Start low, chop up across your body, explosive but controlled.
Drive the chop with your core and rotating hips, not just your arms.
Starting at the lowest pulley and driving up across your body flips the classic chop into a lifting pattern, so your obliques rotate the trunk while your legs and hips feed power from the ground up. The cable keeps pulling down and across the whole time, meaning your core works on the way up and then controls the descent too. It is a favourite for athletes whose sports involve upward rotation, think golf swings, uppercuts and throws.
Rotational power with an upward drive. If your sport involves swinging, striking or throwing up and across your body, this loads that exact pattern in the gym.
Bend enough to reach toward the low pulley with a tall chest, but this is not a squat. The lift comes from your hips and trunk rotating, not from standing up out of a deep knee bend.
Yes, the pattern suits explosive intent, but earn it first. Own the movement slowly, then add speed on the way up while keeping the return strictly controlled.
