GlutesCable machineBeginner

How to Do Cable Kickbacks

By Bryan Alger, Co-Founder of Gravitus

· Updated Sep 30, 2026

A cable kickback is a glute isolation exercise. Buckle an ankle cuff to the lowest pulley, face the stack, lean forward and kick one leg back from the hip until your thigh lines up with your torso. It trains the gluteus maximus, with the hamstrings helping. Most lifters do 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps per leg.

Sets x reps 3-4 x 10-15 per leg

Median 10-rep weight 4520 lbkg men 37.517 lbkg women

Muscles Glutes, hamstrings, adductors

Setup Lowest pulley, ankle cuff, lean forward 30 to 45 degrees

Glute Cable Kickbacks start and kick back positions

1Start. Ankle cuff on the lowest pulley, forearms on the frame, hips hinged forward. Let the cable draw your working knee forward under your hip.
2Kick back. Drive the leg back from the hip until your thigh lines up with your torso, then bring it forward under control without arching your back.

Watch 2 video demonstrations

Video 1 of 2

Technique

How to do a cable kickback

Set the pulley to the lowest notch and buckle an ankle cuff around your working ankle.
Face the stack and step back until the plates lift. Hold the frame or rest your forearms on it, and lean forward 30 to 45 degrees from the hips with your back flat.
Soften your standing knee and keep your ribs down. Let the cable draw your working knee forward under your hip.
Kick the leg back from the hip, knee slightly bent, until your thigh lines up with your torso. Hold for a second.
Bring the leg forward over 2 seconds without letting the plates touch. Finish every rep on one leg before you switch.

Setup

Lean forward or stand upright, knee bent or straight

The defaultLean forward 30 to 45 degreesYour hip starts more bent, so the glute works from a longer, stretched position and the rep covers more range.

Shorter rangeStand uprightYour leg can only travel a little behind you before your lower back arches. Fine for a light finisher.

More gluteKnee bent about 90 degreesThe hamstrings do less, so use it if you feel kickbacks in the back of your thigh.

More hamstringKnee almost straightThe hamstrings help most with the knee straight. The usual version, and a good one if you want both.

Lean and knee angle decide which muscle does the work more than the weight does. In isometric tests, the glute max contributed the most hip extension torque with the hip bent 45 degrees, and the hamstrings the most with the knee straight (Liu 2022). In prone hip extension, bending the knee past 60 degrees cut hamstring activity, and the glute max became the most active hip extensor (Kwon 2013).

Gravitus data

How much weight should you use for cable kickbacks?

On Gravitus, the median man lifts 45 lb (20 kg) for 10 reps on the cable kickback, and the median woman 37.5 lb (17 kg).

Men, typical 45 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 27.5 to 70 lb
Top 10% lift: 100 lb or more
Starting out: under 27.5 lb

Women, typical 37.5 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 25 to 55 lb
Top 10% lift: 80 lb or more
Starting out: under 25 lb

Men, typical 20 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 13 to 32.5 kg
Top 10% lift: 45 kg or more
Starting out: under 13 kg

Women, typical 17 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 11 to 25 kg
Top 10% lift: 35 kg or more
Starting out: under 11 kg

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 5 lb (2.5 under 40). From 664 men and 3,337 women who log the cable kickback on Gravitus, computed Oct 7, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men	Women
25th	37.5 / 27.5 lb	32.5 / 25 lb
Median	60 / 45 lb	50 / 37.5 lb
75th	95 / 70 lb	75 / 55 lb
90th	130 / 100 lb	105 / 80 lb

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 2.5 kg (1 under 20). From 664 men and 3,337 women who log the cable kickback on Gravitus, computed Oct 7, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men	Women
25th	17 / 13 kg	15 / 11 kg
Median	27.5 / 20 kg	22.5 / 17 kg
75th	42.5 / 32.5 kg	32.5 / 25 kg
90th	60 / 45 kg	47.5 / 35 kg

Stack numbers are not comparable between machines. Many functional trainers use a 2:1 pulley, where the 20 lb (10 kg) pin feels like 10 lb (5 kg), and your leg's own weight adds load the stack does not show. Compare yourself to your own log on the same machine.

Anatomy

Muscles worked

Gluteus maximusExtends the hip and drives the leg back. Straight hip extension works its upper and lower parts about equally (Selkowitz 2016).

Primary

HamstringsHelp extend the hip, most with the knee straight. In trained women, cable kickbacks drew more biceps femoris activity than RDLs or step-ups (Stevens 2022).

Secondary

Adductor magnusThe rear part of this inner-thigh muscle also extends the hip.

Secondary

Standing-leg glutesThe glute medius and glute max of the standing leg hold your pelvis level on one foot.

Stabilizer

Core, lower back, standing-leg quadsKeep your spine still as the leg goes back and hold you upright.

Stabilizer

Troubleshooting

Why you feel cable kickbacks in your standing leg

Your standing leg holds you up on one foot for the whole set, so its glutes, quads and calves work too. Some burn there is normal. In a band version of the standing kickback, the kicking leg's glute max still worked harder than the standing leg's (Youdas 2014).

If the standing leg is doing most of the work:

Hold on with both hands, or rest your forearms on the frame, so your arms take care of balance.
Go lighter. A load you have to fight to stay upright turns the set into a balance drill.
Rest before the second leg. The leg that just stood is tired when it is its turn to kick. Take 30 to 60 seconds.
Kneel instead. On all fours with the cuff on a low pulley, balance no longer limits the set.

