Pallof Press
Trains the Abs and Obliques.
- Equipment
- Cable
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Set a cable pulley or anchor a resistance band at roughly chest height.
- Stand side-on to it and take the handle in both hands, holding it against your chest.
- Step away until there is real tension trying to rotate you toward the anchor.
- Set your feet shoulder-width apart, brace your stomach and squeeze your glutes.
- Press the handle straight out in front of your chest until your arms are extended. The cable will try harder to turn you the further out it goes — your job is not to let it.
- Hold briefly at full extension, then bring the handle back to your chest. Complete the set, then turn around and repeat facing the other way.
Common mistakes
- Letting the torso rotate toward the anchor. That is the whole exercise — the resistance is trying to rotate you and the obliques are refusing. Any turning means the load is too heavy or you are too far from the anchor.
- Pressing with the shoulders rather than holding position. The arms just carry the handle out; the work is in the trunk.
- Standing too close, so there is no meaningful tension to resist.
- Skipping anti-rotation work because it does not feel like an ab exercise. Resisting rotation is what the obliques do while you carry something heavy on one side or press overhead with one arm, and nothing else in a typical program trains it.