Spread the rope and lock out for a full triceps squeeze.
Keep your elbows pinned and still, only your forearms move.
The rope pushdown is the bread and butter triceps isolator: elbows fixed at your sides, forearms sweeping down against the stack, and the rope splitting apart at the bottom so you reach a harder, fuller lockout than any straight bar allows. The cable resists on the way back up too, loading the stretch. Simple, repeatable, and endlessly progressible one pin at a time.
The rope lets your wrists stay neutral and spread apart at the bottom, giving a stronger peak contraction. The bar locks your grip but usually allows a bit more weight. Rope for the squeeze, bar for the load, most lifters rotate both.
You are leaning on the weight and letting the elbows drift forward, which drags the whole upper body into it. Stand tall, lock the elbows to your sides, and choose a stack you can move with forearms only.
Yes, that is the rope's entire advantage. Pulling the ends apart as you lock out lets the arm fully straighten and squeezes the triceps hardest right at the finish. No spread, no bonus.
