Find out why you need to do strength exercises on the crossover machine and how to do it correctly. What muscles does he pump and who is this exercise shown to. Male breasts are a whole creation that needs long and painstaking work. Those athletes who have already pumped up impressive chest sizes, transfer all their strength to achieve the desired relief.
It makes sense to turn to such an isolating exercise as cross-over (cross-over) or mixing of the upper blocks. It is performed in a special block trainer and perfectly hones the athletic shape of the chest.
The purpose of isolating exercises on block simulators: to maximize the muscle fibers of a particular muscle group on an individual basis. Thus, you draw excellent separation and form the desired muscle density.
One of these simulators is the block crossover, which is present in almost all gyms. At home, unfortunately, it will not work to repeat the technique without a simulator.
The crossover exercise purposefully works out all parts of the chest (inner, outer and lateral), excluding the use of the triceps and deltas. Various options for its implementation make it possible to work with individual bundles of the pectoral muscles. The crossover perfectly stretches the muscles and does not overload the elbow joints.
Due to the fact that the exercise is isolated, and not basic (like push-ups, bench presses), its action is practically not aimed at increasing muscle mass. It is intended for athletes who have already acquired a fairly massive muscular chest and need additional grinding load in order to "sculpt" a beautiful shape, "iron" the muscles to a refined relief, or simply to make changes in their training plan when they are already tired the same constant exercise.
Technique for performing crossover on blocks
The photo shows which muscles are contracting and how to do this exercise correctly. At first glance, it seems a very simple exercise, but this is only at first glance. Compared to bench presses, crossover work provides a greater stretch and increases the range of motion to the maximum, and in comparison with dumbbell breeding, it gives significantly more tension in the shortened position. That is, the exercise is really effective and makes the athletes sweat.
Isolated crossover movements allow you to concentrate on performing:
- Stand in the simulator between the blocks and with straight arms with a slight bend at the elbows, grab the block handles with a grip from above.
- When setting, maintain symmetry throughout the body. It is often recommended to put one foot slightly forward to provide more stability. The strength of the stance can increase, however, the balance is upset. The strength level on the left and right side will be uneven.
- Tilt your torso at the waist slightly forward (no more than 15 degrees). Keep your back straight, but keeping the natural deflection in the spine and the shoulder blades brought together. The starting position is taken.
- Take a deep breath and begin to bring your hands together until they touch, while straining your pectoral muscles as much as possible. The movements should be performed with the shoulder joints and the strength of the chest muscles, while leaving the torso and arms stationary. The brushes should move in a semicircle (draw and spread).
- At the end point, pause for 2 seconds and feel the maximum contraction of the pectoral muscles.
- Exhale and slowly release the weight. When spreading the arms, the elbows look slightly up and back.
- Do the planned number of repetitions.
The inclination of the body affects the distribution of the load. Without tilting, with an even position of the body, most of the load goes to the lower region of the muscle fibers of the chest, with a slight tilt, the inner part of the pectoral muscles is included in the work, and the lower the tilt, the more effectively the top of the chest is pumped. In order to feel the muscle contractions when performing the crossover on the upper blocks to the maximum, it is recommended to get a back support belt. When working with a large tonnage, it is worth protecting yourself with wrist straps, which will increase the grip strength. Some people manage to put a sponge between the palm and the handle and increase the set for a couple more productive reps. Better less, but better - you should not chase large working weights, the main thing is to maintain the technique of execution and soon the muscles will thank you with a good result.
Intensification strategies and number of approaches
In addition to the classic version of the crossover while standing, there are many other options to load your muscles: kneeling, sitting or lying on a bench, different angles of backrest and variation in the height of the arms at the point of their arch. When performing a crossover on your knees, you need to take less working weights, because the freedom for cheating (moving the load from tired muscles to unused ones) is completely excluded.
Muscle pumping feels different in all positions, so it makes sense to experiment with choosing the most effective position for better contraction of the pectoral muscles.
Everyone probably knows that muscles need constant shock for their growth and beautiful perfection. On a crossover, you can surprise your chest by performing the exercise with each hand in turn. In this variant of "sharpening" the chest, the amplitude will be better, the amplitude will increase even more, and so a good stretch at the start and peak position of the finish, you will get a completely isolating workout of the muscles. As a variety, you can sometimes include in training sets with weight loss: having reached complete exhaustion, the athlete reduces working weights and again works until the muscles completely fail.
The question arises when is the best time to work with the Crossover? Naturally, this should be a chest workout. However, do not write off putting this movement at the head of the training program. First, you need to shock the muscle group with heavy basic exercises (bench press, uneven bars) and only then work out the MMV using the block. For beginners, we recommend that you completely eliminate the Crossover or do it at the end of the workout. It is enough to perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions.
Combining the crossover with heavy compound exercises will allow you to “dress” the athlete's chest in iron muscle armor!
Video with Denis Borisov about the technique of performing the exercise "crossover on the upper blocks":
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