5 Best Cable Glute Exercises For Booty Workouts (2024)

Because thegluteus maximusis one of the largest andstrongest musclesin thehuman bodyit requires a lot of stimulus for growth and strength gains.

This is why exercises likebarbell squats, Romanian deadlifts, and the barbellhip thrustare importantcompound exercisesfor muscle development.

Recommended Reading – 6 Best Gym Cable Attachments For Improved Strength Training

However, while usingfree weights, likeweight platesand a barbell, is agreat wayof buildingstrong glutes, incorporating some cable glute exercises can be aneffective wayof placing training bias on your entire glutemuscle group.

In fact, some of thebest exercisesfor working yourglute musclescan be done using a cable machine.

What Makes The Cable Machine Effective For Muscle Building

For optimummuscle growthand strength gains, we would always advocate doing a mixture of different exercises which would include free weight andcable machine exercisesas part of yourstrength trainingregime, but let’s consider some of the key benefits of using the cable machine.

1. You Can Alter The Angle & Plane Of Resistance

When compared to other gym machines, the cable machine is not fixed by a specific plane of motion.

This makes it much more versatile when compared to something like a chest press or leg press.

While theweight stackin a cable machine is fixed and only moves in a vertical direction, the cables do not.

This means that you’re not restricted by gravity.

You can move the cables in many different directions and the tension applied to your muscles remains the same no matter what angle you’re pulling the cables at.

That brings us to our next benefit.

2. Resistance Remains The Same Throughout The Exercise

The resistance that you get when performingcable exercisesremains consistent throughout the movement which essentially results in noresistance curve.

What this means is that tension on the muscles during a repetition remains the same whether at thetop of the movement,bottom of the movement, or anywhere in between.

Let’s take a look at how this works.

When you performfree weight exercisesthedirection of the resistanceis always vertical, this is because you’re working against the effects of gravity.

For example, when you perform a barbell squat, your body supports the weight load with your muscles contracting hard to avoid dropping the loaded bar.

The same applies toisolation exerciseslike the dumbbell shoulder press.

What’s more, the heavier the weight you’re lifting, the harder your muscles have to work.

Let’s take the dumbbell bicep curl as an example.

As you curl the dumbbell up towards your shoulder the tension applied to thetarget muscle(your biceps) is at its greatest around midway through the curl.

This is when your biceps have to work their hardest against gravity.

When the dumbbell is at the top orbottom of the movement, the stimulus applied to the muscle is much less because you’re not directly fighting against gravity.

Because of this,cable exercisescan be superior for muscle building due to theconstant tensionthroughout the entirerange of motion.

They can also help to encourage a bettermind-muscle connectionwhich can help you perform better quality reps with increased engagement of your muscles.

3. They Can Help Address Muscle Imbalances

Using a cable machine can be a great way of addressing muscle imbalances due to its unique resistance profile and versatility.

As mentioned above, using cables keeps the tension on your muscles the entire time which can help you to target and activate yourgluteal musclesmore effectively.

What’s more, as you can perform a wider range of movement patterns by pulling the cables at different angles this allows you to hone in on smaller muscles for better isolation.

For example, let’s say you’re performing a cableglute kickback.

Typically, you extend your leg straight out and behind you.

While this works all of yourglute muscles, it puts more emphasis on yourgluteus maximus(which is the largest glute muscle)

But, if you extend your leg out and to the side to around a 30-degree angle, this targets more of yourgluteus medius, or side glutes if you prefer.

This multidirectional resistance can challenge yourglute musclesin different ways, helping to not only increasemuscle massand strength but also improve overall muscle balance and coordination.

4. You Don’t Need As Much Recovery Time

We all know the effectiveness of heavy-weightcompound exercisesfor developing your glutes.

But the one significant drawback is that going hard and heavy fatigues the muscles to such an extent you’ll need to allow for sufficient recovery time so that your glutes can repair and grow.

This is because when you do an exercise like the conventional deadlift or barbell back squat, you’re working all the major muscle groups across yourentire body.

This requires far more energy and puts much more demand on your central nervous system (CNS).

