Chest exercise
Standing Cable Chest PressHow to do it, with form in numbers
How to do it
How do you do the Standing Cable Chest Press?
- Set both pulleys at chest height and face away from the machine.
- Take a long split stance, leaning slightly forward, handles beside your chest.
- Press both handles straight ahead until your arms are straight.
- Pause briefly, then let the handles return slowly to your chest.
Cues
- Brace your trunk, stay still
- Push straight ahead, not up
- Control the return
Common mistakes
- Getting pulled backwards: lengthen your stance and brace harder.
- Twisting or leaning to push: keep hips and shoulders square.
- Letting the stack drop: return slowly and keep tension.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Two pulleys set at chest-to-shoulder height, so the cable runs about level with the hands and roughly parallel to the floor during the press. The pulleys are closer together than arm span (a narrow cable-column setup or a dual-pulley station). Split stance: feet hip-width apart, one foot forward and one back, front-to-back distance about the height of the hip joint from the floor (about 90 cm on a 1.75 m person). Front knee bent about 20–30°; back leg nearly straight with the heel down or just raised; both feet pointing forward. Overhand grip (palms down), wrists straight.
The movement
The hands push forward in a straight line with a slight inward arc, finishing a little narrower than where they started. Only the arms move. The trunk, hips and legs hold the split stance and the forward lean; the trunk does not rotate or sway, and the feet do not move.
End position
(turnaround point): Arms straight ahead, elbows about 170–175° (soft), hands at chest-to-shoulder height and about shoulder-width apart, arms roughly parallel to each other and to the floor (shoulder flexion about 90°). Hands do not touch or cross. Shoulder blades stay set; the shoulders do not roll forward.
Tempo
1.5 s press, 1 s pause with the arms extended, 2 s return under control.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulley height | chest to shoulder height | nipple line to top of shoulder | |
| Stance length (front to back) | hip-joint height (about 90 cm) | 0.8–1.0× leg length | |
| Stance width | hip-width | hip to shoulder width | |
| Front knee flexion | 25° | 15–35° | |
| Upper arm from torso at start | 60° | 45–70° | |
| Elbow flexion at start | 90° | 80–100° | |
| Elbow at end | 172° | 165–180° | |
| Hand spacing at end | 1.0× shoulder width | 0.8–1.0× | |
| Press / pause / return | 1.5 s / 1 s / 2 s | 1–2 s / 0.5–1 s / 1.5–3 s |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Standing Cable Chest Press is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
