The cable crossover is another name for a chest flye done with two cable pulleys, and it’s one of the most popular chest exercises you’ll see in a gym. Contrary to popular belief, however, it ISN’T an “inner-chest” exercise, so to speak, and it shouldn’t actually be done by crossing one arm over the other. We’ll get into how to do a cable crossover correctly, and all the ways you can use it to build a bigger, thicker, and stronger set of pecs.
Key Takeaways
1. The cable crossover works the pec major and minor muscles, and can be set up to emphasize the upper, middle, and lower divisions of the pecs.
2. The cable crossover works the pecs hardest in their shortened position, and offers more tension throughout the whole range of motion than does a dumbbell flye.
3. Avoid lunging into the movement or using your bodyweight to complete your reps. The crossover works best when you allow it to isolate your chest properly.
What Is A Cable Crossover and What Are Its Benefits?
(See 00:26 in the video above.)
A cable crossover is just another name for a cable chest flye. “The benefit of using a cable versus dumbbells is constant tension,” says Jonny Catanzano, an IFBB pro bodybuilder and trainer in Austin, TX (@jonnyelgato_ifbbpro). That means that the weight on the cable stack is providing resistance throughout the exercise’s entire range of motion, and that makes the target muscles work harder. “When you use dumbbells,” says Catanzano, “as you raise the weight over your chest, the resistance drops off the pecs. When your arm is directly over your chest, your joints are bearing the load, not the muscles, and there’s no force pushing outward against your arm.” Therefore, the dumbbell flye isn’t an ideal exercise for chest development compared to a cable.
“Another big advantage to the crossover is that you can attack the chest muscles in the shortened position,” says Catanzano. In almost any kind of chest press, your pecs work hardest at the bottom, when they’re stretched out and lengthened. The crossover is hardest at the end of the range of motion when your pecs are the most shortened. This makes the cable crossover a nice complement to pressing exercises, helping to develop the chest more completely.
Yet another feature of the crossover is the ability to adjust the angle of the cables to zero in on one area of the chest over another. Assuming your cable station has adjustable pulley heights, you can set the pulleys low to target the upper chest, high to target the lower chest, or at shoulder level to emphasize the middle-pec fibers in mere seconds. To be clear, you can’t completely isolate one area of the chest over another—all the the regions of the pecs will work in any pec exercise you perform—but the crossover height settings will activate more muscle fibers in one region over another.
Catanzano also argues that the arcing flye motion and cable setup can be easier on the shoulders than dumbbell flyes or pressing movements, which often force you to go deep into shoulder extension to get the best activation of the pec muscles. “There’s a lot less shear force on the shoulder joints,” says Catanzano, “and that lets your chest do more of the work.”
How To Do The Cable Crossover: A Step-By-Step Guide
Step 1. Attach a single-grip handle to each pulley on a cable station, and set the pulleys at about chest level. Grasp a handle in each hand and step forward from the machine a bit so that you feel tension on the cable, and your chest gets a bit stretched. You should be far enough away that the weights do not rest on the stack when your arms are extended at your sides.
Step 2. Stagger your stance for balance. You should feel rooted into the ground enough so that if someone tried to shove you, you’d be braced and stand your ground. Extend your arms at your sides and bend your elbows slightly (this will take stress off the elbows and prevent you from hyperextending them).
Step 3. Move your arms in front of your body, straightening your elbows as you go. Squeeze your chest as you perform the motion, and stop when your hands are directly in front of your sternum and touching each other.
Step 4. Control the weight as you draw your arms back, bending your elbows again. Perform 3–5 sets of 10–15 reps.
Note that we’re not asking you to cross one arm over the other. While the move is called a “cable crossover,” Catanzano says there’s no extra benefit in crossing your arms. If anything, the extra range of motion may be unnecessarily fatiguing, and it transfers the stress of the exercise to your shoulders and away from your chest muscles.
