Liftworthy
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Liftworthy

Every exercise ranked by research, by lifters and by results. Find what’s S-tier for your goal, then train it.

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General training information, not medical advice. If something hurts, stop and see a professional.
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Explore/Triceps

Cable Kickback

CableIsolationEasy to learnOne side at a time
Front
Back
Primary

Works

Triceps

You need

Cable station

How to do itPictures · 3 steps
1Start
2Arms extended
Main muscles
  1. 1Low pulley, hinge forward, upper arm by your side
  2. 2Straighten the elbow fully behind you
  3. 3Keep the upper arm still

Most common mistake

Swinging the upper arm to move the weight.

Watch a demo

Good for

  • Easy to keep adding weight
  • Easy on the joints and recovery

Compare with

vs Single-Arm Cable Pushdownvs Dumbbell Skull Crushervs Bar Pushdown
A
For triceps
#11 of 20
See the full list →
Research
73
Scored by hand
Results
Soon
From the app
How lifters rate itBe the first
S
A
B
C
D
F
Why research scores it 73
Target tensionStrong
Loaded stretchFair
ProgressionExcellent
Low costExcellent

Hardest where the triceps is shortest, so it misses the stretch, but it’s light on the elbows.

Research behind these criteria

  • Target tension: Zabaleta-Korta et al., 2021 · Kinoshita et al., 2023
  • Loaded stretch: Maeo et al., 2021 · Maeo et al., 2023 · Pedrosa et al., 2022 · Kassiano et al., 2023
  • Progression: Plotkin et al., 2022 · Pelland et al., 2026
  • Low cost: Schoenfeld et al., 2021 · Refalo et al., 2023
How scores work

Machine taken? Swap to

  • STriceps Extension MachineMachine
  • SOverhead EZ-Bar ExtensionBarbell
  • AOverhead Dumbbell ExtensionDumbbell
  • SOverhead Cable ExtensionCable

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