Cable Pull-Through

What is the Cable Pull-Through?

The cable pull-through is a standing hip hinge performed facing away from a low cable pulley, with a rope passed between the legs. You hinge at the hips to let the weight draw your hands back, then snap the hips forward to full extension. The cable pulls from behind, so the hips stay loaded at lockout where a barbell RDL goes light, and the light, forgiving load makes it a good tool for teaching the hinge.

Muscles worked

Primary: Glutes

The glutes drive the movement, contracting to extend the hips and finish the pull-through as the torso returns to upright.

Secondary: Hamstrings

The hamstrings lengthen and assist the glutes in extending the hips out of the hinge.

How to perform the Cable Pull-Through

1. Set a rope on a low pulley, face away from the machine, and pass the rope between the legs.
2. Step forward to create tension, feet shoulder-width, holding the rope ends at the hips.
3. Hinge at the hips, letting the rope pull the hands back between the legs as the torso bows forward.
4. Keep a soft knee and flat back as the cable pulls you into a hamstring and glute stretch.
5. Drive the hips forward to stand tall, snapping the glutes to lockout as the rope comes through.
6. Control the return hinge rather than letting the stack pull you backward.

Suggested working range: 10–15 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Mechanics

A compound hip hinge with the cable providing resistance in the horizontal plane: the hips travel back to load the posterior chain, then drive forward to lockout, with the arms acting only as a passive strap between the rope and the hips. The backward pull of the cable keeps the glutes loaded through the whole range, including the standing lockout.

Form cues

• •Face away from the stack, straddle the cable, and let the rope pull your hands deep between your legs as the hips travel back.
• •Keep the arms straight and relaxed: they’re just hooks; the hips do all the work of moving the weight.
• •Finish by standing tall and squeezing the glutes, without leaning back or overextending the lower back.

Common mistakes

• •Turning it into a squat by bending the knees instead of hinging at the hips.
• •Using the arms to row the rope rather than driving the hips to move the weight.
• •Rounding the lower back as the cable pulls the torso forward.
• •Overextending the lower back at the top instead of finishing with a glute squeeze.

Variations & alternatives

• •Romanian deadlift: a free-weight hinge that loads the same pattern under a barbell stretch.
• •Cable kickback: an isolation cable move that hits the glutes one leg at a time.
• •Glute bridge: a floor hip extension that reinforces the same top-end glute squeeze.

Barbell Hip Thrust

Glutes · Barbell

Cable Kickback

Glutes · Cable

Single-Leg Hip Thrust

Glutes · Bodyweight

Machine Hip Thrust

Glutes · Machine

Banded Hip Thrust

Glutes · Barbell

Programming: sets, reps & when to use it

Program the pull-through in the 10–15 rep range as a hinge-pattern teacher or an accessory after heavier posterior-chain work; the constant tension rewards a controlled tempo and a hard lockout squeeze over heavy loading.

Frequently asked questions