceps are a ‘push’ muscle that extends the arm straight out when performing presses and kickbacks. Three heads – lateral, medial, and long, create the triceps’ appearance and function.

But the long head is believed to benefit most from triceps kickbacks. That’s because, unlike the lateral and medial heads, the long head crosses the shoulder joint. The shoulder plays a role in arm extension (bringing the arm back behind the body). 

This action involves the long head and hence activates it during kickbacks.

Deltoids posterior

While not as prominent in its action during kickbacks, the deltoids posterior is the rearmost shoulder head on the backside of the upper arm. This muscle activates and assists in bringing the arm back behind the body. You may get a little development in the rear delts from performing kickbacks. 

Benefits of Cable Triceps Kickbacks

Why should you incorporate triceps kickbacks? What makes this exercise different from other triceps movements? Let’s talk about some of the benefits of this triceps isolation movement. 

ACE research says it’s a superior triceps exercise

A study performed by researchers and sponsored by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) compared muscle activation between the most common triceps exercises (1).

Revealed: The Best Triceps Exercises According to Science

At the conclusion of the experiment, the dumbbell triceps kickback was found to be the second most effective triceps exercise after triangle push-ups. 

Surprisingly, it beat out exercises like dips, overhead extensions, pushdowns, and even the close grip bench. 

While the study used a dumbbell kickback, cables should elicit a similar or possibly better result. Triangle pushups outperformed the other movements because it’s harder to cheat and use momentum.

Dumbbells may be less effective when swinging compared to cables. 

24/7 tension on the tris

If time under tension maximizes muscle stimulation, then cables win. It’s not that free weights (e.g., dumbbells) can’t do the same thing with the correct technique. But certain tools give us more options and allow us to do things we couldn’t otherwise do using alternative methods. 

As long as you’re not letting the weights on a cable machine touch the rest of the stack during your reps, tension remains on the target muscles. 

Emphasize the long head 

When developed, the long head contributes a lot of muscle size to the triceps and arms overall. It’s responsible for making the arms look aesthetic from the rear. 

Related: The Best Long Head Triceps Exercises for Thicker, Stronger Arms

More ergonomic than dumbbells 

One popular way to perform cable triceps kickbacks is to use only the end of the cable without a handle or attachment. If you’ve tried this before, then you probably prefer it because it helps to get a really good triceps contraction. You also don’t need to handle large dumbbells. 

Train your body unilaterally

What does this even mean? 

Unilateral training refers to performing an exercise using one side or limb at a time. This has several advantages. 

• Identify and correct left and right side imbalances.
• Allows us to train functionally similar to how we do things in nature and maintain innate movement patterns.
• Can enhance the contraction in a muscle.
• Engages the core muscles differently. 
• Good for building and maintaining coordination 

How To Do Cable Triceps Kickbacks

Cable triceps kickbacks require a little more setup time than dumbbells. But it’s totally worth it! Below we’ve listed detailed step-by-step instructions for those looking to get the most out of this top-notch movement.

Step 1

Slide the cable pulley down to the lowest notch on the rail. Attach the desired handle or just use the bare cable. 

Step 2

Stand head on to the cable machine with a hip-width stance, bend your hips and knees, and hinge forward at the hips while maintaining a neutral spine.

Step 3

Grab the handle/cable with either hand and lift your elbow up behind you, higher than your torso, keeping your arm close to your side. Your upper arm should never move from this position throughout the exercise. 

Step 4 

Extend your arm/kickback and pretend you’re pushing the cable up toward the ceiling. Squeeze the heck out of your triceps muscles for a second. 

Step 5

Slowly bend your arm until it reaches a 90-degree or smaller angle, allowing the cable resistance to pull your hand toward the machine and stretch your triceps. 

Repeat steps 1-5 for the desired number of repetitions. 

Tips

• It’s okay to bend your elbows more during cable triceps kickbacks because the tension is always on the muscle. 
• Start light and focus on getting the best possible contraction in the triceps. As you get stronger, add weight in small 5-pound increments. 
• Experiment with various cable attachments. You may find that one feels better than the other. This is the one you should use. 
• Extend your arm straight back and don’t twist your elbows or arms outward. 

