How many reps of the standing reverse cable crossover should you do when you are new to the exercise?

Fifteen to 20 reps for three sets, on a light stack. The rear delts are small and respond better to reps than to load, and heavy weight here always turns into a row driven by your torso. When 20 reps stay clean, hold the back of the sweep for a count before you touch the pin.

What can I do instead of the standing reverse cable crossover?

A band held in both hands with the arms crossed in front gives the identical pattern, and the tension builds exactly where the cables do. In a gym with no free double-pulley station, a chest-supported dumbbell reverse fly, face down on an incline bench, hits the same muscles with your torso held still for you.

What is the standing reverse cable crossover for, and when is it a poor pick?

It builds the rear delts and upper back with tension right through the end of the range, which balances all the pressing in a normal program and helps hold the shoulders back. The wrong time for it is when you cannot stop the lower back arching to finish each rep, since a seated or chest-supported version takes that out of your hands. It is accessory work, not a lift to load heavily.

Intermediate

Standing Reverse Cable Crossover

With the cables set high and the handles crossed in front of you, sweeping the arms out and back drives the rear delts through horizontal abduction with tension that never lets up. Standing lets you use both arms at once for a bigger, more athletic movement than a seated fly. It is a first-rate way to build the often-neglected posterior shoulder and upper back.

Equipment: Cables
Body part: Shoulder
Type: Strength
Browse by muscle: Deltoid Posterior
Browse by movement: Horizontal Pull

How to do it

1
Set two pulleys to about shoulder height or slightly above with a single handle on each.
2
Grab the left handle with your right hand and the right handle with your left so the cables cross.
3
Step back to the center with arms extended in front and a slight bend in the elbows.
4
Sweep both arms out to the sides and back, squeezing your shoulder blades and rear delts.
5
Return under control to the crossed start without letting the stacks touch down, then repeat.

Tips

Keep the elbows fixed at a slight bend; think of it as a wide arc, not a rowing pull.
Squeeze the rear delts and mid-back at the end range before you let the arms come forward.
Stay tall and avoid using your torso to swing the handles apart.

Variations

Common mistakes

The handles are taken back at hip height rather than shoulder height, and the lats swallow what should be rear-delt work; keep your hands level with your shoulders the whole way.
Pulleys set too low cross the cables at your waist, so the arms cannot open past the body where the rear delts do their work.
The chest puffs and the lower back arches to squeeze the last inch out of each rep; stack the ribs over the hips and let the arms stop where the trunk can stay still.
Take the left handle with the left hand and the cables never cross, which leaves almost no range before the plates touch down; the right hand takes the left handle.
The stacks clang down at the front of every rep, so each sweep starts from a dead stop instead of from tension.

Frequently asked

How many reps of the standing reverse cable crossover should you do when you are new to the exercise?: Fifteen to 20 reps for three sets, on a light stack. The rear delts are small and respond better to reps than to load, and heavy weight here always turns into a row driven by your torso. When 20 reps stay clean, hold the back of the sweep for a count before you touch the pin.
What can I do instead of the standing reverse cable crossover?: A band held in both hands with the arms crossed in front gives the identical pattern, and the tension builds exactly where the cables do. In a gym with no free double-pulley station, a chest-supported dumbbell reverse fly, face down on an incline bench, hits the same muscles with your torso held still for you.
What is the standing reverse cable crossover for, and when is it a poor pick?: It builds the rear delts and upper back with tension right through the end of the range, which balances all the pressing in a normal program and helps hold the shoulders back. The wrong time for it is when you cannot stop the lower back arching to finish each rep, since a seated or chest-supported version takes that out of your hands. It is accessory work, not a lift to load heavily.

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