Cable Judo Flip

Also known as: judo flip, cable judo throw

Secondary muscles
Obliques, Delts
Body part
Core
Laterality
Bilateral (both sides together)
Category
Strength

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Named for the throw it mimics, this cable movement has you rip the handle from chest height across your body with real speed, finishing as if tossing someone over your hip. It rewards fast, athletic intent more than heavy stacks, so set a load you can genuinely accelerate and treat each rep as a throw.

How to do the Cable Judo Flip

  1. Stand facing the cable machine with your feet shoulder-width apart.
  2. Hold the cable handle with both hands at chest level, palms facing down.
  3. Engage your core and rotate your torso to the right, pulling the cable across your body.
  4. As you rotate, pivot your back foot and allow your hips to rotate naturally.
  5. Extend your arms fully and finish the movement by flipping the cable handle over your shoulder.
  6. Return to the starting position by reversing the movement, rotating your torso back to the center.
  7. Repeat the movement on the opposite side.
  8. Continue alternating sides for the desired number of repetitions.

Tip: Pivot on the back foot and let the hips turn with the shoulders so the rotation is shared across the whole body.

Muscles worked

Primary

Abs · Core

The obliques rotate the torso and resist the return, and you should feel the side of the waist tighten on each side as you turn.

Secondary

  • Obliques — The obliques are the prime movers, with the internal and external obliques on opposite sides working together to turn the trunk.
  • Delts

Common mistakes

  • Twisting from the lower back — the rotation should come from the mid back and hips; keep the lower back neutral and let the hips turn with you on standing variations.
  • Using the arms to swing — on cable and band rotations the arms stay locked out in front of you and the torso does the turning.
  • Rushing the reps — control the return and pause briefly at the end range on each side instead of bouncing back and forth.
  • Loading barbell twists heavy — gravity barely resists rotation, so keep barbell twists light and controlled, and use a cable or band when you want real rotational load.

Where it fits in a workout

Rotations work at the end of a session with the other core work, or as a warm-up before throws and rotational sports. Superset cable rotations with a cable side bend or pull-through on the same stack.

How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.

Variations and alternatives

Similar exercises

Without cable

Easier and harder

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

  1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
  2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
  3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
  4. 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.