Head to any gym and you will most likely see someone occupying the crossover cable machine at ALL times. It’s probably the second most popular place … after the water feature (or now … the smoothie bar!). Have you ever wondered why the squat rack always seems empty? Anyway, why is this massive iron and wire setup a favorite of gym rats? Because it’s believed to be the best place to get that deep chest line that so many guys covet and … it’s so much cooler than seated pectoral machines! Is it me or is that from the 80s?!?

Well … I’ll give you the best reason to swap the pec rig for the crossover cable. In the latter you are doing the standing exercise! As any of my AthLEAN-X guys can attest, I’m a huge fan of that in almost all of your workouts. Get up (literally) and stand up every chance you get in the gym! That simple change in your routine is enough to add at least 5-10 pounds of solid muscle to your build by simply engaging more of the larger, core muscles in the workload.

Now that being said … all cable crossovers are not created equal. Not even close. Think of all the variations you see. Guys who cross from bottom to top, top to bottom, one arm at a time, lying on a bench like a cable, etc. The thing is … this is all wrong (at least when it comes to maximizing your lower and inner chest!). Why are these wrong? Because generally the biggest driver of the weights in these exercises is NOT the muscles you are trying to work, but the momentum of the body and the unwanted contribution of the dorsal and serratus muscles.

So what to do?

Simple … isolate even more. Or to be exact, ISO Low Cross! That is what I call the exercise that I consider the fastest and fastest way to develop the inner and lower pecs. It is actually very easy to do, but not that easy to complete!

Start by placing two low pulleys on either side of you. Take the normal weight you use for high to low crossover cables and cut that weight at least in half. Now from there, grasp each handle with your palm back (very important for activating the internal rotators of the shoulder to pre-activate the chest muscles) and stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your arms straight and extended. . by your sides. Bring your hands a little in front of your body and now cross them in front of you (no higher than waist height) from right to left. You will feel the squeeze right in the center of the pecs and from the bottom up. From there, slowly return to the starting position and repeat, this time crossing the left over the right. Keep alternating this way until your pecs start to feel like towering hell … and then do a couple more!

That is all. The crossover cable exercise … fixed! You’ll get isolated pecs involvement, less momentum, a ground-based move, and two developed chest areas for the price of one! What more could you want than that? Impressive pecs balanced from all angles, of course (I can hear you say it from here!). Well now you can … except don’t tell too many people the benefits of this exercise, or you’ll have to camp out at the gym the night before your workout to make sure you get a chance to do the cable. cross station!