Rope Cable Attachments

Even though the rope can be harder to handle than other cable attachments, you'll find that once you get used to it, the flexibility of a rope will have you using it as your sole triceps press-down attachment. I even prefer it over a swivel bar, but it's really a personal choice.

Even though a double rope attachment is made of heavy-duty wound polypropylene (a type of rigid plastic), it's limp, so I incorporate a slight twist at the end of each press-down to really flex my triceps. It's here that the rope offers more versatility than any other cable attachment. For example, with a V-bar or straight-bar your hands are stuck in a fixed position and the attachment stays rigid even when your wrists naturally bend during the exercise. A rope, on the other hand, is flexible so it follows the natural movement of your wrists, taking the stress off of them. With the rope you can also add the twist I mentioned above. Just turn your palms outward for an extra squeeze at the bottom of the press-down. I do this by turning my little fingers out and up at the end of each contraction so that I feel the stress on my outer triceps.

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With a rope cable attachment you can perform more than triceps press-downs. Try a rope for overhead extensions, rows and straight-arm pull-downs and ab crunches. You can even perform single-arm versions of most of exercises with a single rope attachment or by wrapping the unused side of the rope over the other.

To use a rope cable attachment for triceps press-downs:

Face the cable stack and grab the rope by its V-shaped rubber handles.
Your elbows should be bent at almost 90-degree angle, but remember to keep them glued to your sides.
Press the rope down, while keeping those elbows in.
Extend your arms fully and twist your little fingers out and upwards at the end of the press so you feel it burn your outer triceps.
Return to the starting position. Repeat.

Anna's Tip: The flexibility of the rope attachment makes it harder to handle than a straight, rigid bar. Don't be too proud if you need to drop the weight a bit. Also, I find that the texture of the rope is really harsh on my hands so I use gloves whenever I do triceps press-downs.