Buzz
Ever been intrigued by the cable machines at your fitness center? Just as I’ve shared beginner-friendly workouts using kettlebells and TRX suspension trainers, I’m now exploring the most effective exercises you can perform with a cable machine.
These machines feature a handle connected to a pulley system with weighted stacks. While many gym machines operate similarly, we’re focusing on the versatile ones. With these cables, you’re not limited to a single exercise—options are endless. You might find one or two cables, allowing for unilateral or bilateral movements, and adjustable pulleys that can be positioned high, low, or anywhere in between. Excited to explore their potential? Let’s get started!
One-arm row
Cable machines are incredibly versatile for rowing and pulling movements, and the single-arm row stands out as an excellent exercise to target your lats and biceps. To perform this, stabilize your body using your core and legs while pulling the cable back. Assume a half-kneeling stance and adjust the cable so your hand reaches the side of your ribcage with each repetition.
Attachment: handle
Cable position: middle or bottom (aligned with your hand's height)
Overhead tricep extension
This exercise effectively targets your triceps, the primary muscles used for pushing, and serves as a great alternative to skullcrushers or French presses.
Attachment: rope or straight bar
Cable position: top
Pallof press
Within the realm of core workouts, the pallof press exemplifies an anti-rotational exercise. Despite its name, it doesn’t involve pushing the cable away. Instead, you extend your hands forward while resisting the cable’s pull to one side.
Attachment: handle
Cable position: middle
Cable pull-through
This exercise mimics a hinge motion, serving as an excellent complement or substitute for deadlifts and hip thrusts. Similar to a Romanian deadlift, it engages your glutes and hamstrings as you rise and pull the cable through your legs.
Attachment: rope
Cable position: bottom
Woodchoppers
A fantastic core workout, woodchoppers engage your obliques in a downward and sideways motion that dumbbells or medicine balls can’t fully replicate (it mimics the exaggerated action of chopping wood with an axe). You can perform these by setting the cable at the top and pulling downward, or try a “reverse woodchopper” with the cable at the bottom, pulling upward.
Attachment: handle
Cable position: top (or bottom)
Cable curl
No gym session is complete without bicep curls. For an effective superset, use a machine with dual cable pulleys side by side. Set one cable at the top with a rope for overhead tricep extensions, and the other at the bottom with an EZ bar for curls. Alternate between the two exercises.
Attachment: EZ-curl bar, straight bar, or rope
Cable position: bottom
Crossover or chest press
If your gym has two cable machines facing each other, crossovers are an excellent way to utilize them. (Just hope both machines are free simultaneously—good luck!) Pull the cable handles toward each other, mimicking a dumbbell fly. Typically, the pulleys are set at the top, but low or middle positions work just as well.
Attachment: handles
Cable position: top
Standing or squatting row
Seated cable rows are among my top gym machine picks, but they excel when paired with a dedicated bench and footrest. For a two-handed row on a standard cable machine, you can either stand with your hips slightly pushed back or lower into a full squat position.
Attachment: v-handle, rope, or straight bar
Cable position: middle
Face pulls
This pulling exercise is highly praised by many lifters for maintaining shoulder and elbow health, and it’s also excellent for improving posture. The name comes from the motion of pulling the cable directly toward your face.
Attachment: rope
Cable position: top
Tricep pushdown
While we’ve covered an overhead tricep exercise, you can also target the same muscles by pushing your arms downward (hence the name).
Attachment: rope or straight bar
Cable position: top
Zerchers
Certain cable machines feature a long, straight bar with holes at each end, which can be connected to both cables on a paired machine. My first attempt involved back squats, but the cables’ pull made stabilization difficult, and I disliked the experience. Recently, I tried zerchers and found them much more enjoyable. Position the bar in the crooks of your elbows, squat down, and rise back up.
These can also be performed with a single cable, though unless you’re quite small, the maximum weight might feel insufficient.
Attachment: double-ended straight bar
Cable position: both cables at the bottom
Straight arm lat pulldown
While most pulling exercises engage the biceps along with the lats, this one targets the triceps instead. It resembles a standard lat pulldown (and you can use a lat pulldown machine if preferred), but you keep your arms completely straight.
Attachment: straight bar
Cable position: top
Cable crunch
Tired of endless unweighted crunches? Use a cable machine to add resistance for low-rep sets. Kneel on the floor, hold the cable with your hands near your head, and crunch downward. You’ll feel the same core activation as traditional floor crunches.
Attachment: rope
Cable position: top
