What Happens When You Go From High-Pulley To Low-Pulley Cable Crossovers?

The crossover is an excellent isolation move for the pecs that’s normally done with the upper pulleys, but what happens when you switch to the lower pulleys?

CABLE CROSSOVERS

Cable crossovers are a common addition to your repertoire for your chest. Because you’re working at only one joint — the shoulder — and keeping your elbows locked in a slightly bent position, it makes for an excellent isolation move as a flushing exercise at the end of your workout. Occasionally it can be done first as a pre-exhaust move.

FINISHING MOVE

The most common way to perform the cable crossover is from the high pulley. Either standing directly underneath the overhead bar or a few feet in front, the high-cable crossover is a single-joint move typically done at the end of your chest workout.

MAKE THIS CHANGE: ADJUST THE PULLEYS TO THE BOTTOM POSITION

Most commonly, the cable crossover is done from the upper pulleys, which puts emphasis on the lower and inner regions of your chest. As you might imagine, switching to the lower pulleys changes the angle of pull, helping you develop the upper/inner parts of the chest, which actually tend to be the sections most difficult for bodybuilders to develop. Like all single-joint flye movements, maintain a slight bend in your elbows as you bring your arms up and in front of you in a diagonal manner until your hands are in front of your face.

GET THE BENEFITS FROM BOTH

The great thing about an adjustable cable crossover machine is that you can move the handles up and down the rods to allow you to work your chest from multiple angles. That’s important to consider since your chest is made up of so many fibers running in various directions, and by altering the line of pull from high to low and low to high, you increase your chances of engaging as many fibers as possible