Cable Front Wood Chop

oec:cable-front-wood-chop

A standing cable exercise performed in the sagittal plane where resistance is pulled downward from an overhead position to engage the abdominals and lats.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: Front Wood Chop, Cable Vertical Wood Chop, Vertical Wood Chop, Cable Front Woodchop, Front Woodchop

How to do it

Setup

Set the cable pulley to its highest setting and attach a rope or bar handle.
Stand facing the cable machine with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent.
Grasp the attachment firmly with both hands overhead, keeping your arms extended with a slight bend in your elbows.

Movement

Brace your core and pull the attachment down directly in front of your body toward your thighs.
Hinge slightly at the hips and flex your torso forward as your hands pass your chest, focusing on abdominal contraction.
Pause briefly at the bottom of the movement while actively squeezing your lats and abs.
Control the weight as it rises, extending your hips and returning your arms smoothly to the overhead starting position.

Breathing

Exhale forcefully as you chop downward, and inhale as you return the cable overhead.

Cues

Pull with your lats and abs
Keep your elbow angle locked
Control the ascent

Common faults

Bending and extending the elbows excessively, turning the movement into a triceps pushdown.: Maintain a fixed, soft bend in the elbows throughout and drive the movement through shoulder extension and trunk flexion.
Hyperextending the lower back at the top of the movement.: Keep your core braced and ribs pulled down even when your arms are fully overhead.

Safety

Select a load that allows full control during both the downward pull and the overhead return.

Muscles

Rectus abdominis prime mover
Latissimus dorsi prime mover
Teres major synergist
External oblique synergist
Internal oblique synergist
Triceps, long head synergist
Erector spinae stabilizer

Joints

Shoulder: Extension
Shoulder blade: Depression, Downward rotation
Lumbar spine: Flexion
Hip: Flexion, Extension
Elbow: Isometric stabilization

Details

Movement: Pull, Spinal flexion
Modality: Strength, Hypertrophy
Mechanics: compound
Force: pull
Laterality: bilateral
Kinetic chain: open
Level: intermediate
Equipment: Cable machine
Record: Repetitions and Load
Load: external, weight stack

substitute for Medicine Ball Slam

Sources

wger: Front Wood Chop, by Konsumopfer (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

cable-front-wood-chop.json