STOP F*cking Up Cable Crossovers (PROPER FORM!)

Do you know how to do a cable crossover? If not, you’re in luck. In this video, I am going to show you exactly how to perform a cable crossover so that you can perform the exercise every time without making a single mistake. Remember, it’s not just what exercise you do, but how you them that matters the most and I want to make sure that get the cable crossover form right every time you do it.

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Step 1 of this cable crossover tutorial is the height of the cable attachment:

When doing cable crossovers, you have three options of how high or low to set the cables, depending on what area of the chest you are looking to grow. For the up fibers of the chest, you will want to set the cable to be around hip height. This will limit any extra front delt contribution to the exercise. If you are looking to hit the lower fibers of the chest, the cable attachment should be just above the height of your head as it will limit internal rotation of the shoulder. For the middle pec fibers, you want the cable attachment to be at the height of your chest, so that the cables can travel in the direction of those fibers.

Step 2 for how to do cable crossovers is the loading of the exercise:

You might be asking, “how much weight should I be using?” The answer is likely more than you are using now. You can overload the chest while doing cable crossovers by using enough weight. To keep your shoulders in a healthy position, you will have to grab the cables one at a time before starting the exercise.

If you square up your stance, the weight of the stack will likely pull you backwards, not allowing you to perform a proper rep. However, taking a staggered stance will give you a stronger base of support to counteract the weight you are using.

Step 3 of this cable crossover tutorial is how far from the cable attachments you should be standing:

Imagine there is a doorway in the middle of the line between the two cable attachments. If you stand behind the doorway, you will be engaging too much of the biceps and not enough of the chest. On the other hand, if you stand too far through the doorway, you will be forced to press the cables instead of adducting. In order to get the most adduction and have the best opportunity to grow the chest, use that staggered stance to have one leg through the doorway while the other remains inside the doorway.

Step 4 of this cable crossover how-to is rep execution:

Before initiating your first rep, you want to take note of how much bend in the elbows you have. Instead of your arms being straight, you will want a little bend in the elbow. This will take some stress off the anterior capsule of the shoulder joint.

In order to get loaded stretch on the chest, you will want to lean forward before you initiate each rep. Then, when it comes time to adduct the arms across the body, you will want to lean back. This is similar to the mechanics of the bench press. This will allow you better opportunity to engage the chest as the shoulders are being limited in the movement. When it comes to building a big chest, you want to minimize the contribution of the delts as much as possible.

Just like any other chest exercise, you will want to keep your shoulders unshrugged throughout the entire rep. This, again, will maximize chest fiber recruitment and limit shoulder contribution.

As far as how much adduction you are trying to get; remember, you are not trying to cross your hands over each other. Instead, you are trying to have your biceps come into contact with your pecs as much as possible. Leading with the biceps across your body will result in the hands following suit.

Now that you know how to properly do cable crossovers, you will not only be able to set a good example for other gym-goers, but you will be able to grow a bigger chest in the process. Remember, it’s not just what exercises you do, but it’s how you do them that matters the most, especially when it comes to form. When it comes to cable crossover form, how you do it is going to determine how much your chest will grow from doing the exercise.

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