Face away, press up and out for a deep overhead triceps stretch.
Keep your elbows tucked and pointing forward, don't let them flare out wide.
Facing away from the stack with the rope behind your head, this puts the triceps' long head under load at its full stretch, the position where it grows best and gets trained least. Pressing up and out to a spread lockout takes the arm through the complete overhead range with the cable pulling back against you the entire way. It is the stretch focused counterpart to your pushdowns.
Pushdowns train the triceps with your arms at your sides. Overhead work fully stretches the long head because the arm is raised, loading a range pushdowns never touch. Pairing the two covers the whole muscle.
Yes. Flared elbows shorten the range and shift stress into the shoulders. Keep them tucked and pointing forward, and if you cannot hold that position, the stack is too heavy.
Take a staggered stance, lean slightly forward from the hips and brace before the first rep. That forward lean is what keeps you planted while the low pulley pulls from behind.
