maratoolCrossover with Bands
How to do the crossover with bands
- This is an exercise for chest, biceps and shoulder strengthening.
- Secure an exercise to a post (or secure pole) and hold it in each hand.
- Step forward so the band has some tension, facing away from the post.
- Your arms at mid chest height and out to the side, palms facing forward this is your starting position.
- Bring your hands together in front of you.
- Hold this for a moment and then in a controlled motion return to starting position.
Muscles worked
The prime mover is the pectoralis major, which drives the upper arm forward and across the body.
Even with a single joint doing the moving, the muscle is not working alone — the deltoids stabilise the shoulder and add force at the top of the range; the biceps add force at the elbow.
How this movement works
Everything happens at one joint. That gives you direct control over where the tension sits; the trade-off is that the muscle gets no help, so the load that feels hard here is a fraction of what a multi-joint version of the pattern would take. Slow, complete repetitions beat heavy ones.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
A band gets harder the further it stretches, so resistance peaks at the end of the range rather than the middle. It is also the easiest way to scale a movement in small steps.
Every exercise using:Band
These train the chest too, using equipment this one does not:
- Decline Barbell Bench Pressbench + barbell
- Decline Chest Pressmachine
- Decline Dumbbell Bench Pressdumbbell + bench
- Extended Range One-Arm Kettlebell Floor Presskettlebell
- Flat Bench Cable Flyescable
Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.