Make the most of your gym pulleys: Fundamental exercises

The best pulley exercises for each muscle group

Pulley machines are a very versatile tool in the gym. They allow controlled, safe, and very effective work for both beginners and advanced users. However, many people are reluctant to use them. That’s why today we will talk about pulleys and how to get the most out of them in your strength training.

What are pulleys used for in the gym?

Pulleys allow training in different planes of movement and adapting the pulling angle according to the exercise, something not so easy with free weights. Among their most notable benefits are:

• Muscle isolation: you can focus the work on specific muscles.

• Lower risk of injury: being a more guided movement, it is ideal for rehabilitation or safe training.

• Versatility: with a single machine you can work chest, back, arms, shoulders, legs, and even abs.

• Smooth progression: the load can be adjusted precisely

Where can you find gym pulleys?

You have two main options:

1. In commercial gyms

Most gyms are equipped with pulley stations, whether high pulleys, low pulleys, or full crossovers.

2. For home use

If you want to have one in your home gym, you can find specific pulley stations or multipower ones; at Fitness Tech we offer some like: 

• Multipower machines
• Multi-station machines

• Full cable crossovers
  

The best pulley exercises (according to the muscle group)

Pectorals

• High cable crossover: works the middle and lower part of the pectoral.

• Low cable crossover: focused on the upper portion of the chest.

• Pulley press with neutral grip: ideal for working on inclined planes.

Back

• Low pulley row: focused on lats and rhomboids.

• Lat pulldown: perfect for the latissimus dorsi.

• High pulley pull-over: excellent for isolating the back without involving the arms.

Shoulders

• Face pull: essential for posterior deltoids and shoulder health.

• Lateral raises on low pulley: very useful to maintain constant tension.

Arms

• Low pulley curl with straight bar: ideal for biceps.

• Rope curl: activates the long head of the biceps more.

• Triceps extensions with rope or bar: to work all heads of the triceps.

• High pulley contraction: to focus on the final phase of the movement.

Legs

Although less common, you can also work on:

• Glute kickback on low pulley

• Adduction and abduction on pulley

• Unilateral hamstring curl on pulley

Why choose pulleys?

• They allow maintaining constant tension

• They prevent unnecessary overloads

• They are perfect for adding variety to any routine