Cable crossovers

Exercise Details for Cable Crossovers

  • Primary Muscle
    Pec
  • Secondary Muscle
    Front Delt
  • Equipment
    Cable
  • Level
    Easy

Why Should You do Cable Crossovers?

The exercise mainly trains the chest but also the front of your shoulders. Depending on how you set up the bracket on the cable machine and how you pull the arms, different chest parts will be loaded differently. If you pull the arms straight forward, the middle part will be loaded the most. Obliquely upwards, the upper part of the chest will be loaded the most, and obliquely downwards, the lower part will be trained – Try it out! In the text below, we focus on the middle part of the chest.

Starting Position

Stand by the cable machine and adjust its brackets to shoulder height. Grab the handles and pull them in towards your armpits. Take a step forward with one leg standing in front of the other. Tilt the weight against the front leg, and your body will lean slightly forward. Tighten your torso so that you have a neutral and straight back. Pull back your shoulders and pinch the shoulder blades together so that the chest moves forward. Now move your arms forward so that they are almost straight and at shoulder height. You are now in the starting position.

Performance

Slowly move your arms back until you are parallel with your back. Please do not move your arms behind this point as it may injure your shoulders. The arms should always be slightly bent and fixed throughout the exercise – as if you were hugging a big tree. When you come parallel to your back, bring your arms forward again until your hands meet in front of your body. Do not stop here, but let your hands cross each other 20-30 centimeters so that the inner part of the chest is compressed even more. Hold in this position and squeeze the last bit out of your muscles before you slowly begin to bring your arms back again.

Guide for Cable Crossovers

  • To maintain muscle contact with the chest is more important than heavy weights
  • Pull back your shoulders and pinch your shoulder blades together
  • Keep your shoulders down 
  • Be sure to cross your hands at the front to squeeze your inner chest
  • Do not jerk the weight but pull the arms forward in a controlled manner
  • Tense the muscles you are exercising on the way back
  • Exhale as you pull your arms out and inhale on the way back
  • You can load the various parts of the chest differently by varying the height of the bracket

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