Standing Cable Lift
Trains the Abs and Obliques.
- Equipment
- A cable station
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Set a cable to its lowest position and stand side-on to the machine, feet about shoulder-width apart.
- Take the handle with both hands, arms nearly straight, down by the hip nearest the machine.
- Brace the stomach and keep the arms as fixed levers.
- Rotate the torso away from the machine, lifting the handle across the body in a diagonal up to the opposite shoulder.
- Finish with the arms straight and the hands high on the far side, hips turned with the shoulders.
- Return along the same diagonal under control, then repeat before swapping sides.
Common mistakes
- Lifting with the arms. The arms stay nearly straight and the torso turns; if the elbows bend, the shoulders are doing what the trunk should.
- Keeping the hips square. The hips turn with the shoulders and the back foot pivots; a trunk that rotates against fixed hips is twisting the lower back.
- Leaning back to finish high. The lift ends with the torso tall, not leaning away from the machine.
- Letting the cable snap back. The return is as controlled as the lift; the cable does not pull the arms down.