Ready to level up your chest workout? Here are the essential cable chest exercises for building a stronger, more muscular chest.
Cable machines aren’t the most home-gym-friendly—they’re heavy, complicated, pricey, and take up a lot of space.
But holy smokes, what a difference they can make to your training regimen.
Cable machines rival (or even exceed) free weights for muscle development, and you’ll find that spending more time training with the cables can build real power and strength far faster than you’d expect.
In this article, I want to talk about why you should train your chest on a cable machine, and give you a list of my top five favorite chest exercises on a cable crossover machine.
Plus, I’ve put together a short but highly effective workout you can incorporate into your weekly routine.
Get ready to take your chest muscle training up a level thanks to the cable machine.
Let’s jump right in.
Why You Should Train Chest on a Cable Machine
There are a lot of different ways that you can train chest in the gym, with a ton of different equipment options.
Here are a few of the reasons that I recommend every trainee includes at least a few cable machine exercises into their routine (whenever possible, of course):
Greater time under tension.
Because of the way the machine is designed, using a system of cables and pulleys to support the weight, your muscles have to stay engaged throughout the entire movement.
The weights should never come to a rest until you’re done, which means they are always under tension.
The more time under tension, the faster you hit muscle failure and the greater the hypertrophy.
Joint-friendly exercises.
When you’re working with free weights, there is a lot of weight resting directly on your joints, which can be problematic for people with shoulder, elbow, or wrist injuries or strength insufficiencies.
But with the cable machine, you’re just pulling or pushing the weight, and there is no actual weight resting directly on your body.
This means it’s far gentler on your joints and less likely to cause injuries or worsen existing injuries.
FUN FACT: Compared to regular pin-loaded strength training machines, cable machines promote a better range of motion during upper body exercises like chest and overhead presses1.
Strengthening in both concentric and eccentric phases.
A lot of free weight exercises focus chiefly on the concentric (contraction) phase, but don’t really hit your muscles hard during the eccentric (relaxation) phase.
Cable machines, however, engage your muscles throughout the entire movement, in both phases. This leads to greater strength overall, and bigger muscles, too!
Increased stability.
With machines that slide along a fixed rail, stability is designed into the machine. With the cable machine, however, you have to create your own stability and engage secondary muscles to keep your hands moving along the correct plane of motion.
This leads to better overall fitness and stability, giving you more well-rounded strength and improving your balance and coordination.
As you can see, there are a lot of great reasons to add cable machine exercises into your training regimen!
Best Chest Exercises on Cable Crossover Machine
If your goal is to build massive chest muscles, you’re probably going to immediately gravitate toward barbell bench presses—the “be-all-and-end-all” free weight exercise to build massive pecs.
While the bench press is a highly effective exercise and yes, builds insane chest power, on its own, it’s not going to help you develop well-rounded chest strength.
Looking for more cable machine exercises? Here is a detailed rundown of my favorite cable exercises for building stronger arms.
You need to incorporate other chest-focused exercises into your regimen.
Not just barbell exercises, but dumbbell exercises, kettlebell exercises, bodyweight exercises, and, of course, cable machine exercises.
Here are the best exercises you can do on a cable crossover machine to build serious chest power:
Cable Chest Exercise #1: Standing Cable Chest Press
This exercise mimics the movement of a barbell chest press, but does it in a standing position (rather than lying on a bench) and uses the cable machine to maximize time under tension.
The result: an exercise equally as effective as chest presses, but with far less risk of strain on your joints.
But there’s a bonus: because cable machines (which, if you remember, are simply a handle at the end of a cable) force you to work extra-hard to keep your movement controlled when pushing against the handle, the increase in muscle engagement leads to faster growth in your chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles than with bench presses.
Sounds pretty good to me.
To perform this exercise:
- Set the cable machine (with a D-ring or whatever cable machine attachment you prefer for this exercise) to chest height.
- Stand with your back facing the machine, your feet planted slightly beyond shoulder width, and your core muscles ready to brace you.
- Grab the handles and bring them up to chest level. The cable should be running beneath your armpit.
- Engage your core and use your chest muscles to push the handles directly out in front of you. (For more inner chest muscle focus, bring your hands together as you reach full extension.)
- Extend your arms until just before your elbows lock out, and hold for a 1-count to increase muscle tension.
- Keeping your muscles engaged, control the pace/movement of the handles as you return to your original position.
- Pause for a 1-count in resting position, then start all over again.
- Repeat as desired.
Cable Chest Exercise #2: Cable Bench Press
If you really love bench presses (which, let’s be honest, most of us do!), you can use the cable machine to perform your favorite exercise in a new and surprisingly effective way.
Because you’re using a cable machine, there’s no need for a spotter/assist to help you if you’re struggling under a heavy load.
The cable machine will also maximize time under tension to make the bench press even better at building muscle than the standard free weight bench press.
You can explode your growth by switching (at least once a week) from barbells to cable machines for all your bench press training.
To perform this exercise:
- Set a flat bench in the middle of the cable crossover machine. Set the handles to the lowest setting.
- Lie on your back on the bench, grip the handles, and bring them up to the level of your chest.
- Engage your core and squeeze your chest muscles to push the handles upward, extending your arms. Make sure to stop before your elbows lock out!
