Best Cable Machine Arm Exercises for Mass and Strength

Want bigger, more defined arms? Forget the endless curls with dumbbells. Cable machines are your secret weapon for building impressive biceps and triceps.

In this guide, you’ll discover 10 science-backed cable exercises that trigger explosive arm growth.

These aren’t your typical arm workouts – each move is carefully chosen to hit your arms from angles that free weights can’t match.

The best part? You’ll learn how to perform each exercise for maximum gains (including the technique tweaks most lifters miss).

Plus, I’ll show you how to combine these moves into an arm routine that delivers results.

Let’s dive in.

How To Build Bigger Arms With Cable Machine

Sometimes, free-weight Arm exercises aren’t for everyone. You might have an injury that limits your range of motion, or you find that free weights are cumbersome or you want some creative way to train.

Then Cable Workout Is For You.

They allow you to target all heads of the biceps and triceps from various angles and through a full range of motion.

They provide smooth, constant tension on your muscles, increasing time under tension and maximizing muscle growth potential. Additionally, you can adjust body positioning, weight load, and attachments to alter your grip and target muscles differently.

Your arm cable workout approach—sets, reps, and weights—depends on your fitness level and goals.

• For muscle growth, do 3-4 sets of 8–12 reps with weights ranging from 70% to 85% of your 1RM.
• Use lighter weights for 15–20 reps at 50-70% of your 1RM for muscular endurance.
• Supersets consist of doing two consecutive exercises with little rest. For instance, combine cable curls for the biceps with cable push-downs for the triceps—my favourite choice to exhaust my arms.
• Drop sets involve performing an exercise to failure, then reducing the weight by 20-30% and continuing until failure again. For example, start with heavy cable curls, lower the weight and push further.

12 Best Cable Arms Exercises

If you want to build big arms with a cable machine, you must work out your biceps, triceps and forearms, which is why we’ve selected exercises that hit all muscle groups.

You’ll benefit more if you introduce cable exercises into your routine that work your biceps and triceps.

Here are 10 of the best cable exercises to build muscle mass and strength in the arms.

1. Triceps Pushdown

The triceps pushdown is the best cable triceps exercise for adding muscle mass to the upper back side of the arms.

Unlike barbell or dumbbell exercises, the cable provides a uniform resistance throughout the movement, where the resistance varies during the lift.

• Using the straight bar, a pronated grip (palms down) emphasizes the outer lateral head of the triceps,
• whereas a supinated grip (palms up) focuses effort on the inner long head.
• An angled V-shaped bar switches the hands into a neutral grip (thumbs up), equally targeting all three triceps heads.

How To Do

1. Stand facing a high-pulley cable with a short straight bar attached to it. You can also do this exercise with a rope or EZ bar attachment.
2. Slightly bend your knees and feet, which should be about shoulder-width apart.
3. Grasp the Short bar with a pronated grip (palm down) and hold the bar at chest level with your elbows tight against your sides.
4. Keeping your elbows stationary, straighten your arms until they are fully extended.
5. Pause at full arm extension, flex your triceps, and slowly return the bar to the starting position.

2. Cable Curl

If you’re looking for straightforward cable machine bicep exercises to add to your routine, cable curls are a great staple exercise to get you started.

Unlike barbell or dumbbell curls, where the resistance varies during the lift, the cable pulley provides a uniform resistance throughout the movement.

The bicep cable curl is one of the best isolation exercises for the bicep. The pulling action is performed with a cable machine and is suitable for beginners.

How To Do

1. Attach a straight bar to the low pulley of a cable machine.
2. Grasp the bar with an underhand grip (palms facing up) and your hands about shoulder-width apart.
3. Curl the bar up toward your shoulders by bending at the elbows.
4. Lower the weight down to the arm’s extended position.

3. Cable Overhead Triceps Extension

Cable tricep extensions are another great exercise for your cable arm workout. It is also a versatile exercise that can be modified to target different areas of the triceps. 

Also, the overhead cable extension is a low-impact exercise, so it’s a good choice for people with joint pain.

Overhead extension variations are especially good at targeting the long head of the triceps. The denser your long head muscle is, the larger the triceps appear.

How To Do

1. Attach a rope to the bottom pulley of the cable machine and face away from the pulley.
2. Hold the rope with both hands with palms facing each other (neutral grip)
3. Your elbows should be close to your head, and your arms should be perpendicular to the floor.
4. Slowly lower the rope behind your head as you hold the upper arms stationary.
5. Do the desired number of sets and reps.
6. Perform the exercise using a slow and controlled movement from start to finish.

