6 Cable Chest Exercises for Massive Chest

Cable chest exercises are an important addition to your workout routine, as they allow you to work on the pectoral muscles in isolation. Additionally, they help with activating the smaller muscle fibers in the muscle group as well.

Most chest exercises are compound movements i.e., they work on more than the chest. Usually, chest exercises are a push movement, and the secondary muscle groups in play are the triceps and shoulders.

However, for bodybuilding, you need to do a combination of compound and isolation exercises for maximum activation and engagement.

Cable chest exercises for massive chest

As mentioned above, cable chest exercises enable you to work the muscle group in isolation. While some of the cable chest exercises have an impact on the triceps too, a strong muscle-mind connection can help you keep pressure on your chest.

The following are six of the best cable chest exercises you can incorporate in your workout routine for a massive chest:

1) Decline cable fly

To do it:

Set the anchor of the cable pulley machine at the top. Attach the grips to it.
Hold the grips with each hand, and step away from the machine by a step or two.
Bending your front knee, keep the back leg straight, and pull the cables downwards towards your chest.
Squeeze the muscles when the two palms are close together, and steadily move your arms back to the starting position.
Repeat for 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps each.

2) Incline cable fly

To do it:

Set the anchor of the cable pulley machine to the bottom, and attach the grips to it.
Hold the grips, and step away from the machine by a step or two.
Bend your front knee forward and back legs straight.
Pull the cables towards your chest using your pectoral muscles.
Hold for a second at the top of the motion, and steadily move your arms to the starting position. Repeat.

3) Cable chest press

To do it:

Set an incline bench at slightly beyond 90-degrees in the middle but slightly towards the front of the cable machine.
Set the anchors at chest level when you sit on the bench.
Hold the grips with both arms, and push your arms forward while keeping a flared chest.
You should be able to keep the pressure completely on your chest.
Steadily move back to the starting position while controlling the negative.

4) Cable pullover

To do it:

Set a flat bench in front of one of the sides of the cable machine.
Attach a straight bar to it, and set the anchor to the bottom.
Lie on the bench with your feet firmly on the ground, and head towards the machine.
Bend your arms backwards and hold the bar.
Using your pectoral muscles, pull the bar above your chest while keeping your arms and elbow stable.
Keep a strong muscle-mind connection to avoid the pressure going to your lats.

5) Cable close press

To do it:

Set the incline bench the same way as you set it for cable chest press.
Hold the grips, and bring your palms together in front of your chest.
Keep a flared chest, and push your arms outwards straight in front of you.
Squeeze the pectoral muscles at the top of the motion before moving back to the starting position. Repeat.

6) Cable crossover

To do this cable chest exercise:

Set the anchor to the top of the cable pulley machine, and attach the d-grips to each side.
Hold the grips, and step one step forward.
Slightly bend your front knee, and keep the back leg straight, but the gap between your feet should not be too wide.
Flare your chest, and use the pectoral muscles to pull the cables downwards.
Cross your palms at the top of the motion, where one wrist is over the other.
Hold the position for a second before returning to the starting position.

Bottom Line

Cable chest exercises should not be ignored if you want to build smaller fibers in the muscle group. The movement makes use of all the fibers in the muscle group and enables overall growth and development.

Edited by Bhargav