When you visit the gym, you will definitely notice the monumental structure, which occupies the largest space among the exercise equipment. It's a crossover! It can easily be called a gym within a gym! In fact, this machine allows you to train any muscle group and perform isolation exercises. In the crossover you can train the muscles of the legs, arms, back, chest, as well as the abs and deltoids! Moreover, there are dozens of such exercises! This is an excellent multi-functional training base that is equally capable of developing the body of men and women.
One-arm abdominal row on a pulley machine
In an article on Breaking Muscle, trainer Mason Woodruff tells 5 Row Variations for Development of Back Muscles / Breaking Muscle that unilateral exercises help you feel your back muscles better, which is good for their activation and growth.
Attach a closed handle to the lower block and sit on the bench so that the cable is in tension at the start. Imagine that your feet and shoulders are in a rectangle.
Grab the handle with a neutral grip, tighten your latissimus dorsi and bend your elbow, pulling it toward your lower ribcage. Imagine that someone wants to tickle you and you press your elbow to your ribs to prevent it.
Smoothly return your arm to the starting position, maintaining tension in your back muscles. Keep your shoulders in the same plane, do not allow your body to rotate with your arm.
Perform this exercise once every two weeks on back days, alternating with two-arm rows. Do 3 sets of 8–12 reps on each side.
What muscles work
The exercise works the lats, teres major as movers, as well as the shoulder and triceps muscles in static positions. Movement is not energetically expensive and does not require large calorie expenditure. You can include it in a training plan for weight loss only if the athlete has already completed a regular block lift or deadlift.
During operation it is necessary to statically
The movement is not recommended for those who have problems with control of the projectile and a shoulder injury; it is possible that the arms “shoot” upward and re-injury.
A simple test - if you cannot move your forearm behind your ear while standing, you should not perform this movement as an auxiliary or main one until moving your hand behind your ear becomes available to you throughout the entire depth of the amplitude.
Crossover pull with one hand
This exercise was shown by The Most Scientific Way to Train Your BACK / Jeff Nippard / YouTube in his YouTube video by trainer Jeff Nippard.
He says that many athletes have poor back muscles because they are distracted by tension in the biceps and trapezius. At the same time, focusing on the lats increases their activation.
To get a good feel for the tension in your muscles, try doing crossover rows with one arm before performing basic back exercises.
Attach the closed handle to the upper block, take a step back, stretching the cable, and kneel down. Bend your elbow, bringing it closer to your side.
Concentrate on the sensations in your latissimus dorsi muscles. You can place the palm of your free hand on them to better feel the tension.
Perform 15–20 repetitions before the main back exercises. For example, before lat pull-downs or bent-over chest rows.
TECHNIQUE
Having taken the correct position, bend your elbows slightly, take a deep breath and, using the strength of your arm muscles, bring the upper blocks down at waist level
(the movement should resemble that you are pulling your arms down to hug the girl by the hips).
At the lowest point, additionally tighten your chest muscles and hold in this position for 2 seconds, then relax your arms and return the handle of the exercise machine to the upper position. Do not forget to breathe during the entire movement, lowering the handle down - exhale, moving them up - inhale.
T-bar row with emphasis on the chest
This type of deadlift perfectly pumps the upper back - the trapezius and rhomboid muscles, and also loads the latissimus.
In addition, due to the support, the load on the lower back is reduced, which reduces the risk of injury even when using large weights.
Place your chest on the exercise pad and grab the handles with an overhand grip, lower your shoulders and spread your shoulder blades - this is the starting position.
As you exhale, bend your elbows, squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull the handles of the exercise machine towards your chest. Then, smoothly and under control, return to the starting position and repeat.
If you want to target your lats more, grab the handles with a neutral grip and keep your elbows moving close to your ribcage. Watch your shoulders, don't let them rise.
If your gym doesn't have such a machine, you can use a bench and a barbell. Set the inclination angle to 30°, lie with your stomach and hips on your back and take the apparatus with a direct grip.
Bend your elbows, pulling the bar toward your lower chest. At the extreme point, squeeze your shoulder blades together and check that your shoulders do not rise towards your ears. Return to starting position and repeat.
Perform this exercise on back training days. Do 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps.
Benefits of this exercise
- Targeted load on the rear deltoids. As a result, the shape of the shoulder improves. They become more spherical.
- The facelift helps strengthen the rotator cuff muscles, which are under stress not only during workouts, but also throughout the day when doing household chores. This reduces the risk of injury.
- Improved posture due to the development of the rhomboid muscles and trapezius. This not only affects the appearance, but also helps relieve the load on the spine.
- Increase results in basic exercises. Such as: Bent-over rows and SHRUGS.
- Elimination of imbalance in the development of deltoid muscles. This is especially important for bodybuilders. Since they strive for uniform muscle development.
Reverse pull-ups
This movement is easily scaled to suit the athlete’s capabilities and improves well ACE-sponsored research: What Is the Best Back Exercise? / ACE Fitness back, especially the middle part of the trapezius, and allows you to shift the load on different muscle groups.
