Pull Through
Also works: Hamstrings · Lower Back
You straddle a low cable, face away from the stack, and hinge until the rope passes between your legs — then stand up by extending the hips. The resistance pulls backwards rather than downwards, so the hardest point is full lockout instead of the bottom, which makes it the cheapest way to learn a hinge without loading the spine.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Set a rope on the lowest pulley setting. A rope beats a handle because it lets your hands split apart between your thighs.
- Straddle the cable facing away from the stack, take the rope between your legs, and walk out two or three steps until there is tension at the top.
- Set your feet wider than shoulder-width with toes turned out slightly, so your torso has somewhere to go.
- Take the slack out before the first rep — starting from a dead stack makes the first rep a jerk.
- Soften the knees to about 15-20 degrees of bend and keep them there all set.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Inhale as you hinge back, exhale as you drive the hips forward. Two seconds down, snap up, hold the top for one full second before the next rep.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Start around 15-20 kg on the stack and expect to feel almost nothing at the bottom — that is normal. Good looks like a controlled hinge with a one-second lockout squeeze on every rep. Add a plate only when 15 reps still finish with a clean, held lockout; once your friction against the floor becomes the limit rather than your glutes, move to hip thrusts instead.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Set a bench or wall about 20 cm behind your heels and touch it with your hips on every rep. That forces the hips back instead of down.
Hold the rope with a loose hook grip and think of your hands as clipped to your pelvis. If your biceps are working, drop the weight by a plate.
Finish with ribs stacked over pelvis and glutes tight. The end of the rep is a plank standing up, not a backward lean.
Pick a weight you can lock out and hold for a full second. If you have to shuffle your feet or counter-lean, you are past the useful load for this movement.
Why bother
Every barbell hinge is hardest at the bottom, where the bar is furthest from your hips and your lower back is most vulnerable. The cable pulls horizontally, so the resistance curve is inverted: almost nothing at the bottom, maximum at standing. You get a hard glute contraction at the point where a Romanian deadlift has already gone easy.
That also makes it a teaching tool. The cable physically drags your hips backwards, which is the exact motion people fail to find when you tell them to hinge. Ten reps of pull-throughs before deadlifts does more for a squatty, knee-dominant hinge than any amount of verbal coaching.
Where it fits
Two places: light sets of 10-15 as part of a lower-body warm-up, or later in the session as glute volume after the heavy hinge is done. It is not a substitute for a Romanian deadlift or a hip thrust — the cable stack runs out of weight long before your glutes do. Two or three times a week is fine because it costs almost nothing in recovery.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
Asked and answered
Is the pull-through a replacement for Romanian deadlifts?
No, and it is not trying to be. The RDL loads the stretched position and can be taken far heavier; the pull-through loads the lockout and tops out at whatever the cable stack holds. Use it as a warm-up for the hinge pattern or as accessory glute volume afterwards, not as the main hinge in your week.
Should I feel it in my hamstrings or my glutes?
Both, but glutes should dominate at lockout and hamstrings at the bottom. If it is hamstrings only, you are probably hinging too deep and standing up with your back. If it is quads, you are squatting the rep — push the hips back rather than dropping them down.
The cable drags me backwards. What am I doing wrong?
Usually nothing technical — the weight is simply higher than your bodyweight and shoe friction can anchor. Step further from the stack so there is more cable angle, widen your stance, or drop the load. This is the honest ceiling of the exercise, and it arrives sooner for lighter lifters.
Can I do it with a resistance band instead?
Yes, and the band version behaves almost identically because band tension also peaks at lockout. Anchor it low and behind you at ankle height. The only real loss is precise load steps — you jump between band thicknesses rather than adding 5 kg at a time.