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Chest · Cables · 25 exercises

Chest workouts with cables

Cable chest workouts keep tension on the pecs through every inch of the press and the fly — here are two, a pressing day and a fly-focused pump.

A good chest workout pairs a heavy press for strength with lighter presses and flyes for volume. Flat pressing trains the whole pec; an incline of 15 to 30 degrees shifts more of the work to the upper chest, and flyes load the muscle at a long stretch, which presses can’t.

A cable keeps tension on the muscle through the whole range, including the ends of a movement where a dumbbell goes slack, and moving the pulley up or down changes the angle of resistance. Cables make it easy to add a little weight at a time.

Cable chest press workout

Presses for the load, crossovers for the squeeze.

  1. Cable Bench Press
    Sets
    4
    Reps
    8–10
    Rest
    2 min
  2. Cable Incline Bench Press
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    10–12
    Rest
    90 s
  3. Cable Fly
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    12–15
    Rest
    60 s
  4. Cable Low Fly
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    12–15
    Rest
    60 s

Cable fly workout

Three pulley heights hit the lower, middle and upper chest.

  1. Cable Standing Fly
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    12–15
    Rest
    60 s
  2. Cable Middle Fly
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    12–15
    Rest
    60 s
  3. Cable Upper Chest Crossovers
    Sets
    3
    Reps
    12–15
    Rest
    60 s
  4. Cable Decline Fly
    Sets
    2
    Reps
    15–20
    Rest
    60 s

Can’t do one of these?

Machine taken or training somewhere else? Each of these has substitutes that work the same muscles.

Tips

  • Set your shoulder blades back and down before you unrack, and keep them there. It protects the shoulders and gives the chest a stable base to press from.
  • Lower the weight under control to the bottom of the range. Most chest growth comes from the stretched position, so half reps leave a lot behind.
  • Ten to twenty hard sets a week is the range most lifters grow on. Start near ten and add sets only while you keep recovering.
  • Step far enough from the stack that the weight never touches down between reps; that keeps the tension on the whole set.

Run this workout in SPLYT

Every exercise here is in SPLYT’s library. Save the workout as a template, log your sets on iPhone or Apple Watch, and next time your weights are already filled in from what you lifted.

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25 chest exercises with cables

Every one links to step-by-step instructions and a demonstration. Swap any of them into the workouts above.

All chest exercises →

Questions

How many chest exercises can you do with cables?

SPLYT’s exercise library has 25 chest exercises you can do with cables, including Cable Fly, Cable Low Fly and Cable Middle Fly. Each one links to step-by-step instructions and a demonstration.

How often should I train chest?

Twice a week suits most people: it lets you split ten to twenty weekly sets across two sessions so each one stays productive. Once a week works too if the session is big enough.

Should I do incline or flat bench first?

Start with whichever press you most want to get stronger at, since the first lift of the day gets your freshest effort. If your upper chest lags, lead with the incline.

Are cables as good as free weights?

For building muscle, yes. Free weights let you go heavier on the big lifts, while cables keep tension through the whole movement. Most good programs use both.

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