If you feel it in your hamstrings, bend your knee to about 90 degrees. If you feel it in your lower back, stop the kick lower: your thigh in line with your torso is the top.

Research

Constant tension, toes out and other kickback myths

Four claims that most kickback guides repeat, including our old one:

Cables give constant tension. The stack pulls with the same force all rep, but its leverage on your hip changes. Leaning forward, it drops near the top of the kick, because the cable's line runs closer to your hip joint. Your leg's own weight adds load there, so the top still feels hard.
Turning your toes out takes the glutes away. The glute max turns the hip out. Exercises that added hip abduction or external rotation drew more upper than lower glute max activity (Selkowitz 2016). A small turn-out is fine. What to avoid is rotating your whole pelvis open to swing the leg higher.
A bent knee trains the lower glutes. Straight hip extension already works the upper and lower glute max about equally (Selkowitz 2016). Bending the knee takes work off the hamstrings instead (Kwon 2013).
Kick as high as you can. Your hip extends only a little past straight. Height beyond that comes from arching your lower back, which is why so many people feel kickbacks there.

Compare

Cable kickback vs hip thrust vs donkey kick

Attribute	Cable kickback	Hip thrust	Donkey kick
Load	One leg, light stack	Both legs, heavy	Bodyweight or a band
Equipment	Cable, ankle cuff	Bench and bar, or a machine	None
Balance	On one foot	Supported	On all fours
Best for	Extra glute volume, one side at a time	Heavy glute work	Warm-ups, home training

Verdict

Use a hip thrust, squat or deadlift for heavy glute work, and add kickbacks for extra single-leg volume. No trial has compared the two for glute growth. On a kickback machine at a 6-rep max load, glute activity matched the leg press, while the hamstrings worked about three times harder (Stien 2021).

Programming

Sets, reps and progression

3-4Sets

10-15Reps per leg

0-2Reps left

Do kickbacks after your main hip exercise. Stop each set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Sets taken close to failure build muscle across a wide range of reps (Schoenfeld 2021), so pick a range you can keep strict.

Stack jumps of 5 to 10 lb (2.5 to 5 kg) are big for one hip. Add reps first: when every set reaches 15 clean reps, move up one pin and drop back to 10.

Form

Common mistakes

Arching your lower backThe leg goes higher, but the extra height comes from your spine. Stop when your thigh lines up with your torso, ribs down.
Swinging the legMomentum does the top of the rep. Hold for a second at the top and take 2 seconds on the way forward.
Fighting for balanceYour standing leg ends up doing the set. Hold the frame with both hands and go lighter.
Rotating the pelvis openYour lower back swings the leg up. Keep both hip bones facing the machine; a small turn of the toes is fine.
Standing too close to the stackThe plates rest at the start and the bottom of the rep goes slack. Step back until the plates lift with your knee forward.

Variations

Cable kickback variations

Kneeling cable kickbackOn all fours with the cuff on a low pulley. Balance no longer limits the set.

Diagonal cable kickbackKick back and out at 45 degrees. The added abduction shifts work toward the upper glute max (Selkowitz 2016).

Glute Kickback MachineA pad behind your foot on a fixed path, no balance needed. Glute activity matched the leg press in one EMG study (Stien 2021).

Cable pull-throughFace away from a low pulley with a rope between your legs, hinge and stand up. Both legs, much heavier.

Cable hip abductionThe same cuff and pulley, with the leg going out to the side for the glute medius.

Donkey KickThe bodyweight version on all fours. Your leg's weight is the load, so it is hardest at the top.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Why do I feel cable kickbacks in my standing leg?

Because it holds you up on one foot for the whole set, and its glutes keep your pelvis level. Some burn is normal. If it outworks the kicking leg, hold the frame with both hands, go lighter and rest before you switch legs.

Why do I feel cable kickbacks in my hamstrings?

The hamstrings extend the hip too, most with the knee straight (Liu 2022). Bend your knee to about 90 degrees; in prone hip extension that cut hamstring activity and left more of the work to the glutes (Kwon 2013).

Why do I feel cable kickbacks in my lower back?

You are kicking past the point where your hip stops, so your lower back arches to lift the leg higher. Stop when your thigh lines up with your torso and keep your ribs down.

What muscles do cable kickbacks work?

Mainly the gluteus maximus, with the hamstrings and adductor magnus helping. The standing leg's glutes, your core and your lower back hold you steady.

Are cable kickbacks effective?

Yes, as an add-on. On a kickback machine at a 6-rep max load, glute activity matched the leg press (Stien 2021). No trial has measured glute growth from cable kickbacks alone, so pair them with a heavier hip exercise.

Are cable kickbacks better than hip thrusts?

No. The hip thrust loads both hips far more heavily. Kickbacks train one side at a time and are easy to add at the end of a session.

Straight leg or bent knee cable kickbacks?

Both work the glutes. A bent knee takes work off the hamstrings (Kwon 2013), so choose it if you feel kickbacks in the back of your thigh. A straighter leg lets the hamstrings help more.

How many sets of cable kickbacks?

3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps per leg, each stopped 0 to 2 reps short of failure, after your main hip exercise.

How much weight should I use for cable kickbacks?

For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 45 lb (20 kg) for men and 37.5 lb (17 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 70 lb (32.5 kg) and 55 lb (25 kg) or more.

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References