However, becausecable exercisesare better at isolating the glutes, this will allow you to increase the training volume to optimize their development without the need for excessive amounts of downtime.

So, if building your glutes is a priority, you’ll get away with training them more often than if you were to rely solely on heavy compound movements.

Ultimate Cable Glute Exercises For Strength & Size

If yourprimary goalis to improve the shape of your glutes by adding some size and toning up the muscles, grab yourself a pair ofankle strapsand try out our cable glute workout below.

CableGlute Kickback

Glute cable kickbacksare considered as one of thebestcableexercisesand for good reason, it’s agreat exercisefor targeting the glutes to strengthen, tone, and shape them making it a popular addition to manylower-body workouts.

It’s a unilateral exercise that involves purehip extensionwhich is when you take your hips from a bent position through to a straight position.

This is the same biomechanical movement pattern that you perform when doing something like ahip thrustor deadlift where your glutes are responsible for driving the hips forward.

Because this exercise works on one joint, this does limit how much you can progressively overload.

So, avoidheavy weightsbut perform sets to a higher rep range, around 12 to 20.

Here’s How To Do It:

1. Set the pulley to its lowest setting on the cable machine and attach the ankle strap.
2. Hook your ankle into the strap and line your leg up with the cable.
3. Step back and lean your torso forward slightly. Hold onto the machine for support. This is thestarting position.
4. With the knee of your working slightly bent, initiate the movement by swinging your leg back and up.
5. Hold for a second at the top before using control to lower your leg back to the start. Complete 3 sets on each leg for 12 to 20 reps.

Pro Tip:Even though the name implies kicking back the leg,proper forminvolves moving your leg back in an arc plane of motion for better glute activation .

Variation:If you want to target more of your upper glutes, thebest wayis to swing your leg out in a more lateral direction.

StandingCable Pull-Through

Cable pull-throughs are agreat wayof working not just your glutes but also your hamstrings making it an effectiveposterior chainexercise.

The movement pattern of thiscable variationclosely mimics that of the stiff-legged deadlift or the good morning exercise but with lessrisk of injuryand better isolation of the glutes.

How To Do It:

1. Set thecable pulleyso it’s just below the inline of your glutes and clip on the rope attachment.
2. Standing facing away from the machine and position your feet at a shoulder-width distance.
3. Lean back and grab the attachment with both hands so you can pull it in between your legs.
4. Start in anupright position. This is when you’ll feel the most resistance in your glutes.
5. From here, hinge forward at the hips pushing your glutes back.
6. Lower your torso towards the floor but be sure to keep your back flat and legs straight throughout. Stop when your upper body is roughly parallel to the ground. Engage your glutes to drive your hips forward to return to a standing position. Complete 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps.

Pro Tip:Point your toes out a little as this helps to open up your hips for improved glute contraction.

Variation:For even more glute activation try performing the kneeling cable pull through. This will minimize recruitment of your hamstrings which can lead to betterglute hypertrophy.

Cable Sumo Squat With Pulse

Cable squatsare ideal for working yourglute musclesand by altering your foot placement you can significantly increase activation of certain muscles.

For example, by adopting a sumo stance, which is to stand with your feet as wide apart as possible with your toes pointing outwards, you can increase glute activation and also significantly work your adductors, which are your inner thigh muscles.

The pulse element incorporated into this exercise makes it more of an oscillatory movement.

That means you’ll need to perform fast reps with a very shortrange of motion, in effect a pulsing action.

How To Do It:

1. Set the pulley to its lowest setting and use either a v-bar attachment or rope.
2. Grab the attachment with both hands and step back from the machine to create some resistance in the cables.
3. Adopt a sumo stance and point your toes out.
4. Push your glutes back, bend your knees, and descend into a squat.
5. From here, push through your heels ascending just a couple of inches.
6. Quickly descend back to the full squat position and continue with this pulsing action for around 30 to 60 seconds and repeat 3 times.

Pro Tip:Try alternating the pulse action with a full squat movement in between each rep for maximum glute activation.

Variation:It’s agood ideato try othersquat variationsby positioning your feet closer together to work the glute andleg musclesin different ways.