That’s how you do the classic, standing cable crossover. However, for an even better chest hit, it’s a good idea to do your crossovers lying against a bench if you can access one. Not having to balance yourself will leave you more energy to devote to training your chest, and it’s easier to get in and out of position with heavy weights.
Cable Crossover Upgrade
Set a bench to 90 degrees and adjust the pulleys to shoulder height from where you will sit on the bench. Now you can perform the crossover with 100% focus on your chest. This upgrade applies to all versions of the cable crossover, which we’ll show you further down.
TIP: Whether doing your crossovers standing or seated, there will come a point when you’re so strong that it becomes difficult and even dangerous to start the exercise from the stretched (arms out) position. In this case, it’s OK to press the cable handles to full extension in front of your chest (as if you just did a bench press) and start the exercise from there, lowering the weight and going into the stretch to begin the first rep. This prevents you from starting the exercise in your weakest position, and will help you avoid shoulder injuries and muscle pulls in your pecs.
What Muscles Does The Cable Crossover Work?
(See 05:32 in the video.)
“A lot of people think that the cable crossover targets the inner chest, but it doesn’t really work like that,” says Catanzano. “What you’re feeling is a huge contraction right along where the muscles insert on your sternum,” so while the inner part of the chest is certainly working hard, the entire muscle is activated. Crossovers won’t necessarily get you a more defined, striated inner chest like bodybuilders show on stage, but you can be sure they’ll stress your pecs in ways they don’t get from bench presses, increasing your chances of getting the fullest chest your genetics allow.
Specifically, the cable crossover targets the pec major and minor muscles, and as we mentioned above, you can emphasize one division of the pec major over another. Crossovers done with the cables set at shoulder/chest level target the sternal head of the pec, the so-called “middle-chest” fibers. Setting the pulleys low to the floor will cause you to do the flye motion with more of a 45-degree angle, and that works the upper part of the pec—the clavicular head—harder. Doing just the opposite—that is, setting the pulleys above shoulder height—will cause you to bring your arms lower to the floor when you flye, and that works the lower chest (the costal head) best.
Chest Cable Crossover Variations
You can make certain areas of the chest work extra hard depending on how you set the cable pulleys.
Lower-Chest Crossover
Target: costal head of the pecs, pec minor
Set the pulleys to eye level or as high as they’ll go. Perform as you would the regular crossover, but bring your arms from shoulder level down in front of you to about where your belt buckle would be. You should feel the exercise along the outside of your pecs, especially as your arms come back up and the muscles get stretched.
Upper-Chest Crossover
Target: clavicular head of the pecs
Set the pulleys to their lowest level. Perform as you did the regular crossover, but bring your arms from hip level up to in front of your face. Your arms should move at about a 45-degree angle.
Note that both the upper and lower-chest crossovers can be done seated on a bench as well.
Cable Crossover Alternatives
(See 13:26 in the video.)
We poo-poo’d the dumbbell chest flye above because the tension drops off as you finish the range of motion, but it still provides a pretty good chest stimulus, and it’s a fine option if you don’t have cable pulleys to use instead.
TIP: if you do dumbbell flyes, try cutting off the range of motion before your arms are perpendicular to the floor. In other words, come up only three-quarters of the way. You’ll do better to emphasize the bottom position of the exercise, when the pecs are stretched, since that’s where the dumbbell flye works you hardest.
Banded flyes are another option. If you have resistance bands, attach them to a sturdy object and use them the same way you would cables. As the bands stretch, they’ll provide more resistance to your flye motion, emphasizing the shortened position of the pec muscles just like cables do. “If you only have one band, just work one side at a time,” says Catanzano, “applying all the same tips and tricks I go over in the video.”
Suspension Trainer Flye
If you work out at home or on the road (aka in a hotel room), you may have a suspension trainer. In that case you can do a flye-pushup combination that works the same muscles as the crossover, plus a lot of core, upper back, and shoulders for stability.
Step 1. Attach the suspension trainer to a sturdy object and set the handles to about thigh level (you can lower the handles to make the movement harder, or raise them to make it easier).
