Guide to an Iron cross.

Friend of mine is looking for a guide to the Iron Cross. I have already nailed one, but I think he is looking for something written.

Anyone have any suggestions? He is already VERY consistent and solid with the the basic strength so no worries there.

Thanks for any help in advance.

http://www.cathletics.com/articles/inde ... hortyID=32

Great article from a forum member.

Good article.

Just my two sentence about article:

1. It's Push down/press down and not pull exercise (pull would be from dead hang pull to cross)

2. Isometrics are very important!!! If you won't do them, you will not know when to start decelerate speed, not have good feeling in the perfect cross position. And I would do them somwhere after the begining of the exercise (after the first exercise or after shorter first exercise), so you would be a litlle more stronger due to better warming up for maximal stress.

Either way, it's very good article

At my gym there's a lat pulldown machine with two separate handles. It's perfect for training iron crosses because when you do it with straight arms its exactly in the ROM of the IC. When I started using it I could do just 3 reps with 90#. Now I'm up to 130# which tells me if I was a typical gymnast size I could do an IC! Unfortunately I weigh 185# so I got a ways to go. :oops:

You probably won't be able to do an iron cross when you reach your bodyweight on that machine. Doing it on the rings will be harder.

Of course it will be harder on the rings. The machine is just a convenient way to develop the basic strength. The skill will have to be developed separately.

Once upon a time, I used one of those machines to do assistance work for the MU and IC as well.

They aren't bad, but you won't be developing what you think It's a good idea, and if performed with locked elbows could certainly be an excellent accessory exercise, but you should be spending just as much time going into progressively wider ring supports. It is a different type of stress, because of the body tension required. If all you do is the machine, you are going to be very disappointed when you get on the rings, even after you have adapted to them. Use bands to help increase the ROM safely on the rings. Good luck and good training to you Joe!

I supposedly crossed(could have done waaay more, but it was only out becasue gymnastics coach was trying to show people how to false grip for a MUp , I was particularly smug after witnessing 3 large well built guys flailing their legs at the top of a chin up and I strolled along and chugged out 3 in a row:P-anyway) 70Kg on one of those machines. Impressive at a body weight of about 68kg no? The moral of the story?(out of brackets) Metric is not to be confused with imperial! Perhaps a bit off topic, but I felt like sharing .

Yeah, I wrote that article above.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

If I would write it again I probably would change some stuff. More strength and joint preparation work is an obvious one.

BTW Timy message me on AIM or e-mail me. We haven't talked in a while.

Gregor said:

Good article.

Just my two sentence about article:

1. It's Push down/press down and not pull exercise (pull would be from dead hang pull to cross)

2. Isometrics are very important!!! If you won't do them, you will not know when to start decelerate speed, not have good feeling in the perfect cross position. And I would do them somwhere after the begining of the exercise (after the first exercise or after shorter first exercise), so you would be a litlle more stronger due to better warming up for maximal stress.

Either way, it's very good article

1. It's a pull exercise.

"Pull" exercises universally bring an object's center of mass towards you while pushing moves them away.

In the case of a cross, your body is the mass and center of mass is approximately at your hips -- when you are in a cross you are PULLING your hands down towards your sides. Adduction is primarily a pulling movement.

About 45 degrees angle with the body (approximately maltese lean angle) you can say it becomes a pressing/pushing movement, but there is NO DOUBT the iron cross itself (isometric) is a pulling exercise much like the back lever and front lever. Hell, they work the same muscles in general.

Butterfly is a pull too (obviously).

I generally don't like the center of mass argument but it's the formal definition. I like to classify gymnastics movements according to the generalized weightlifting definitions of flexions/abduction which use the triceps, chest, etc. being primarily pushing, and extension/adduction movements which use mostly the back/biceps/etc. However, the problem with these in bodyweight movements is that most of the bodyweight movements use all of them extensively, so I don't think it's a good measure in most cases.

On the other hand, it is a sound basis, IMO, for planning a routine to keep optimal shoulder balance so as not to create any strength deficits.

2. I agree isometrics are important. I wouldn't start with many of them at all (except during lowers with 1-2s holds) but I would progressively add them in as you get stronger.

Push the rings down or pull the hands to your body...I always think about pushing the rings down and not pulling my hands to my body.

Gregor said:

Push the rings down or pull the hands to your body...I always think about pushing the rings down and not pulling my hands to my body.

Like I said.. it's kinda ambigous because it changes mid movement.

I tell my guys to "pull" the rings in to their sides. Doesn't really matter as long as they get used to doing it correctly.

Though no doubt cross isometric is pull.