Cable Reverse Lunge

When doing a cable reverse lunge you’ll want to stick with light weights so you don’t use too much energy just trying to maintain an upright posture.

This will allow you to focus on that all-important mind-to-muscle connection and really fire up those glutes.

Here’s How It’s Done:

1. The pulley should be just above ankle height, usually 3 or 4 notches from the bottom.
2. Clip on an ez bar orstraight barattachment. Face the machine and grab the handle with both hands.
3. Step back from the machine so theweight stackmoves from the bottom.
4. With your arms extended and a slight bend to your knees, step back with one leg.
5. Bending both knees at the same time, descend downward until your back knee is almost touching the floor.
6. Push through the heel of your front foot to return to the start and repeat with the other leg.
7. Perform 3 sets on each leg for 15 to 20 reps.

Pro Tip:Maintain the correct distance from the cable machine to ensure you keep tension on themain musclesof your glutes throughout the exercise.

Variation:To engage more muscles, try adding in a knee drive. Do this by bringing the knee of the working leg to your chest before initiating your next rep.

CableHip Abduction

Cable hip abductions are agreat wayof targeting not only your glute medius and minimus, but also recruiting your outer thigh and hip muscles.

This makes it one of themost effective exercisesfor contributing to better pelvic stability.

As your pelvis supports your back, this can also help improve things likelower back pain. You’ll need a pair ofankle cuffsfor this exercise.

How To Do It:

1. Position the pulley to its lowest setting and attach your ankle cuff.
2. Stand side on to the machine and take hold of it with your closest hand for support.
3. The ankle cuff should be attached to the ankle furthest away from the machine.
4. Raise your leg laterally as high as you find comfortable.
5. Pause at the top, squeezing the glutes before lower back down.
6. Performing 12 to 15 reps for 3 sets on both legs.

Pro Tip:Forgood form, keep the foot of your working leg off the ground throughout as this will help to keep tension on your glutes.

Variation:Try moving your leg behind you at a 45-degree angle, this will increase engagement of your glute max giving this muscle agreat workout.

Can You Isolate TheGlute Muscles

As with any muscle in your body, it’s not possible to truly isolate your glutes at the expense of all other muscles.

However, you can increase the tension applied to your glutes by modifying and making adjustments to an exercise.

The glutes are interconnected with several other muscles and tendons, including the hamstrings, quads, and lower back muscles, which often work synergistically during lower body movements.

However, by focusing on exercises that emphasizehip extension, such as squats, lunges, deadlifts, and hip thrusts, you can effectively target and activate theglute muscles.

Can You Just DoCable Exercises

We wouldn’t advise just performing exercises on a cable machine unless you have a specific reason for doing so, such as an injury.

It’s important to stimulate your muscles by applying resistance using different methods for thebest results.

This prevents any muscle imbalances from developing as well as strength plateaus.

While there are many different exercises you can perform on a cable machine, they won’t offer the same benefits as if you were to incorporate compound movements into yourworkout routineas well.

Generally, it’s considered agood ideato performcompound exercisesfirst and then exhaust the muscles by finishing withcable exercises.

If you want to address any weakness to a particular muscle, cables can be perfect for this but don’t rely oncable exercisesalone.

Is The Cable Machine As Good As Resistance Bands

We wouldn’t say that the cable machine is better than resistance bands, they are simply different.

Using aresistance bandcan be less damaging to the body due to the varying resistance applied.

As mentioned, the weight on a cable machine remains the same throughout an exercise.

However, using bands you’ll notice that muscle contraction is at its peak when you’re at thetop of the movement.

What’s more, they can be better if you’re looking to improve explosive power which is not as easy when performingcable exercises.

This is because the load has to transfer between theweight stackand your muscles by going through the cables which creates a delay.

Although this is very slight, it’s still enough to prevent any explosive movements from being as effective.

Resistance bands can be agreat additionto your training and you can perform manygreat glute exerciseswith them.

They’re small, portable and cost effective making them ideal for home gyms.

But always remember to include a variety of exercises to keep taxing thoseglute muscles, including those all important cable glute exercises!