Cable crossover alternative

The cable crossover is a cable machine exercise that allows you to work your chest from different angles. In this guide, we will look at a selection of the best cable crossover alternative exercises that you can do to help you achieve similar benefits. The cable crossover is one of the most popular chest exercises in any gym, but it is not always the most practical. In this guide, cable crossover alternative, we will look at what makes the exercise cable crossover alternative.

Home » Alternatives. Firstly they rely on a cable machine which is an expensive and often not practical indulgence for lots of home gym owners. There are more functional and effective exercises out there. A full-range crossover allows you to go from a wide pectoral stretch to the full contraction of the muscle. The internal rotation at the shoulder can be very useful for some people — throwers and swimmers in particular.

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.

This means that one arm is not assisted by the other and has to work harder if the weaker arm struggles.

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?

The important thing to note about a cable crossover is that it provides a specific chest stimulus. The chest should be doing almost all the work in this exercise, meaning you can get an excellent pec workout with a relatively lightweight. Not only that, but it helps to control the weak part of the movement the end range. When looking for cable crossover home gym alternatives, we need to make sure they fit at least one of these roles:. These are the main factors that define an excellent cable crossover — and our alternatives today are going to focus on them. Some will focus on all of them, others only some. Three major exercises make the most sense — offset push-ups for beginners, wide push-ups for intermediates, and Maltese push-ups for advanced trainees. They also use the stretch into end-range that we talked about above — this helps strengthen the shoulder joint itself and provides the best results to your muscle gains. This is an excellent exercise for developing wide-grip and one-handed push-up strength.

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? Some closely mimic Cable Crossovers, but not every exercise necessarily does. What all these exercises do have in common, though, is that they all target the chest. The closest alternative to Cable Crossovers is Dumbbell Flys. Both movements target the chest in the exact same way. If you have dumbbells, Flys would be my first suggestion. Flys should not be done with heavy weights. Stay relatively light, keep the movement very controlled and focus on the stretch.

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Chad XAF Fr. It does require a steeper learning curve so be careful if you are a newer lifter. It increases shoulder and core engagement significantly, making it a much more challenging exercise. You can increase the difficulty of this exercise by elevating your feet, which will help tilt your body weight more onto your hands and engage the pec muscles more. 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. This is because the bench press works a lot more than just the pecs, as we discussed in our guide on the muscles worked in the bench press. The slower and smoother the better. Keep your arms slightly bent throughout. This exercise will also kick your shoulder strength into overdrive while stretching your deltoids and lats. Rest the dumbbell on your chest so that it is standing upright. This is one of the best exercises for focusing on that all-important mind-muscle connection. You can use an assisted dip machine as described below or you can use a resistance band wrapped around your knees on a normal dip bar. Pull your arms apart, like you would for a normal cable fly. Hands directly under shoulders, flat back, knees, and feet touching the mat. As such, a majority of intermediate to advanced level gymgoers and athletes will often seek out a more intense free weight exercise capable of overloading the pectoral muscle group in a manner otherwise difficult to achieve and maintain with just the cable crossover exercise.

The bench press may not be your best bet for big pecs. Make no mistake, barbells are fantastic tools for getting stronger and gaining muscle. To sculpt and shape your pecs, you should incorporate movements like the cable crossover into your workout routine.

The machine counterpart to the barbell bench press , the chest press machine is also an excellent alternative to the cable crossover for exercisers seeking a distinctly more intense substitute exercise that activates more than just the pectoral muscles in a compound movement fashion. If space is an issue, then, one of the best cable crossover alternative exercises at your disposal is the single arm band fly. Skip to content. Moldova MDL L. In the context of repetition volume, the plate press will cause fatigue to be accrued at a significantly faster rate than the cable crossover due to its wider muscle group activation set and higher intensity — therefore requiring that the exerciser reduce the total volume of repetitions in order to retain the same training intensity. It is also one of the most effective cable crossover alternative exercises Muscles Targeted: Pectorals chest Level: Beginner Equipment Required: Bench, Cable Station Steps to Follow You will need a cable station, like with cable crossovers. Hold one end of the resistance band in each hand. Are you sure you want to delete selected wishlist products? Dumbbell Pullovers. Kim Dyte. I wonder why make the two things mutually exclusive, when there are plenty of exercises that help to build both strength and muscle at the same time? Push the bar away from your body until your arm is fully extended, making sure to engage your core as you do this. Making the right choices and putting in the effort can put you on the road to developing the well-defined chiseled chest of your dreams Frequently Asked Questions What Muscles Do Cable Crossovers Work?