Q: I read Old Man Young Muscle 2 in one sitting. Amazing information. I’ve paged through the Exercise Guide, too. Great work. I’ll read that in full this weekend. The [new] Positions-of-Flexion stuff in it got my attention, so I’m excited. I did look at the triceps exercises closely because that’s a lagging muscle for me. Do you think the cross-cable pushdowns are better than dumbbell kickbacks for the contracted position? I’m desperate for more arm thickness.
A: Thank you for the kind words. Putting those ebooks together took two years of experimentation, research, writing, and rewriting. Hypertrophy science continues to evolve, and I wanted both ebooks as up-to-date as possible…
One thing that has remained constant in the science is variation in fiber recruitment—different angles of pull and torque curves can stimulate unique fiber bundles and even different areas of the target muscle…
While these two triceps exercises are similar in the contracted-position realm, they also have some unique qualities when comparing them…
Kickbacks (right):
1) Allow your arms to move behind your torso—full contraction
2) Have you drive the resistance straight back
3) Has zero resistance at the bottom when forearms are perpendicular (neutral)
Cross-cable pushdowns (left):
1) Does not allow your arms to move behind your torso
2) Has you driving the resistance down and out to the sides—a unique line of pull and contraction
3) Provides resistance through the full range of motion—continuous tension
So is one better than the other? Well, in OMYM2, I mention that continuous tension makes some ideal exercises better than others…
For example, cable chest presses have it—resistance at the top finish position; dumbbell decline presses don’t—resistance is zero at the top. That gives the cable chest presses a slight edge; however…
In the case of the two triceps exercises above, the cross-cable pushdowns’ continuous-tension edge is countered by the kickbacks more complete contraction—your arms move behind your torso…
So both are excellent contracted-position triceps moves with slight deviations. I’m not sure either has a significant edge…
I suggest using the contracted-position triceps move you like and feel best. Substitute it with the other every so often…
Or if you’re obsessive-compulsive like me, alternate them each week so you get at as many fibers as possible. (For more on exercise variation, see the study that opens Chapter 6 in OMYM2.)
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