The Pallof Press is a beginner-friendly cable strength exercise that targets the abdominals, with the chest and triceps working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesAbs
Secondary musclesChest, Triceps
EquipmentCable
LevelBeginner
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Pallof Press
Set a cable pulley or anchor a band at chest height.
Stand side-on to the anchor and take the handle in both hands with your fingers laced.
Step away until the cable is under tension and set your feet slightly wider than shoulder width.
Pull the handle in to the center of your chest and brace your abs hard.
Press the handle straight out and hold for two to three seconds without letting your torso turn.
Return the handle to your chest under control, finish the set, then turn around and face the other way.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Trains the trunk to resist rotation rather than produce it.
Isometric bracing loads the obliques and deep abdominals without spinal flexion.
Scales cleanly by stepping closer to or further from the anchor.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Letting the hips and shoulders rotate toward the anchor, which removes the anti-rotation demand entirely.
Standing too close to the stack, so there is no tension left to resist at full extension.
Holding your breath through the press, which usually means the load is beyond what your bracing can hold.
Pressing off-center or across the body, which turns the drill into an unsteady one-arm chest press.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Pallof Press, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
