Cable crossover alternative

The cable crossover is a cable machine exercise that allows you to work your chest from different angles. In this cable crossover alternative, we will look at a selection of the best cable crossover alternative exercises that you can do to help you achieve similar benefits.

April 12, 9 min read. For those of us chasing gains, there are some myths that come back again and again… and again. But you may still find yourself believing that the only way to achieve a chiselled chest and beast-like upper body strength is by spending your days and nights at the cable crossover. There are many other moves that will carve out your pecs and bulk up your upper body. Ready to make chest day the best day of the week? Read on. Changing up the angle of your cable crossover exercises lets you target your lower and upper pecs as well as other muscle groups.

Cable crossover alternative

More often than not, an effective chest day workout includes the cable crossover. And why not, using a cable machine is a great way of isolating your chest muscles so you can build bigger and stronger pecs. Three key things stand out the most for us when doing the cable crossover and are what make it such a great exercise. This means you can properly target those chest muscles without much involvement from other muscle groups like your shoulders, back, and biceps. This can help you work more on the definition of your pectoral muscles and focus on certain parts of the chest that might get overlooked during other exercises like the bench press. When you compare the cable crossover to some free weight exercises, the resistance gets more challenging as you bring the cables together with your muscles working their hardest at the top of the movement. This is different from something like dumbbell flyes and other exercises that involve free weights as the resistance tends to drop off either at the top or bottom of the exercise. When tension is applied to your muscles throughout the entire range of motion this will lead to greater strength gains and muscle hypertrophy. By setting up the cables to move at different angles you can place emphasis on certain parts of your chest. For example, if you set the cables lower down and then pull them up, this will put more emphasis on your upper pecs. On the other hand, setting them high and pulling them down will increase activation of the lower portion of your chest.

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The cable crossover is one of the most commonly performed exercises for isolating the chest muscles. It is great for keeping constant tension in the pecs throughout the range of motion. However, you may want to choose an alternative if you get bored or do not have access to a cable machine because your gym does not have one or you train at home. In this article, I will go through what makes a good cable crossover alternative, how to perform each exercise, and how to make the most out of each variation. I have included alternative exercises that use machines, dumbbells, Olympic rings, suspension trainers, free weight plates, and your own bodyweight so you can isolate the pecs regardless of what kind of equipment you have. The primary muscles used in the cable crossover are the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor, which are the main chest muscles that you can see on a body.

Updated On: April 04, You've knocked out your bench press sets and are looking to finish off your chest workout with a serious burn. Cable crossovers are always a great option, but what are the alternatives? The cable crossover is a chest isolation exercise that uses a cable crossover machine to target the pectoral muscles. The most common variation will be the high-to-low crossover, but you can do this exercise low-to-high and at a middle angle as well. The cable crossover mainly targets the pec major, with emphasis on the lower and inner fibers of the muscle. And while you cannot completely isolate one muscle, the cable crossover is considered more of an isolation chest exercise due to it being a single joint movement your elbows should remain pinned in position, so just your shoulder joint is moving. Because it is an "isolation exercise", the cable crossover makes for a great warmup or finisher for the chest muscle group. What's more, the movement allows the pecs to stretch deeply before contracting, which is great for eccentric contraction and it helps build a great mind-muscle connection that can be challenging to replicate on a bench press since many other muscle groups are hard at work. This answer can be confusing, but yes and no.

Cable crossover alternative

The Cable Crossover is an extremely popular chest exercise. Almost every commercial gym in the country has a giant dual-tower cable machine. Why do they have this machine that takes up an insane amount of space?

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Drop sets are very similar to back-off sets and can be used for a variety of different lifts, but there are some differences in how they are performed. Suspension Trainer Push Up Suspension trainers are amazing for home gyms as they are inexpensive, versatile, and take up very little space. The crossover will allow the hands to cross over one another and take the arms ever so slightly past the midline of the body, allowing the pecs to get an even greater contraction. But you may still find yourself believing that the only way to achieve a chiselled chest and beast-like upper body strength is by spending your days and nights at the cable crossover. Great cable crossover alternative exercise for stretching the pectorals, and one that you can perform in your home. Comoros KMF Fr. With a little emphasis on your core muscles and the muscles in your forearm gripping the handles. Hands directly under shoulders, flat back, knees, and feet touching the mat. Benin XOF Fr. This is a different pressing exercise that does a great job of targeting the upper chest.

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You must consult with a medical professional before acting on any content on this website. Pause for a great stretch before pulling them together again. Make sure there is a straight line from your head to your heels. Please add product to your wishlist to see them here. Honduras HNL L. You can also set the cables to pull them forward in a straight line which is a great starting position for working the whole pectoralis major. Your posture should be stationary throughout the entire rep. Start with a low elevation of your feet with something like a yoga block before progressing it onto something as high as a free weight bench or exercise stepper. Effects of variations of the bench press exercise on the EMG activity of five shoulder muscles. The dumbbell fly will push your pecs to the limit while strengthening the chest, shoulders and triceps. Rest-pauses refer to breaking down one larger set into smaller sets with to second rest periods in between. This places unnecessary stress on your biceps and shoulder joint, which can lead to injury.