Regular chest exercises are great but you may want to get more detailed. Find out in what movements the cable machine can help target the lower chest.
The cable machine is a great option when it comes to lower chest exercises and working other specific body parts thanks to the different resistance angles.
For the movements below, D-grip handles or single-rope grips are preferred. However, in some cases, you may be able to use other cable machine attachments too.
Additionally, make sure you pay attention to the details in the walkthroughs below. At first, many of the exercises may look like regular cable chest exercises but by changing the angles you can focus on the lower part.
1. Cable crossover for lower chest
To do this first cable exercise you preferably have a double-pulley cable machine. In theory, you could use a model with one pulley but in practice, this will be annoying in terms of balance and bracing yourself.
Once you have the right equipment, take the following steps to do a cable crossover for the lower chest:
- Set the cable pulleys at about shoulder height or slightly higher.
- Grab 1 cable machine handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand. Stand in the middle between the two cables.
- Take a small step backward with one foot and a small step forward with the other. Keep them somewhat away from each other horizontally speaking for balance.
- Tilt your upper body slightly forward while keeping your back straight. Keep your arms slightly less than extended throughout the rest of the exercise.
- Slowly bring your hands to the center and downward. Instead of stopping when right before your hands touch each other, you let one arm go above the other to go a little further.
- Alternate between the positions in steps 4 and 5 but switch between what arm goes above the other.
The main attention point to make the cable crossover focus on the lower part instead of the whole chest is really moving your hands from a high to a low position.
Cable crossovers are already a chest isolation exercise but by implementing this change it becomes even more targeted.
Additionally, you want to pay attention to keeping the rest of your body in more or less the same position. This will help you avoid cheating aka using other muscles besides your lower chest to move the weights.
2. Downward cable machine chest press
The bench press is a classic compound chest exercise that can also be done standing with a cable machine. By adjusting the cable chest press you can also target different parts of the chest.
For this movement, you preferably have a functional trainer which is basically a cable machine with the pulleys closer to each other. However, a regular double-pulley machine can work too.
Take the following steps to do a downward standing cable machine chest press:
- Attach single-grip handles to each side of the cable machine at about chest level.
- Grab 1 handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand. Stand in the middle of the two pulleys.
- Put one foot a small distance backward and the other foot forward for balance. Tilt your upper body slightly forward while keeping your back straight.
- Your upper arms should be at an angle of about 45 degrees to your sides. Your forearms pointing forward horizontally. And your shoulder blades retracted and down.
- Push your hands forward and downward until your arms are slightly less than stretched. Keep your forearms in the same line as the cable so you can exert force optimally.
- Return to the position in step 4 in a controlled motion.
Downward cable machine chest presses are definitely more of a compound chest exercise. Besides your lower chest, you will also work your triceps and front deltoids a good amount.
Additionally, your latissimus dorsi and middle deltoids may have to work to a small extent to move your arms through the right trajectory.
Again the more downward motion is key if you want to focus on your lower chest muscles instead of the middle or the upper part of your chest muscles.
3. Decline bench cable fly
For the decline bench cable fly you will need to put a FID weight bench (flat, incline, decline bench) in the middle of the two cable pulleys of a functional trainer or cable crossover machine.
Similar to the chest press, the chest fly is a relatively standard cable chest exercise.
However, by changing the angle of the trajectory in relation to your body, you engage your lower chest muscle fibers more compared to the regular chest fly.
Take the following steps to do a decline chest fly on a weight bench:
- Attach single-grip handles to each side of the cable machine with the pulleys close to the ground.
- Grab 1 handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand.
- Sit on the decline weight bench and secure your legs under the pads. After that, lie down.
- Keep your arms slightly less than stretched and pointing up. Your hand palms should face each other and your hands should be as close together as possible.
- While keeping your arms slightly less than stretched, slowly lower your hands down and out to the sides until your arms are about horizontally to the ground.
- Move your arms back to the position in step 4 in a controlled motion.
Using an actual decline bench is recommended but in theory, you can also do this lower chest cable exercise on the floor.
