CABLE EXERCISES
Do you want bricks for biceps and horseshoe triceps? Of course you do! But instead of curling till you’re blue in the face, it’s time to get clever with cables
Cable machines are a halfway house between resistance machines and free weights. Movement patterns are restricted, but not completely fixed, thanks to a rotatable joint attached to the top and bottom of the pulley system. That allows you to isolate specific muscles safely, while having to activate secondary muscles, which makes cables a fantastic training tool for hitting your biceps and triceps hard to build bigger, stronger and more defined arms. The ability to attach different handles to a cable machine means you can use it for a wide variety of exercises. And these machines maintain equal tension on the working muscle during the entire lifting and lowering phase of each rep, in a way that barbells and dumbbells don’t. That constant tension forces your muscles to work harder to manage the load throughout the entire set.
1. SINGLE-ARM ROPE PUSH-DOWN
Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a rope handle in one hand. Keeping your chest up and elbows tight to your sides, press your hand down to straighten your arm, then slowly return to the start. Do all the reps one side then switch arms and complete the same number of reps with the other arm.
Level up Shock your triceps into growth by doing a set of this exercise, then immediately switch to holding the end of the rope in both hands. Now press down with both arms for at least the same number of reps you completed with one arm.
2. BICEPS CURL
Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a bar handle attached to the low pulley with palms facing up. Keeping your chest up and elbows tight to your sides, curl the bar up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower under control.
Level up Make this move harder – and more effective – by doing one-and-a-half reps. That means you do a full rep, then curl the bar up to the halfway point of the rep and back down again. This is a setextending strategy to push your biceps so far out of their comfort zone they have no choice but to grow.
2. HAMMER CURL
Stand tall in front of a cable machine, holding a rope handle attached to the low pulley with palms facing each other. Keeping your chest up and elbows tight to your sides, curl the bar up to shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then lower back to the start under control.
Level up You can do one-and-ahalf reps on this move too, but instead do the extra half rep at the top to work a different section of your biceps harder.
3. OVERHEAD TRICEPS EXTENSION
Stand tall with your back to a cable machine. With your chest up and core engaged, hold a double rope handle attached to a high pulley behind your head. Lean forward from y