Step 2. Keeping your body straight and rigid, extend your arms outward and lower your body until you feel a stretch in your chest. Bend your elbows as needed, and then extend your elbows as you flye your body back up.
Pro Tips: How To Avoid Common Mistakes with the Cable Crossover
(See 05:45 in the video.)
Mistake #1: Lunging into it
While your aim should be to be as balanced and stable as possible, some people tend to lean forward as they flye their arms forward, pushing their bodyweight into the movement. That brings your shoulders into the exercise more than it should, and relieves your chest of a lot of the work, so focus on keeping your body upright and stationary.
Mistake #2: Bending your elbows too much
You need a little elbow bend when your arms are extended out at your sides, but a bend of 90 degrees or so is too much, and finishing the movement like at—bringing your hands together in a bear-hugging motion—won’t make your pecs work optimally. “Straightening your elbows as you flye will cause your chest muscles to fully shorten at the end position,” says Catanzano, accomplishing the main feature of the cable crossover.
Mistake #3: Not setting the pulleys to the correct height
If you set the pulleys well above shoulder height for a regular, middle-chest focused crossover, you’re just going to put more stress on your shoulders and take it off your chest. Make sure the pulleys are in the right position for the area of your chest you most want to target. When in doubt, set them to chest level, whether standing or sitting down on a bench.
How To Warm Up Before The Cable Crossover
(See 10:49 in the video.)
Try these moves to prepare your chest, shoulders, and elbows for safe and strong crossovers.
Single-Arm Cable Press-Through
Sets: 2 Reps: 10–12 (each side)
Step 1. Set the pulley at shoulder level and grasp the handle with one hand. Stagger your stance and face the opposite cable, gripping the column for support.
Step 2. Press the cable forward, squeezing your pec, as if you were bench pressing. Allow your elbow to bend fully and drag behind your body a bit on the way down. That’s one rep.
Cable Internal Rotation
Sets: 2 Reps: 10–12
Step 1. Set the pulleys just above shoulder height and hold a handle in each hand. Raise your upper arms so they’re parallel to the floor and bend your elbows 90 degrees. Step forward and stagger your stance.
Step 2. Slowly rotate your forearms forward while keeping your upper arms raised. Don’t let your arms move forward at the shoulder; just rotate. Slowly rotate back again. Go very light and move carefully. This exercise warms up the rotator cuff, the sensitive muscles inside your shoulder joints.
Straight-Arm Adduction
Sets: 2 Reps: 10–12 (each side)
Step 1. Lower the cable height to around hip level for both pulleys. Grasp one handle and hold on to the opposite side’s column for support.
Step 2. Keeping your arm straight, bring your arm in front of your chest, squeezing at the top. The movement is basically a one-arm flye, but from a lower position so the stretch isn’t as great and you can get your pecs used to performing the range of motion.
Who Should Do The Cable Crossover?
(See 15:11 in the video.)
Catanzano recommends the crossover to aspiring bodybuilders or anyone whose goal is to better their physique. “It’s an isolated movement, so it’s not going to benefit athletes or powerlifters as much, but that doesn’t mean those people shouldn’t do them,” he says. “Someone who probably shouldn’t do crossovers is a person with shoulder injuries. The crossover is probably safer than a dumbbell or machine flye, but I might still avoid it. You could do some presses or pushups instead until your shoulder is healed up.”
How Often To Perform A Cable Crossover Workout
(See 14:46 in the video.)
“The best time to do cable crossovers is obviously on a chest day,” says Catanzano. “Or, if you do push, pull, and leg days, or upper-lower days, do it in the push or upper session.” It’s best to do crossovers after a pressing or pushup exercise so you have some blood and warmth in your chest already and it doesn’t need a lot of extra warming up.
You can do crossovers one to three times a week for moderate sets and reps: 3–5 of 10–15, or less if you’re just getting familiar with the movement. Take your sets close to failure—the point at which you can’t do another rep with good technique due to fatigue—and you’ll deliver a mighty stimulus for gains.
)
