Exercise Tutorial: Cable Crossover
Revised by Stephanie Zaban (Registered Kinesiologist & Masters of Kinesiology)
Published: April 26th, 2020
1st Revised: February 17, 2021
2nd Revision February 17, 2023
Table of Contents
What Is a Cable Crossover
The Cable Crossover is an exercise done on a cable machine that is used to strengthen the muscles of the upper chest. It involves two pulleys and will engage the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor as well as your anterior deltoids.
How to Do Cable Crossover
High Cable Crossover
Low Cable Crossover
High Cable Crossover
For a High Cable Crossover, raise the pulleys to be at a setting above the head. Grab a pulley in each hand and stand in between the stacks and step forwards, pulling the arms together in front of you. Your torso should have a slight bend forwards and one foot should be planted in front of the other to increase balance.
With a slight bend in the elbows, inhale and extend each arm outwards so that the hand is in line with the shoulders. Exhale and engage the chest to return your arms to the starting position in front of you. This setup will work the upper and lower section of the Pectoralis Major and the deltoids.
Low Cable Crossover
For a Low Cable Crossover, lower the pulleys to be at a setting near your feet. Following the procedure above, get into the starting position. Your palms should be facing up. Start with the arms extended at chest level and lower to about hip height. This setup will work the upper section of the Pectoralis Major and the deltoids.
Cable Crossover Muscles Worked
Cable Crossover Benefits
The Cable Crossover Has Everything
When it comes to muscles and strength training, the cable crossover has everything. One of its major advantages is that cable crossover exercises are not performed on a bench, you do them standing up. This means your shoulder blades, or scapulae, are free to move around naturally without being pinned from the use of a bench. Freeing the scapulae allows for a greater range of motion, therefore a wider variety of workouts.
Work Much Faster and Spend Less Gym-time
The Cable Crossover can work every muscle in your body in various ways, meaning that utilizing it in your workout can save you a whole lot of time. Instead of doing different workouts on different machines and adjusting all of the seats and the weights, you can just easily adjust the settings on a crossover cable and do all of your exercises there. Additionally, due to the fluid action of moving from one exercise to the next, the crossover cable can also help you circuit train, provide you know what type of muscles you want to hit.
Unilateral Workout
A unilateral movement is a type of exercise that impacts your body one side at a time. Usually, when a person exercises bilaterally, their weak side tends to “cheat.” Since unilateral exercises focus on one side at a time, balanced muscular development is provided, and your body can avoid muscular imbalance.
The Cable Crossover Challenges Your Core
Cable Crossover exercises are free weights. Performing them engages your core muscles. The more work you do, the more they will be activated to help you maintain proper posture and stay upright without straining your back. Overall, the Cable Crossover exercise is great for core activation.
Make Old Exercises Fun and Exciting Again
If you’re getting tired of doing the same workouts over and over, why not try doing them on the Cable Crossover machine? Not only do they challenge your muscles, but they give you a workout that feels new and exciting, breaking the monotony of hopping from one piece of exercise equipment to another.
The Cable Crossover Machine
The Cable Crossover machine, although arguably one of the best pieces of gym equipment you can use, can usually only be seen in large gyms. This is not because the Cable Crossover is underrated, or that no one ever hardly uses it. It’s because the Cable Crossover machine requires a fairly large area and is usually considered by the general gym-goers as a pretty advanced exercise.
A fairly high-impact workout, the Cable Crossover is seen as a routine only the “pros” do. It’s even depicted in the movies as one of the toughest workouts the hero has to go through, usually with an exaggerated load.
Despite seeming like an intimidating machine, the Cable Crossover is a fairly simple workout. Sure, it’s advanced, very high-impact, and hard, but it can easily be done by anyone who has been consistently training the muscles of the chest.
Cable Crossover Mistakes
Generalizing the Machine
Due to its isolation movement, people generalize the Cable Crossover machine as a finishing workout. However, isolation can be good at the start as well, given that you follow the method of pre-exhaustion.
No Variation
Even with a Cable Crossover machine, relying on pressing movements all the time will result in a complacent chest. However, utilizing the Cable Crossover machine’s free movement to target your chest from multiple angles will result in a well-rounded chest that’s stronger and tougher.
Failing to Warm Up beforehand
Before pulling the cables and starting your workout, make sure to perform a proper warm-up. Doing so will help to reduce injury and prime your muscles to work, which is a sure catalyst for growth.
Why Is The Cable Crossover Useful
Calorie Burn
Because the chest is one large muscle group, training it leads to more burned calories.
Better Physique
Training your chest using a Cable Crossover can help you get a more symmetrical physique.
Cable Crossover Variation on the Workout Routines
Highly versatile and flexible, the Cable Crossover machine can help you break the boring cycle of your old routines and can re-introduce fun into your workouts.
Cable Crossover Alternative
There are many alternatives to the Cable Crossover if you do not have access to the machine. Cable Crossover Alternatives include:
You can also anchor resistance bands and perform the Cable Crossovers the same way you would use the machine!
When To Use Crossover Cable
You should use the Crossover Cable when performing a Cable Crossover, or other cable exercises that require the use of the Crossover Cable machine. A benefit of using the Crossover Cable is that exercises that take place on a bench generally pin down the Scapulae and reduce the range of motion.
The Crossover Cable machine allows for more freedom of movement, therefore a greater range of motion and ability to perform more exercises.
As well, if you are looking to increase core strength, the Crossover Cable machine will certainly challenge the core by recruiting these muscles to help stabilize the body during these standing movements.
Low Pulley Cable Crossover
A Low Pulley Cable Crossover involves setting the pulleys to the lowest position and performing the Cable Crossover as previously described. Your palms will be facing the ceiling and you will pull to chest height, and lower to hip height. The Low Pulley Cable Crossover will engage the muscles of the upper chest and deltoids.
Cable Crossover Back
The Cable Crossover Back is an exercise that will engage the Deltoids, Trapezius, and Shoulders. Assume the same starting position as the Cable Crossover, except you, will be holding the opposite handle in each hand.
This means that the cable on the right side of the body with be held in the left hand, and the cable on the left side of the body will be held in the right hand. Begin with your arms extended just above eye level. Simultaneously abduct the arms out to the side as if you were completing a fly. Return to the starting position and repeat the movement.
What Is a Reverse Cable Crossover
An reverse cable crossover is a variations of a crossover. This exercise targets the back deltoid muscles (the muscles at the back of your shoulders) and the upper back muscles. It involves using a cable machine with the handles attached at the lower position.
