Cable Glute Kickback
Also known as: cable kickback, glute kickback, glute cable kickback, cable kickbacks, cable hip extension
- Secondary muscles
- Hamstrings, Quads
- Body part
- Upper Legs
- Position
- Standing
- Laterality
- Bilateral (both sides together)
- Category
- Strength
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An ankle cuff on the low pulley loads hip extension one leg at a time, with tension that stays on through the whole arc instead of vanishing at the bottom the way a band kickback does. Keep the reps strict and moderate - ten to fifteen per leg - because swinging a heavier stack just shifts the work into the low back.
How to do the Cable Glute Kickback
- Attach a cable to a low pulley and stand facing away from the machine.
- Place the cable around your ankle and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your core engaged and your back straight throughout the exercise.
- Slowly extend your leg straight back, squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement.
- Pause for a moment, then return to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
- Switch sides and repeat with the other leg.
Tip: Tuck the pelvis slightly and keep the ribs down so the glute, not the lower back, gets the squeeze.
Muscles worked
Primary
Glutes · Legs
The glutes drive the leg or hips back and finish the rep, and you should feel a hard squeeze in the working side at the top.
Secondary
- Hamstrings — The hamstrings assist the glutes in extending the hip and get a good stretch on pull-throughs.
- Quads
Common mistakes
- Arching to get higher — the range ends when the hip is fully extended, not when the spine bends; stop at the point where the glute is squeezed and go no further.
- Rushing the reps — most hip extensions are a squeeze exercise; pause at the top for a count unless the variation is meant to be rhythmic.
- Kicking instead of extending — on kickbacks keep the knee bent at a fixed angle so the glute drives the hip back; if the leg straightens as you lift, it has turned into a leg kick.
- Pull-throughs with a vertical torso — on a cable pull-through you need to hinge far forward with the hips back so the cable stretches the glutes before they fire.
Where it fits in a workout
Hip extensions are accessory glute work for after squats, deadlifts or hip thrusts. Cable pull-throughs superset well with cable rows on the same stack, and kickbacks with abduction work.
How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.
Variations and alternatives
Similar exercises
Without cable
When to talk to someone
- Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
- Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
- Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.
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More exercises
Sources
- ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
- ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
- ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
- CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)
Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.
Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.