Plus, reverse pull-ups are a great way to work your muscles outside of the gym. The exercise can be performed on a low horizontal bar or calisthenics supports.
If you're working out at the gym, set the barbell at a suitable height in a Smith machine or power rack. Position the bar so that, lying on your back, you can grab it with an overhand grip without bending your elbows.
In the starting position, your back should be a few centimeters from the floor, but not touching it.
Grab the barbell with an overhand grip so that your palms are slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Straighten your legs, lower your shoulders and squeeze your shoulder blades together so that your body lifts off the floor and extends into a straight line.
Pressing your heels into the floor, pull yourself up and hold the position for 1-2 seconds. It is important that the body remains straight; to do this, tense your abs and buttocks. Smoothly lower yourself to the starting position and repeat.
You can adjust the load on different muscles by changing the position of your legs. If you want to focus on your upper back, place your heels farther away from the bar so that you touch the bar mid-chest during the lift.
To shift the load to your mid-back and lats, move your feet a little closer to the frame. In this case, at the top of the exercise you will touch the bar with your lower chest.
To make the movement easier, you can bend your knees and place your feet on the floor.
To make the exercise more challenging, try moving slowly, especially during the arm extension.
You can get even more load if you place your feet on a bench so that in the initial position the body is parallel to the floor and suspended. An alternative is to add weights in the form of a vest or even a simple barbell plate.
You can perform reverse pull-ups for different purposes:
- As a warm-up before heavy lifts. To do this, choose a variation that will help you perform 10–15 times without problems, and concentrate on the sensations in your back muscles.
- As a finisher on back day. Choose a variation that is not the most difficult to increase the time that the muscles spend under load. Perform 2-3 sets of 15-25 reps.
- As the main exercise for pumping up the back. Choose a difficulty that will allow you to do 8-12 reps almost until your muscles fail.
Inclusion in the training program
There is one problem with numerous block pulls “with variations”. Not all of them help build muscle size and mass. Many are completely useless in this regard and offer nothing to those looking to gain muscle mass and get in shape. The straight arm row will help shape your silhouette and correct your posture a little, but it is not intended for those who have problems gaining mass.
Everything is quite simple. This exercise is included third or fourth in a program that already has any variation of vertical rows (pull-ups, regular or with weight, or a simple heavy vertical row), and horizontal rows to the waist. The classic deadlift is an exercise option for developing the back only because doing it literally forces you to engage the latissimus muscles in a static manner, and the significant weight helps to load them decently.
The straight arm row is not intended to correct the deadlift, and does not have any additional effect on it. It shapes aesthetics for the most part. This exercise is also called a standing pullover; biomechanically it is identical to a regular pullover. You can add movement to your training plan if you have problems with posture.
The exercise is performed in 4-5 working sets with medium to light weights, and can be included in the plan as a finishing movement. For most bodybuilders, it makes sense to do it on back and biceps day, but for those who have obvious postural problems due to improper bench press technique or shoulder injuries, it can also be done on chest day.
Advantages and features of the crossover simulator
Crossover exercises can be performed independently or under the guidance of an instructor. A distinctive feature of this simulator is that with the help of its blocks it will be possible to develop not only the back, but also all parts of the musculoskeletal system.
The training process is organized taking into account what results the girl wants to achieve. If you need to build muscle mass, then the main emphasis is on working with heavy weights with a minimum number of repetitions. To create a ripped and lean body, you need to increase the number of repetitions with a medium to light weight block.
The following advantages of the crossover simulator are highlighted:
- multifunctionality of sports equipment;
- the ability to pump up all muscle groups;
- ease of operation;
- performing isolation exercises on a specific muscle group;
- minimal risk of injury;
- high level of technology;
- convenient regulator of the scales of the upper and lower unit.
Crossover exercises for the back are performed by athletes who are professionally involved in fitness, as well as by girls who want to keep themselves in shape and avoid gaining excess body weight.
Possible errors and tips for eliminating them
The table below describes the main mistakes that girls make when performing crossover exercises, as well as tips for eliminating them.
In order to conduct a comprehensive training for different muscle groups, it is enough to use the upper and lower crossover blocks, use bars of different shapes and functional purposes.
Girls who are just starting to exercise, performing crossover exercises, should work with light weights. The main emphasis of the training is on compliance with technical standards for isolated pumping of each muscle group.
Sumo squats on the lower block
Traditionally, the upper body muscles are pumped using blocks. However, you can also perform basic leg exercises here.
True, in most cases they are more suitable for girls, since there is a limit on the weight of the weight and for many men the weight on the block is not enough to fully pump the leg muscles.
One of the effective exercises is squats with feet wider than shoulder width, where the handle of the lower block is held in lowered straight arms.
It refers to the “base” and focuses on pumping the quadriceps, inner thigh and gluteal muscles.
A big plus of the movement compared to traditional sumo squats with a barbell on the back is the minimal load on the lumbar spine, as well as a simpler movement technique.
Suitable for girls of any fitness level.
