Standing Cable Wood Chop

What it is

This dynamic rotational movement uses a cable machine to engage your core. You pull the handle down and across your body, targeting your abdominal muscles. This compound exercise also provides secondary work for your shoulders.

Technique tips

• Set the cable pulley to its highest position.
• Keep your arms extended, maintaining a slight bend.
• Initiate the pull using your core, not just your arms.
• Pivot your back foot and rotate your torso smoothly.
• Exhale as you chop down and across your body.
• Control the weight on the slow, deliberate return.

How to track your progress

Log the weight and reps of each set. Straddly turns every set into an estimated one-rep max, so a heavier single and a strong set of eight both count as progress, and it flags a personal record the moment you beat your best.