Cable pull glute workout

Free weights are great for building your leg and glute muscles but adding cable exercises are great for lower body muscle growth.

Using cable exercises in addition to your compound exercises —barbell squats and romanian deadlifts—in a glute workout is a great way to build stronger glutes while rounding the glute medius and glute minimus by using abduction exercises.

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The constant resistance from a cable machine in these glute exercises will give help you with muscle growth. Research has found that adding isometric exercises with bands (cable resistance) will increase activation.

Why cable machine exercises?

A cable pulley machine provides constant tension on your muscles throughout the entire range of motion while other pieces of equipment do not.

Benefits of using cable exercises:

A large range of motion

Cable exercises allow for a greater range of motion than the same exercises when using free weights.

Work different angles

Cables allow you to hit your muscles from different angles. You can hit all the parts of your glutes by changing the position of your leg or body. This allows for many variations of the same exercise.

Minimal stress on the spine

You do not have any heavy barbells on your shoulders relieving your body of spinal compression and pressure on your lower back.

Cable pull exercises

There are a number of variations to cable exercises that you can pull together for a cable pull glute workout including cable pull-throughs, cable kickbacks, cable squats, cable Romanian deadlifts and cable abductors.

Cable pull throughs

woman in long sleeve shirt and leggings doing cable pull through

Attach a rope handle in a low position on a cable pulley for this hip hinge exercise.
Stand with your back against the pulley, with the cable between your thighs and take a few steps forward.
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and push your hips back, hinging at your hips.
Let the rope handle move backward between your thighs while keeping your back flat.
Do not let your back arch or round.
Extend your hips forward and stand back up.
Hinge forward again and repeat.

Cable kickbacks

Stand facing towards the cable machine with the ankle cuff around your ankle.
For support of your upper body, gently hold the machine.
Lean forward halfway and keep a straight back.
Keep your left leg straight and lift your right foot off the floor.
Bend your right knee and push through the right heel and extend your right leg as much as you can behind you.
Squeeze your glute once your leg is extended.
Do not arch your lower back and gradually return to your starting position.
Repeat for desired reps and then switch legs.

Tip: You can change the angle you kick/raise your leg for your kickbacks and target muscle a little differently.

Cable squats

With the ankle cuff around your right ankle and attached to the lowest setting, stand sideways next to the cable pulley machine.
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
Step out to the right and squat down.
Stand back up keeping the cable under control.
Repeat for desired reps and then switch legs.

Cable Romanian deadlifts (or cable single-leg romanian deadlift)

Set the cable to start from the bottom of the cable column.
Attach two long handles or a straight bar to the machine.
Stand about 1 to 2 feet away from the cable column or far enough so that the cable is always taut throughout the range of motion
Stand with your feet hip widths apart facing the cable column
Keeping a soft bend in your knee and your back flat and horizontal, push your hips through and extend until you stand upright. Then return back down.

TIP: For single-leg deadlifts, use one long cable handle and stand on one leg while extending the other back. This unilateral exercise can help with any imbalances between your right and left side while challenging your gluteus medius.

Cable abduction (lateral side leg lift)

Set up your ankle strap to a low cable position and place it on the ankle of your outside leg.
Stand tall and raise your leg out to the side.
Pause and squeeze the side of your gluteals (glute medius & minimus) before slowly lowering.
Repeat the desired number of reps and then switch to the opposite leg.

One machine cable pull glute workout

Cable machines provide constant resistance and tension through the full range of motion. You can attach different workout attachments to perform exercises at various angles. Some of these cable leg exercises will require handles and ankle cuffs.