You may realize that the cable machine can help you work out many muscles but what are some chest exercises you can do with cables?
The cable machine is a piece of fitness equipment where a steel frame holds weights and pulleys.
Thanks to the cable going through these pulleys and attached to these weights you can do many types of strength training exercises for a wide variety of muscles.
Although some of the most popular chest exercises like the bench press generally use barbells and dumbbells, there are many exercise options that make the cable machine a great gym machine for your chest.
You can expect a wide variety of benefits from stronger chest muscles ranging from better exercise performance to a more aesthetically pleasing upper body.
Table of Contents
1. Cable crossover
For the cable crossover exercise, you will need to attach single-grip handles to each side of the machine at shoulder level. After that to do a cable crossover take the following steps:
- Grab 1 handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand. Stand in the middle between the two cables.
- Put one foot a small distance backward and the other foot forward for balance. Slightly tilt your upper body forward while keeping your back straight. Keep your arms slightly less than extended throughout the exercise.
- Slowly bring your hands to the center, instead of stopping when right before they touch each other you let one arm go above the other to go a little further.
- Slowly go back to starting position.
- When doing multiple repetitions switch between which arm goes above.
The cable crossover is a great exercise to train your chest muscles. If you want to focus more on your lower chest muscles you want to really go from a high to low position with your hands.
2. Standing chest press
This next exercise allows you to do the same movement as the classic bench press but with a cable machine and without a bench. To do a standing chest press take the following steps:
- Attach single-grip handles to each side of the cable machine at slightly below chest level.
- Grab 1 handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand. Stand in the middle between the two cables.
- Put one foot a small distance backward and the other foot forward for balance. Slightly tilt your upper body forward while keeping your back straight. How you grip the handles depends on what muscles you want to focus on.
- Your upper arms should be at an angle of about 45 degrees to your sides. Your forearms pointing forward horizontally.
- Push your hands forward 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.
3. Standing cable fly
The standing cable fly is one of the most popular chest exercises with the cable machine. To do a standing cable fly take the following steps:
- Attach single-grip handles to each side of the cable machine at shoulder level.
- Grab 1 handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand. Stand in the middle between the two cables.
- Put one foot a small distance backward and the other foot forward for balance. Slightly tilt your upper body forward while keeping your back straight. Keep your arms slightly less than extended throughout the exercise.
- Slowly bring your hands to the center until right before they touch each other.
- Go back to starting position in a controlled motion.
You can make the cable fly even more of a chest isolation exercise by doing it on a weight bench. However, even if you do it standing up it is a great exercise to mainly target your chest muscles.
4. Cable iron cross
For the cable iron cross exercise, you will need to attach single-grip handles to each side of the machine. Put the pulleys as high as possible. After that to do a cable iron cross take the following steps:
- Grab 1 handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand. Hold the handles so that your hand palms face downward. Stand in the middle between the two cables.
- Put one foot a small distance backward and the other foot forward for balance. Remain in an upright position. Keep your arms slightly less than extended throughout the exercise.
- Slowly bring your hands together by moving them down.
- Go back to the position in step 2 in a controlled motion.
At first this may seem a lot like a regular standing cable fly. However, by doing a more downward movement like with the cable iron cross you focus more on your lower chest muscles.
5. Cable bench press
The cable bench press is very similar to the classic bench press but instead of a barbell or dumbbells, you use a cable machine for extra resistance. To do a cable bench press take the following steps:
- Attach single-grip handles to each side of the cable machine at ground level. Place a bench in the middle of the two cables.
- Grab 1 handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand. Lie down on the bench with your back. Your feet should be flat on the floor.
- Put your upper arms at an angle of about 45 degrees to your sides. Your forearms pointing upward vertically.
- Push your hands forward 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 3 in a controlled motion.
By using a bench instead of a standing-up cable chest press you are able to move heavier weights. Just like with pushups you can also adjust the angle of the bench, either more incline or more decline, to shift the focus between lower and upper chest muscles.
6. Low cable fly
You can describe the low cable fly as the opposite of the cable iron cross exercise. you will need to attach single-grip handles to each side of the machine. Put the pulleys as low as possible. After that to do a low cable fly take the following steps:
- Grab 1 handle, walk towards the other handle and grab it with the other hand. Hold the handles so that your hand palms face forward in the starting position and upwards in the middle of the movement. Stand in the middle between the two cables.
- Put one foot a small distance backward and the other foot forward for balance. Remain in an upright position. Keep your arms slightly less than extended throughout the exercise.
- Slowly bring your hands together by moving them up and forward. Your hands should meet in front of you at about chest height.
- Go back to the position in step 2 in a controlled motion.
When done right the low cable fly exercise mainly helps you build your upper chest muscles.
7. Underhand cable raise
For the underhand cable raise, you only need a single cable pulley close to the ground and a two-handed grip. After that to do an underhand cable raise take the following steps:
- Stand in front of the cable machine at an arm-length distance or more with your feet about shoulder-width apart.
- Pick up the grip by bending through your knees. Grab it underhanded which means with your hand palms facing up. Place your hands close to each other. Stand back up with a good posture.
- While keeping your arms slightly less than stretched, move your arms upwards to about shoulder height. Keep your elbows close to your body during the movement.
- Go back to the position in step 2 in a controlled motion.
