SHOULDER CABLE CROSSOVER FULL

If you want to make the movement even tougher, spread the handles wide – it’ll engage the pectorals even more.

Keeping your core engaged and your back straight, slowly lower your torso towards the floor, bending at the elbows.This extra range also allows a little extra rotation at the shoulder.įinally, the push ups require scapula control too, so the upper back moves freely throughout the lift.Įquipment needed for push ups on handles: This is a variation on a theme, in a similar way to the ring push ups and the dumbbell push ups – it’s a chest exercise that allows the pectoral muscles to stretch and engage more than usual thanks to the greater range of motion. If you want more convincing on why push ups are a great idea, check out our article on push up benefits here.

SHOULDER CABLE CROSSOVER FULL

At full depth, pause and push yourself back up to a full extension.

If you want to make the movement even tougher, spread your hands wide as you lower towards the floor – it’ll engage the pectorals even more.

Keeping your core engaged and your back straight, slowly lower your torso to the floor, bending at the elbows.

With an overhand or neutral grip, start with your arms at full extension.

Set the rings to a depth of your choice.

You can make it even harder by opening the hands wider as you move your chest towards the floor, but this is an advanced move and more similar to the cable crossover. It increases shoulder and core engagement significantly, making it a much more challenging exercise. That’s true, but the element of instability added by the rings changes the exercise entirely. The ring push up is a phenomenal exercise – a really humbling experience for many! At first glance it should be easy, it’s just a push up.

These exercises are tried and tested over many years and with many clients. In this section I’ve tried to mimic the good parts of the cable crossover and reduce the exposure to the bad and ugly parts of it. Now you’ve read why I don’t think they’re always a great choice of exercise, let’s move on to what I think are better alternatives. Apart from the fact this looks bad, it’s also a one-way ticket to injuries.

The two factors combine leading to a rounding of the shoulders and the upper back, creating a hunch-back look. The long term trade off for people who do a lot of internal rotation work and not enough upper back work is poor posture. 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? Of course cable crossovers build some strength, but not nearly as much as other exercises such as the bench press. If you do a lot of internal rotation exercises and don’t balance it out with lots of upper back pulling work and stretching, you’re likely to develop pain later down the line.Ĭable crossovers don’t build much in the way of real strength – they’re more a bodybuilding exercise than a functional or performance exercise. It can cause a tight, hunched posture and lead to upper back and shoulder issues. Internal rotation at the shoulders is a problem if you have chronically tight pectorals. Research shows us that a pectoral stretching protocol can help ease discomfort in people with shoulder pain. Most lifters have tight pectoral muscles, so an exercise that helps to eccentrically contract the muscles and pull them into a full stretch can have potential shoulder pain benefits. The stretch is also an important element of the lift. They also engage the pectoral muscles effectively without using the anterior deltoid as much as other exercises, making it useful for those who are trying to reduce stress on the shoulders. The internal rotation at the shoulder can be very useful for some people – throwers and swimmers in particular. A full-range crossover allows you to go from a wide pectoral stretch to the full contraction of the muscle. The range of movement with cable crossovers is excellent – it’s actually the highpoint of the exercise in my opinion. To make this a fair and reasoned section, we’ll look at the good, the bad and the ugly of cable crossovers and hopefully by the end you’ll understand my viewpoint. I’m not saying cable crossovers are a terrible exercise, just there’s issues with it that make me think you’re better off with alternatives. It’d be unfair for me to disregard an exercise without giving an explanation as to why I think there are better alternatives.

Cable crossover alternatives – the bottom lineĬable crossovers – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Cable crossovers – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Shoulder cable crossover