Jeff Cavaliere Says You’re F*cking Up Cable Crossovers: Here’s How to Fix It

Expert fitness coach Jeff Cavaliere is shedding light on a popular movement often included in chest day routines. In a recent YouTube video published on August 4, 2024, Cavaliere said to stop ‘fuc**ng up’ cable crossovers and offered some useful tips and queues for proper form and execution. 

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see someone doing one of my favourite chest exercises, the cable crossover and it makes my heart sing. The problem is… they’re fucking it up.” 

Known for his attention to detail and calculated workouts, Jeff Cavaliere has helped shape countless athletes thanks to his rapidly growing YouTube channel of over 13.8 million subscribers. His science-based fitness advice is backed by on-the-ground experiences, having served as the head physical therapist and assistant strength and conditioning coach to the New York Metts for almost four years.

Aside from his commitments to Major League Baseball, Cavaliere has spent countless hours in the gym, sculpting optimal routines for lifers of varying fitness levels. With cable crossovers being one of the most popular exercises for the chest, he broke down the movement, offering his best advice for making the most of your time under tension. 

Jeff Cavaliere Says You’re Fuc**ng Up’ Cable Crossovers, Shares Tips ‘To Squeeze More Gains Out of Every Repetition’

According to Cavaliere, an effective cable crossover starts with setting up the correct height of the pulleys. He explains that the height is dependent upon the area of the chest you’re looking to train. 

“It’s my job to show you how to do a cable crossover the right way. It starts with setting up the right height. That asks the question of what are you actually trying to train. What part of your chest? Because depending upon how high you set this, you could train different areas.”

For mid-chest, he says the anchor point should be lined up with the chest. As for the lower chest, he says the pulley should be at head height. He shares that the upper chest benefits most from the anchor point being at hip height. 

“If you want to go for the middle sternal portion of the chest, you want this anchor point of the cable to be lined up with your chest. If you want to work more of the lower chest, then you want to set this thing up at the height of your head, just above the top of your head.” 

“If instead, you want to work the upper chest, then what you want to do is drop this anchor point down just to hip height. So now when we come up, it’s going to come from this low-to-high position.” 

He believes lifters take this exercise too lightly and advises them to add additional weight to make the most of the stretched position during each repetition. 

“So how much weight do you use on the exercise? Well, honestly, probably a lot more than you are using right now. People too often treat it as a light chest exercise that you do for higher reps, and you’re missing a great opportunity to overload through eccentric and also in that good stretched position” 

Cavaliere explains that to perform an effective cable crossover, positioning the body plays a major role. 

“Here’s the problem, people don’t know how to get on the exercise in the first place. They don’t know how to map the machine because they take these heavier weights, they go to get in position, and either their shoulders hurts or they just can’t move the weight because there’s no leverage here. 

So instead, you do this: you grab one of these and put it right up against your chest and you walk yourself over to the other side, grab it nice and close, put it towards your chest, then get yourself in position. At this point, you’re able to set yourself up but that is only if you’re standing the right way.” 

By stepping out with one foot during the movement, you’ll begin the exercise in a more stable and grounded position. 

“There’s no way that you’re going to be able to counterbalance these heavy weights especially as they get to the starting position without going backward or having an incredibly strong core.

So, by taking that step out, I set myself up to not only be in a more athletic position but a more stable grounded position so I can manage these heavier weights.” 

Distance from the machine can affect the quality of the exercise and especially impacts how much we use the biceps. 

“How far away from the machine should I be because it actually matters a lot,” shares Cavaliere. “By staying within the doorway [middle of both cables] then all I’m doing is biasing the biceps because even though the idea is to cross my arms across my chest and adduction, I’m still pulling the weight or the tendency is to pull the weight a little bit closer toward my body, which is going to engage the biceps too much.” 

Lastly, Cavaliere underlines that squeezing ‘the right way’ is paramount for optimal results, stressing that ‘you’ve got to adduct that arm across the chest.’ 

“If growing a bigger chest is what you’re after there’s still one more thing we can do to squeeze more gains out of every repetition and it’s literally squeezing the right way. So when we talk about the finished position of the crossover, a lot of times we start and end here right in front of our chest and that’s not enough.

If you want to turn this into a true adduction exercise, which is one of the main functions of the chest, you’ve got to adduct that arm across the chest,” said Cavaliere. 

Cavaliere’s Quick Checklist for Cable Crossovers 

• Cable height 
• Body angle 
• Grip 
• Stance 

Jeff Cavaliere hasn’t been the only high-profile name to break down the best practices for cable crossovers. Former seven-time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath recently walked fans through his tried-and-true tips, which included foot position, keeping the back tight, and ‘bear hugging’ the weight. 

With years of experience teaching individuals how to make the most of their fitness programs, Jeff Cavaliere is one of the most trusted coaches in the industry. The next time you’re tackling chest day, give his cable crossover tips a try. 

RELATED: Jeff Cavaliere Discusses Building Muscle, Says Stop Doing 3 Sets of 12 Reps: ‘It’s a Big Mistake’

Watch the full video from the ATHLEAN-X YouTube channel below: 

Stay on top of the latest fitness news and updates by adding Fitness Volt to your Google News feed: You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for even more content.