You do this by lying on the ground, placing your feet flat on the ground, keeping your lower legs straight up in the air, and raising your butt to get in a bridge position. After that, you can do the decline cable fly.
A benefit of both variations is that it becomes easier to keep your body still. In turn, this can lead to more focus on your lower chest muscles and potentially more and faster muscle gain.
4. Decline cable bench press
For the next lower chest exercise you again need a decline weight bench. Once you have one of these take the following steps to do a decline cable bench press:
- Attach single-grip handles to each side of the cable machine with the pulleys close to the ground.
- Grab 1 handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand.
- Sit on the decline weight bench and secure your legs under the pads. After that, lie down.
- Keep your arms slightly less than stretched and pointing in a way where they are at about 90-degree angles to your upper body. Your hand palms should more or less face forward and your hands should be at about shoulder width.
- Slowly lower your hands to your chest. Your upper arms should be at an angle of about 45 degrees to your sides.
- Push your hands back up again in a controlled motion.
The movement of the decline cable bench press is basically the same as the standing downward chest press.
However, by lying on a weight bench it becomes harder to move the rest of your body. In turn, this can lead to more focus on your lower chest muscles and less focus on your ab and oblique muscles.
5. Jackhammer pushdown
For the jackhammer pushdown you only need one pulley and a straight bar handle instead of the D-grip. Once you have these, take the following steps to do a jackhammer pushdown:
- Set the pulley as high as possible and attach a straight bar handle.
- Stand next to the cable machine with your face toward it. Tilt your body slightly forward while keeping your back straight, and grab the straight bar with both of your hands. Your hand palms should face downward.
- Before starting the actual exercise, move your hands to about shoulder height or slightly lower.
- Slowly push down the straight bar until your arms are slightly less than stretched.
- Return to the position in step 2 in a controlled motion.
You can describe the jackhammer pushdown as the cable version of the dip exercise with a bigger range of motion.
While the jackhammer pushdown is not as popular, both exercises can be helpful to work the lower chest and tricep muscles.
6. Cable pullover
This next exercise is generally done with a dumbbell, but you can also do a pullover with a cable machine. You will only need one pulley, a weight bench, and preferably a double rope attachment.
Once you have the required equipment, take the following steps to do a cable pullover:
- Set the pulley at about the height of the weight bench and attach a double rope handle. Place the weight bench about a step away from the cable machine with the head support toward the machine.
- Lie on the weight bench with your head on the end of the bench. Stretch your arms backward and grab the double rope handle. Keep your arms slightly less than stretched for the rest of the exercise.
- Slowly move your arms forward until they point up. Keep your elbows close to the center, not pointing outward.
- Move your arms back to the position in step 2 in a controlled motion.
The cable pullover can also be a latissimus dorsi isolation exercise if you do it differently.
To work your lower chest muscles you really want to make sure you keep your elbows close enough to the center. If you feel your back muscles working your technique is likely “off” (at least in this context).
You can also do the lower chest version of the cable machine pullover standing up if you don’t have a weight bench available.
7. Downward standing cable fly
Similar to how you don’t need a weight bench to do a cable chest press, you also don’t need this equipment to do a downward standing cable fly.
Take the following steps to do this exercise with a double-pulley cable machine:
- Set the cable pulleys at about shoulder height or slightly higher.
- Grab 1 cable machine handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand. Stand in the middle between the two cables.
- Take a small step backward with one foot and a small step forward with the other. Keep them somewhat away from each other horizontally speaking for balance.
- Tilt your upper body slightly forward while keeping your back straight. Keep your arms slightly less than stretched throughout the rest of the exercise.
- Slowly bring your hands to the center and down until your hands barely meet.
- Alternate between the positions in steps 4 and 5.
Again, make sure you implement the more downward trajectory to focus on the lower chest muscles instead of the whole muscle.
Compared to the bench version, your abs and obliques will have to work harder to keep your upper body in the right position.
Lastly, the downward cable chest fly is basically the same as the downward cable crossover but your hands don’t cross each other.
You typically want to do the crossover since a bigger range of motion is typically helpful for muscle growth and strength progress. However, you may choose the chest fly because of personal preference and limited mobility.
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