The muscles of the shoulder are one of the most complex and versatile muscle groups of the body.  Training the shoulders properly is one of the most important aspects of any fitness or weight lifting routine.  Shoulder injuries are more common than any other muscle group for two reasons.  They are called into action daily with almost every upper body movement in our day to day activities, and secondly because they lack “stability” they can easily be overworked with weight training.  Despite this, most guys want to build wider shoulders and work to achieve that infamous mushroom cap.  Reverse Cable Crossovers or the Reverse Cable Fly is what I’m going to show you.

There’s a ton of shoulder exercises that will help you build wider shoulders by sculpting the front, lateral, and rear delts.  While these are great to add to your weight lifting routine to build shoulder mass, the exercise I’m going to tell you about involves training the muscles of the rotator cuff.

Reverse Cable Crossovers For Shoulders

1. Using a Freemotion or dual pulley cable machine, set the pulley on both sides to just at or above shoulder height.  A pair of weight lifting gloves or GymPaws® lifting grips will help you maintain a good grip.
2. To begin the exercise, grab each handle with the opposite hand and extend your arms straight in front of you, and retract your shoulder blades.  This will be the starting position of the exercise.
3. Extend your arms out to your sides with the cable crossing your chest in a slightly downward movement.  Next you will raise your hands up towards your head in an arc light motion.
4. Return to starting position to complete one rep.

Some common tips to remember when doing the Cable Crossovers for Shoulders are:

• Keep your abs tight at all times and remember to breathe.
• If you’re just beginning with this exercise, choose a light weight to begin.
• The whole motion should be slow and controlled with no jerking movements.
• Even the best shoulder workout needs tweaking from time to time.  Make sure to ask your personal trainer if you have any questions or concerns.
• While weight lifting gloves or grips aren’t a necessity, you’ll find they will keep the rotation of the pulley handles from slipping in your grip.

GymPaws® Original Weight Lifting Grips and Gloves are constructed of a 100% Cowhide Leather Palm with a military-grade Neoprene Backing.  Four finger loops keep the grips in place and make them fit like a glove. When you purchase from the GymPaws® website you can choose to pay at checkout with your Amazon account, PayPal, or any major credit card via Authorize.net.

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