Exercise description of the standing cable crossover.  Learn about the standing cable crossover with videos, pictures, and other sports information.  Also learn how the standing cable crossover can increase your sports skills.

Primary muscles worked:  Chest

Synergist Muscles:  Shoulders

Mechanics:  Isolation

Equipment:  Dual cable tower with two hand attachments.

How to perform the exercise:  The athlete can perform the standing cable crossover by grabbing to hand attachments at shoulder height. The athlete will bring the hand attachments across the midline of the body with a slight bend in the elbow and utilizing the pectoral muscles to do so. Once the hands and cables are partially crossed over, the athlete may return to the starting position. The movement for this exercise is in an arc-like path. The athlete should also make sure not to over-extend past the starting position as this may cause undue stress on the pecs and rotator cuff. Also, the athlete may need to take a staggered stance, with one foot a step ahead, and one foot a step behind the athlete's body. This will allow for greater stabilization which may be needed with heavier weight.

Spotting the exercise:  To spot the standing cable crossover, the spotter should stand in front of the athlete, and when needed, grab the athlete's wrists and assist them through the lift.

Sport specific application: The standing cable crossover is an excellent overall exercise for building standing chest power, which can be seen in many sports. For example, a standing cable crossover could easily be seen as a hook punch in boxing, or could be seen as a related movement to the pass that quaterbacks through in football.