Pull Through

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Quite a few of the more standard hip hinge exercises can seem a bit daunting or even risky, especially to those with back problems. The pull through, also called the cable pull through, is an excellent alternative. It puts significantly less stress on the back while still allowing you to build strength and size in your glutes and hamstrings.

The Basics

The pull through is classified as a lower body pull that primarily trains the glutes and hamstrings. It is a compound exercise as it involves multiple muscle ground and joints.

The Basics

The pull through is primarily used as a strength exercise. It is classified as a hinge movement. It is more generally classified as a lower pull movement. Since it involves significant activation of multiple muscle groups, it is considered a compound exercise.

Form

Set Up

• Set the pulley height to the lowest setting
• Facing away, bend down and grab the tricep rope in between your legs
• Take a step or two forward so that cable will still be under tension at the bottom of each rep
• Brace your core, keeping a neutral spine
• Keep your straight, with your elbows slightly bent
• Your feet should be about shoulder width apart and slightly turned out
• Your knees should be slightly bent and your torso should be about parallel with the floor

Execution

• Hinge at the hips, pulling the rope through your legs
• Keep a braced, neutral core
• Squeeze your glutes and stand up straight at the top
• Hinge back down under control until you feel a slight stretch in your hamstrings

Common Mistakes

Squatting

Rather than squatting, make sure that you're hinging the weight. This means making sure that your hips, rather than your knees are doing most of the movement. Think about pushing your hips back at the bottom.

Hyperextending at the Top

When getting to the top of a rep, many people push the hips too far forward and end up leaning back. Instead, think about standing up tall and squeezing the glutes.

Additional Info

Safety

Some of the more popular hip hinge exercises are not without risks. Exercises like the deadlift and good morning, especially if done with poor form, can place excessive stress on the lower back muscles and lead to injury. All too often, unfortunately, they are done with poor form.

This is where the pull through can help. It's a simpler, less technical exercise which means it's less likely to be done with poor form. It also doesn't put nearly as much load on the lower back muscles, so even if your form isn't perfect, it's less likely to lead to injury.

Equipment

Pull throughs are almost always done with a cable machine using the tricep rope attachment. This is why they're so often referred to as cable pull throughs. Most people don't have a cable machine as part of their home gym set up, but they can be done resistance bands fairly effectively as well.

Progression

One drawback of the pull through is that it's not so easy to add weight to after a certain point. Since it's normally done on a cable machine, the stack will max out and you'll be wondering what to do next. As such, for advanced lifters, the pull through is best done for higher reps, rather than max weight.

That being said, the pull through is a great teaching tool to prepare you to deadlift properly. Once you've mastered the pull through, the hip hinge strength and technique you've learned will transfer quite well to the deadlift or other hinge exercises that can be loaded heavier.

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