For triceps growth
For triceps growth, the two are close. Rope pushdown rates slightly higher: easier on the joints, easier to progress.
Skull crusher gives more stretch.
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
Rope Pushdown. Simple and joint-friendly, but the long head never gets stretched.
Skull Crusher. Lowering behind the head stretches the long head, but heavy reps can be hard on the elbows.
For triceps growth, the two are close. Rope pushdown rates slightly higher: easier on the joints, easier to progress. Skull crusher gives more stretch. 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.
Rope pushdown needs a cable station, so for most people it’s a gym exercise. Skull crusher needs an EZ bar and a bench, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.
Rope pushdown: it rates Excellent for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric, against Good for skull crusher.