Iron Cross
Trains the Shoulders.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand, arms out to the sides at shoulder height, palms down.
- Brace your stomach and squeeze your glutes so the trunk is rigid.
- Hold the position — the arms stay level and still.
- Bring both arms slowly forward until they meet in front of your chest.
- Return them out to the sides under control, keeping them at shoulder height.
- Stop the set when the arms start to drop rather than when the time is up.
Common mistakes
- Choosing the weight by what you can raise. This is mostly a hold, and what you can lift out to the side once is far more than what you can keep there.
- Letting the arms drop below shoulder height. Level is the position; dropping is the set ending, whatever the clock says.
- Leaning back to keep the arms up. Ribs down and glutes tight is what keeps the spine out of it.
- Swinging the arms forward and back. The movement is slow and controlled; momentum removes the isometric demand the position exists for.