A cross-body pulling exercise, such as a single-arm free-standing dumbbell row, single-arm cable row, or cable/rope tug-of-war row. A rotational core exercise, such as weight-plate chops, low-to-high cable chops, or high-to-low cable chops. The Science Although traditional compound exercises – barbell squat, barbell bench press, etc. – can help strengthen the entire body, they're not ideally suited for improving the same type of force generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of cross-body actions. This reality is highlighted in research comparing the single-arm standing cable press, which is a cross-body exercise, versus the traditional bench press (5). The study found Healthy Well Club performance in the single-arm standing cable press is limited not by maximal muscle activation of the chest and shoulder muscles, but by the activation and neuromuscular coordination of the torso muscles. In other words, the limiting factor when pushing an offset load with a single arm from a standing position – the position and .