- Hold at the peak for a 1-count, really focusing on feeling your pecs engage.
- Lower slowly and under control back to your chest, to hold it there for another 1-count before starting again.
- Repeat as desired.
Trainer’s Note: You can use a decline or incline bench for decline/incline cable bench presses, too!
Cable Chest Exercise #3: Stability Ball Cable Presses
Exchange the bench for a stability ball, and what do you get? A new and more challenging way to bench press!
With a solid flat bench, there is minimal engagement of the core muscles (just enough to keep you lying flat while pressing).
But with a stability ball, there is no solid platform, but the ball will shift and roll underneath you. This means your core muscles have to do significantly more work to keep you stable while you’re bench pressing.
And because the ball will squish (a little) when you press, your chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles will have to work just that little bit harder to complete the bench press. It’s a game-changer for sure!
To perform this exercise:
- Set the handles to the lowest setting, and place a stability ball in the center of the cable crossover machine.
- Lie on the ball so your upper and middle back are supported, and bend your knees to use your legs to support your lower back, pelvis, and lower body.
- Grip the handles in an overhand grip (palms facing downward) and bring them up to chest level.
- Engage your core and contract your chest muscles to push the handles directly upward.
- Push to the full extension of your arms, but stop just before your elbows lock out. This increases muscle tension and keeps your chest and arms doing all the work.
- Hold for a 1-count at extension, then slowly lower your hands under control back to your chest.
- Repeat as desired.
Cable Chest Exercise #4: Seated Single-Arm Chest Fly
I love unilateral exercises!
When you work only one side at a time, you create a serious amount of instability that forces your core muscles to engage to counteract.
As a result, you can build powerful abs, back, and oblique muscles, which will “bulletproof” you against lower back injuries and make you fitter and stronger overall.
That’s what makes this particular cable chest exercise such a great choice.
Working one hand at a time maximizes core engagement and will do wonders to strengthen all of your core muscles.
To perform this exercise:
- Sit on an adjustable weight bench or directly on the floor, with your back to the cable machine. Set the handle to chest height.
- Grip the handle in your right hand in a neutral grip (palm facing inward) and bring it forward to chest level.
- Contract your core and squeeze your chest, shoulder, and arm muscles to push the handle forward to near-full extension. Stop just before your elbows lock out, and keep it slightly bent.
- Hold at extension for a 1-count, then control your movement as you slowly bring the handle back to your chest.
- Complete the correct number of reps on the right side, then repeat on the left side.
Cable Chest Exercise #5: Cable Crossover
The cable crossover is a cable machine-based version of the dumbbell fly, one of the all-time best exercises for targeting the under-worked inner and lower chest muscles.
Cable flys are an amazing “finisher” movement for the end of your workout, which means you’d do well to keep cable crossovers until the end of your session, too, when you want one last exercise to “clean up” in style.
To perform this exercise:
- Set the handles to the highest level setting.
- Take your position directly in the center of the machine, with your feet spread slightly beyond shoulder width apart.
- Bend forward slightly at the waist and grab the handles in an overhand grip (palms facing the floor). Keep your elbows pointed upward and slightly bent.
- Engage your core muscles and focus on squeezing your chest as you pull the handles downward and inward across your body. Pull until your knuckles just graze each other.
- Hold for a 1-count to avoid jerking or swinging, and control your movement as you return your arms to their starting position.
- Stop when your arms reach nearly full extension (keep your elbows bent and pointing skyward!), hold for a 1-count, then start again.
- Repeat as desired.
20-Minute Cable Chest Workout
Combine these five exercises I shared above into a workout, and you’ll see some serious results!
- Standing Cable Presses – 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Cable Bench Presses – 5 sets of 8-12 reps (working in either incline or decline along with flat bench)
- Stability Ball Cable Presses – 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Seated Single-Arm Chest Fly – 2 sets of 8-12 reps
- Cable Crossover – 2 sets of 8-12 reps
Cable Chest Exercises – FAQs
Do cable machines build muscle?
They absolutely do! In fact, it could be argued that cable machines build muscle even more effectively than free weights because of the increased time under tension.
The more time your muscles spend under tension, the faster they reach muscle fatigue and ultimately muscle failure, which in turn leads to greater growth during your post-workout recovery.
Plus, compared to free weights like dumbbells or barbells, you are much less likely to hurt yourself by dropping a heavy weight on yourself.
How do you hit middle chest with cables?
Finish any two-handed exercise—including cable bench presses, standing presses, or flys—by bringing your hands close together at full extension.
Or use exercises like cable crossover or cable flys that specifically target your middle chest by bringing your hands as close to the mid-line of your body (directly over your sternum) as possible.
Are cable flys better than dumbbell flys?
Arguably, yes. Because there is never any real “resting point” with cable flys, you’ll find you have to work even harder to complete your set than you would with dumbbell flys. The difference is not exponential, but doing cable flys will help you build more muscle more quickly than dumbbell flys.
The Bottom Line
As you’ve seen above, cable chest exercises can be a great way to not only add variety into your training sessions, but also max out muscle growth.
They’re a safe, effective, and even beginner-friendly alternative to your favorite barbell and dumbbell exercises—but will contribute to greater hypertrophy and speed up muscle failure.
