For triceps growth
For triceps growth, the two are close. Seated dip machine rates slightly higher: more stretch, easier on the joints.
Bar pushdown keeps more of the work on the triceps.
Both are good choices, and they train the triceps differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed. (Fonseca et al., 2014; Costa et al., 2021)
The research score comes from these, scored by hand from the studies. Lifter scores appear once an exercise has 10 ratings. How scores work
Bar Pushdown. Heavy and simple, but with the arms at your sides the long head never gets stretched.
Seated Dip Machine. Heavy triceps pressing on a stable machine, without the shoulder stress of bodyweight dips.
For triceps growth, the two are close. Seated dip machine rates slightly higher: more stretch, easier on the joints. Bar pushdown keeps more of the work on the triceps. Both are good choices, and they train the triceps differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed.
About the same: both are easy to learn.
Bar pushdown needs a cable station, so for most people it’s a gym exercise. Seated dip machine needs a machine, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.
Seated dip machine: it rates Excellent for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric, against Strong for bar pushdown.