Cable exercises

A cable lets you pull from any height and any angle, and that is its real strength: a cable fly can come from high, low or level, and the same station handles rows, curls, pushdowns and core work. The downside is load. A stack tops out well below what a loaded barbell holds, so cables suit the accessory end of a session more than its main lift.

Cables are the go-to for isolation work where the angle matters: lateral raises that are loaded from the very bottom, face pulls for the rear delts, the triceps pushdown, and the Pallof press for the core. The lat pulldown and the seated cable row are the main back exercises for anyone not yet doing pull-ups.

Cable stations differ in how much of the stack you actually lift, so the same number on two of them is not the same weight. Log each station as its own exercise in StackUp and the comparison stays honest.