4. Cable Hammer Curl

When building massive biceps and forearms, the rope hammer curl is an effective isolation workout that targets the brachialis and brachioradialis.

The cable rope hammer curl is a variation of the hammer curl exercise, utilized to build the anterior muscles of the arm.

It uses a neutral (palms facing one another) grip, which targets the forearms, brachialis muscles, and biceps.

How To Do

1. Attach a rope attachment to a low pulley and stand facing the machine.
2. Grasp the rope with a neutral (palms-in) grip.
3. Put your elbows by your side and always keep them at your side.
4. Pull your arms until your biceps touch your forearms. Hold for a second.
5. Slowly, start to bring the weight back to the original position.
6. Repeat for the recommended number of repetitions.

5. Reverse-Grip Triceps Pushdown

The cable one-arm reverse-grip pushdown is an isolation exercise that builds muscle and strength in all three tricep heads.

Now, push-downs are excellent regardless of the variation, but the reverse grip may allow you to emphasize the outer tricep head more.

How To Do

1. Stand near the cable apparatus and grasp the single-grip attachment with an underhand grip.
2. You should keep your elbows at your sides and press the weight downwards.
3. Also, keep your upper arm as still as possible; only allow your forearm to move.
4. Let the weight rise slowly until your forearms are parallel to the ground. Inhale as you do this.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 for as many sets as are desired.

6. One Arm Cable Curl

You can add plenty of single-arm exercises to correct potential imbalances when doing a bicep workout with a cable machine.

This exercise on a cable machine is another good option to work on your biceps and make your arms bigger.

This version of the bicep curl that only uses one arm works the bicep muscle better by connecting the mind muscle.

How To Do

1. Attach a stirrup bar to a low cable pulley. Stand on the side of the weight stack with your knees slightly bent and your legs shoulder-width apart.
2. Grasp the stirrup with an underhand grip (palms facing up).
3. Your non-lifting arm should be grabbing your waist. This allows you to keep your balance.
4. Curl the stirrup up towards your shoulder and squeeze the bicep muscle at the top.
5. Slowly lower the stirrup to the starting position.
6. Repeat for as many reps as desired. Switch arms while performing this exercise.

7. Cable Lying Triceps Extension

One of the standout advantages of using a cable machine for triceps extensions is the reduced joint stress it provides.

Unlike free weights, which can place uneven loads on the joints, cable machines offer a smooth and consistent resistance throughout the entire range of motion. 

That promotes hypertrophy (muscle growth) by effectively targeting all three heads of the triceps—long, lateral, and medial.

How To Do

1. First, adjust the cable machine. Move the pulley to the lowest position and attach your bar or rope.
2. Position yourself on a flat bench with your head near the machine. If you don’t have a bench, lying flat on the floor works, too. Your feet should be firmly planted and your body stable.
3. Reach back and grab the attachment with both hands. Use an overhand grip (palms facing down). Extend your arms so the bar or rope is above your forehead.
4. Slowly bend your elbows and lower the handle toward your forehead or just behind it.
5. Keep your elbows pointing up—don’t let them drift all over the place. You should feel a nice stretch in the back of your arms (triceps).
6. Now, straighten your arms to return the handle to the starting position. As you do, squeeze your triceps at the top—imagine trying to flex them as hard as possible.
7. That’s one rep! Keep going for your set.

8. Cable Reverse Curl

Why are cable reverse curls so vital? The Reverse cable curl is a classic biceps curl exercise used for decades by bodybuilders and strength athletes. They are a highly effective way to target the forearm and bicep muscles.

The only equipment you need for reverse cable curls is a cable machine.

There are so many fun variations of reverse cable curls you can explore (Like single arm), and some of them might call for different types of equipment (EZ bar) to keep things exciting.

How To Do

1. Attach the straight bar to the low pulley of the cable machine.
2. Stand facing the cable machine and grab the bar with an overhand grip (palms facing down). Your hands should be about shoulder-width apart.
3. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keep your arms straight down so the bar is just above your thighs.
4. Slowly curl the bar up toward your shoulders by bending your elbows.
5. Keep your elbows close to your sides—glued there, no flaring.
6. As you lift, focus on feeling your biceps doing the work.
7. Once the bar is close to your shoulders, pause for a second, then slowly lower it back to the starting position. Don’t just let it drop—control it down.
8. Repeat for desired reps.

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9. Cable Triceps Kickback

When doing an arm workout with a cable machine, you can add plenty of single-arm exercises to correct potential imbalances.

The cable tricep kickback is a versatile and effective exercise that targets the triceps muscles. It is an isolation exercise that builds strength and muscle in all three heads that comprise the tricep muscle.

