Cable Crossover Lat Pulldown
In SetGrip: Lat Pulldown (Cross Cable)
The cable crossover lat pulldown is a standing pulldown between the two high pulleys of a cable crossover. Each hand holds the handle from the opposite side, so the cables cross above your head and each arm pulls its own stack. It works the lats, with the biceps, rhomboids and shoulders assisting.
How to do the Cable Crossover Lat Pulldown
- Set both pulleys of a cable crossover at the top and stand in the middle.
- Take the left handle in your right hand and the right handle in your left hand, so the cables cross above your head.
- Pull your elbows down and out until your hands are beside your shoulders.
- Let your arms rise back until they are crossed and fully reached overhead.
Muscles worked
Common mistakes
- Leaning back to finish — stay upright and let your lats pull; a backward lean turns it into a row.
- Stopping short overhead — the crossed start is the stretch this variation is for; reach fully on every rep.
- Uneven pulls — each hand works its own stack, so make sure both elbows reach your sides together.
Where it fits in a workout
Use it as a main or second back movement on a pull day.
How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.
Logging the Cable Crossover Lat Pulldown in SetGrip
SetGrip logs the Cable Crossover Lat Pulldown as weight and reps. Log the setting of one stack and note in the routine that both sides match.
Variations and alternatives
Similar exercises
Without cable
When to talk to someone
- Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
- Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
- Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.
Track the Cable Crossover Lat Pulldown in SetGrip
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More exercises
- All back exercises
- All lats exercises
- All cable exercises
- Cable lats exercises
- Close Grip Banded Lat Pulldown
- Close Grip Back Supported Banded Lat Pulldown
- Kneeling Single Arm Banded Lat Pulldown
- Underhand Grip Banded Lat Pulldown
- Underhand Grip Back Supported Banded Lat Pulldown
- Rope Cable Curl (High Pulley)
Sources
- ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
- ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
- ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
- CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)
Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.
Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. Text: SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.