This Exercise:

• Target Muscle Group: Triceps brachii
• Secondary Muscles: Deltoids posterior
• Type: Hypertrophy 
• Mechanics: Isolation 
• Equipment: Cable machine
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Best Rep Range:
  • Hypertrophy: 8-12
  • Hypertrophy and muscle endurance: 15+ reps

Common Mistakes When Performing Cable Triceps Kickbacks

We’ve seen the most common bad habits with triceps kickbacks and this section addresses that.

Too heavy/ego training

While you certainly can go heavy on kickbacks, you should not sacrifice good form to add a little more weight. Kickbacks can already feel awkward enough because of the arm’s position.

Manytimes, exercisers don’t expect to be as weak as they are when performing kickbacks. So they’ll force themselves to try and use a larger dumbbell or pin more plates on the cable machine. It’s an ego thing and we’ve all done it.

But this also causes frustration because we cannot achieve the same amazing contraction. Hence were unsatisfied and try to make up for it with other movements. 

Pro tip: Drop the weight! Focus on the contraction and try to achieve a good 10-12 reps. Then, when you feel ready, add a little more weight. 

Using too much body English aka cheating

This is another bad habit that we do or see others doing that sort of ties into the first mistake (ego lifting). Twisting and turning to get the weight up. 

Because we’re naturally weaker when the arms are positioned behind us, we can burn out very quickly. But we still want to get that contraction. So we start rotating and using body English to keep those elbows high and lockout. 

Momentum can be used effectively. However, when inexperienced exercisers ignore good technique, the exercise loses its potency. 

Not doing kickbacks often enough

This can actually contribute to the second common mistake (too much cheating). 

Doing triceps kickbacks too infrequently can cause us to never progress in strength. Most triceps exercises are presses with the arms in front of the body. Therefore, many don’t take kickbacks as seriously. They’re just kind of thrown in sometimes. 

So when we do them once in a while, we can’t believe we’re not as strong as we thought we should be. 

4 Cable Triceps Kickbacks Variations and Alternatives 

If we’re honest, it doesn’t get better than cable triceps kickbacks. However, these variations and alternatives can be just as effective and useful in their own way. Plus, it’s nice to mix things up every now and then. 

Resistance band kickbacks 

The resistance band version of kickbacks is the best at-home alternative to cable triceps kickbacks. Because how many people have a cable machine at home? Probably not many. 

If done correctly, the bands will remain stretched and your triceps under constant tension.

The best way to set up the bands for kickbacks is to wrap one end around an object at roughly hip height. An easy way to do this is to secure one end of the band to door handles on both sides. 

Dumbbell kickbacks 

Of course, while cable kickbacks get the spotlight now we can’t forget about a classic – the dumbbell triceps kickback. 

It’s the most practical variation because dumbbells are more accessible than cables, especially if you work out at home. 

But there are some drawbacks. 

Oftentimes, less experienced exercisers bend the elbow too far or perform a biceps curl. This unloads tension on the triceps. You don’t need to lower the weight too far down during the negatives. It’s also an obvious waste of energy. 

When you feel the brachioradialis (upper forearm muscles) take over or the arms are at a 90-degree angle, you’re bending the elbows too much. 

Barbell kickbacks 

While seemingly a funkier option compared to its close relatives, don’t knock barbell kickbacks until you’ve tried them. 

Sometimes changing up exercises allows us to get better contractions in a muscle. We may even find that we like one variation better than another. Sure they may feel a little awkward at first, but they’re practical. 

Machine triceps kickbacks 

Aside from using cables and resistance bands, there are other machines designed to replicate kickbacks. They’re a great alternative option and offer training variety which makes things exciting.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Here are some cable triceps kickbacks FAQs. 

Wrapping Up

Cable triceps kickbacks boast a huge advantage over its free weight counterpart, the dumbbell kickback. The constant tension and freedom of being able to use various attachments or none at all, make it a gym favorite for those serious about maximizing triceps gains. Unless dumbbells were the only tool we had access to, cable triceps kickbacks win in almost every category.

This guide has everything you need to know about the cable triceps kickbacks. 

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