How To Do

1. Attach a single grip rope handle to the lowest notch on the cable pulley system.
2. Then, bend your knees, keep your back straight and grab the rope with your left hand.
3. Now, with your upper arm parallel to the floor, extend at the elbow until your arm is straight back and fully extended.
4. Flex the triceps hard for a second, then return to the starting position.
5. Complete all reps on the left arm and then repeat on the right.

10. One Arm High Cable Curl

Another good single-arm cable exercise is the high cable curl exercise, which will help you target the biceps and build width and thickness in the muscle.

The high cable curl has two main versions: one-arm and two-arm. Both variations are effective, but the one-arm version allows you to use more relative weight for potentially more significant gains in biceps size and strength.

How To Do

1. Stand sideways next to a high pulley machine; arm extended out at about shoulder height. The handle should be gripped with one hand.
2. Slowly curl the cable towards your head, isolating the bicep until you feel tension, and hold for a count.
3. Return to the starting position and repeat for as many reps and sets as desired.
4. Repeat the exercise with your opposite arm.

Cable Arm Workout Plan

It’s really important to push each set to the point where your muscles feel fatigued.

This means those last few reps should challenge you, but remember, it’s all about maintaining that perfect form, posture, and technique through the set.

Beginner Arm Workout With Cable Only

Arm Cable Superset Workout plan

Cable Arm Drop Set Workout Plan

*On your last set of exercises, do two drop sets after reaching failure with the starting weight. Reduce the weight by 20-30% for each drop set, and perform as many reps as possible.

Note: The Cable arm exercises provided are examples. Please don’t hesitate to substitute with your favourite moves and modalities, such as machines, dumbbells, kettlebells, elastic tubing, or body weight suspension trainers.

Hit this routine two times a week if possible, with at least 48 hours between workouts, switching out exercises for the ones listed as desired.

Muscles of The Arm

Bicep and triceps are small muscles, to grow them takes time, knowledge, and intellect. So, to build the bigger and more impressive arm first, we needed to understand the anatomy of the arm muscle, which helps to perform the cable arm exercises at the best level.

Four muscles on the arm are parallel to the long axis of the humerus: the biceps brachii, the brachialis, the brachioradialis and the triceps brachii.

Don’t think it’s just biceps that make for bigger and more defined arms. When it comes to arms, the most significant portion of the upper arm is the triceps.

You might not be able to see them from the front, but the triceps make up around two-thirds of your upper arm.

So, if you’re looking to fill out those sleeves with well-developed arms, it’s important to activate all three tricep heads and all the heads of the biceps, brachialis and brachioradialis.

• The biceps brachii muscle (biceps) is a large, thick upper arm muscle.
• The brachialis muscle is one of the primary muscles in the upper arm. It is responsible for flexing the arm at the elbow joint.
• The brachioradialis is the primary muscle involved in forearm rotation and wrist control while bending or extending the elbow joint. 
• Triceps brachii, or Triceps, is a three-headed muscle opposite the biceps. It consists of 3 parts: the medial, the lateral, and the long head.

FAQs

Is Cable Good For Arm?

Yes, doing arm workouts with a cable is a good option for training the biceps brachii and tricep brachii muscle and the brachialis and brachioradialis. With regular practice, cable arm exercises can help you achieve more excellent arm development. 

The cable machine will provide smooth, constant tension on your muscles, leading to more extended periods under tension and, in turn, more significant potential for muscle growth.

Are cables better than weights?

Cable machines make your lift smoother and more effective. Since muscle growth and strength gains rely heavily on the amount of tension placed on the muscles during your workouts, using cable machines helps tire those muscles out more quickly, leading to even greater strength increases!

Conclusion

These 10 cable exercises provide all you need to elevate your biceps and triceps from ordinary to impressive.

Start with 3-4 exercises that feel most comfortable for you. Master the form, focus on that mind-muscle connection, and progressively increase the weight.

Within 8–12 weeks, you’ll notice visible changes in your arm development.

Did you find this guide helpful? Leave a comment below sharing which exercise you’re most excited to try.

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Do you have questions about any of these exercises? Drop them in the comments – I personally respond to every comment within 24 hours.

Manish Kumar

Manish is a NASM-certified fitness and nutrition coach with over 10 years of experience in weight lifting and fat loss fitness coaching. He specializes in gym-based training and has a lot of knowledge about exercise, lifting technique, biomechanics, and more.

Through “Fit Life Regime,” he generously shares the insights he’s gained over a decade in the field. His goal is to equip others with the knowledge to start their own fitness journey.