15 Best Cable Ab Exercises For Ripped Core

When it comes to core and abs training, most people automatically gravitate toward bodyweight exercises. The reason for this is that bodyweight exercises are simple. Just lay down on the nearest exercise mat and start cranking out the crunches!

And while those bodyweight abs exercises are undeniably convenient, they also have drawbacks. The main one is that, for all but the most deconditioned beginner, many of them are too easy to have much of an effect.

Yes, there ARE super-tough abs exercises you can do, like human flags, for example, but those aren’t the ones we’re talking about here.

Instead, we’re referring to the “old standards” like crunches, sit-ups, planks, side planks, and leg raises. They don’t provide intermediate and advanced exercisers with much of a challenge.

That’s why you’ll see most people pumping out dozens, if not 100s of reps, or holding a plank for minutes at a time. Not only is this an inefficient use of your time, but it’s also an ineffective way to train your muscles. After all, you wouldn’t do sets of 50 reps of biceps curls to increase arm size and strength.

If you want to develop the abs of your dreams, you need to overload your muscles, and one of the best ways to do that is with the best cable exercises for abs.

Core Anatomy 101

Before we dive into the best cable exercises for abs, let’s take a moment to discuss the basic anatomy of your midsection so that you better understand what each of the following exercises does.

For starters, we need to clarify what we mean by core and abs, as they are terms that are often used interchangeably.

The term core is the word used to describe all of the muscles that make up your midsection. Think of your core as your natural weightlifting belt. When the muscles of your core contract together, what we called bracing, they squeeze inward to increase intra-abdominal pressure or IAP for short.

IAP supports your spine from within, taking pressure off the bones and ligaments that make up this inherently unstable and injury-prone part of your body.

The main muscles that make up your core are rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominis, erector spinae, diaphragm, and the pelvic floor.

As well as bracing, some of your core muscles are responsible for the movements of your spine. That means we can preferentially target one or another muscle with specific exercises.

Rectus abdominis – located on the front of your abdomen, this muscle is also known as abs for short. Its primary function is flexion of your spine, but it is also involved in lateral flexion.

Obliques – basically your waist muscles, your obliques are responsible for the rotation and lateral flexion of your spine.

Erector spinae – the collective term for the muscles of your lower back, this group of muscles extends your spine and also plays a role in lateral flexion.

So, when a lot of people talk about training their abs, they actually mean their core. However, your abs are a separate muscle within the core, and it’s possible to isolate this muscle.

To avoid confusion, we’ll include the name of the main muscles worked in each of the following cable exercises for abs.

The 15 Best Cable Exercises for Abs

To avoid injury and maximize your performance, make sure you warm up before doing any of the following cable exercises for abs. A few minutes of light cardio, followed by some dynamic joint mobility and flexibility exercises, should suffice. Alternatively, you can do your abs exercises at the end of your workout, when you should be warm enough already.

1. Kneeling Cable Crunch

If you want to overload your rectus abdominus muscle, this is the exercise to do it. It allows you to work your abs hard and heavy, making it a useful alternative to regular crunches on the floor.

As an added advantage, kneeling cable crunches allow you to work your abs through a long range of motion, from stretched to fully contracted. This is another reason that kneeling cable crunches are superior to floor crunches.

2. Cable Side Bend

Side bends are often done using dumbbells. While this works fine, a low cable machine may be better because it keeps your muscles under constant tension, which usually produces better muscle-building results. Also, a lot of people mistakenly hold a dumbbell in each hand. This creates a seesaw effect as one weight counterbalances the other. You can’t really make this mistake with cable side bends.

4. Vertical Pallof Press

This version of Pallof presses involves pushing your arms overhead instead of out in front of you. This creates a longer lever and, therefore, a more demanding workout. It’s still an anti-movement isometric exercise, but the different angle of pull means it feels quite different from the standard horizontal Pallof press.

5. Standing Cable Row

A lot of cable exercises for abs involve other muscles too. For example, this standing cable row also works your lats, biceps, and legs, making it a total-body exercise.

While this isn’t always the best way to build a muscle, it’s an excellent way to train your midsection because, more often than not, this is how your core works in nature – in conjunction with the rest of your body. Subsequently, this is a VERY functional cable abs exercise.

6. Cable Woodchop

Cable woodchops mainly work your obliques. As the name suggests, they replicate swinging an ax to cut wood. They can be done from high to low or low to high for variety. This does not change the muscles being worked, and the basic technique is the same. However, if you do a lot of cable woodchops, you may appreciate having two options available.

7. Cable Twists

This exercise is very similar to cable woodchops. The only real difference is that instead of moving your arms diagonally, you keep them horizontal. This still works your obliques, albeit from a slightly different angle. Use this exercise as an alternative to low to high or high to low woodchops.

8. Twisting Cable Overhead Press

This is another exercise that works the core alongside several other muscle groups. In this instance, it’s your shoulders and triceps. In this type of cable abs exercise, your core provides a sort of bridge between your lower body and your upper body. It keeps your midsection rigid so that none of the force generated by your arms or legs gets “lost” in the middle.

9. Cable Russian Twists with a Stability Ball

This exercise works your obliques. Using a stability ball provides your back with support so you can focus on rotating your torso against the resistance offered by the cable machine.

This exercise is a little tricky as it involves both balance and coordination. Still, if you’re looking for a challenging alternative to the woodchop exercises outlined above, this is a great one to try.

10. Reverse Cable Crunches

While there is no such thing as upper abs or lower abs, it is possible to use your rectus abdominis to lift your hips up toward your shoulders instead of your shoulders up toward your hips. As well as working your abs, this exercise also involves your hip flexors.

How to do it:

1. Put on ankle straps and attach them to a low pulley machine. Lie down with your legs straight, arms by your sides. Lift your feet a few inches off the floor.
2. Contract your abs, bend your legs, and pull your knees in toward your chest. Tip your pelvis as you pull your legs in, attempting to roll it toward your shoulders.
3. Extend your legs and, without lowering your feet, repeat.

11. Cable Side Crunch

Cable side crunches don’t involve a large range of motion. However, they do allow you to zone in on your obliques and contract them really hard! If you want to isolate your obliques and use less of your other core muscles, this exercise is the one to choose. This exercise can be done standing or kneeling as preferred.

12. Single Arm Cable Chest Press

Unsurprisingly, this cable abs exercise also works your pecs. After all, it IS a standing chest press. But you’ll also need to brace hard to keep your torso locked in place. As such, as well as your pecs, anterior deltoids, and triceps, your entire core gets a workout too.

How to do it:

1. Attach a single D-shaped handle to an adjustable pulley machine. Set it to about mid-chest height.
2. Stand with your back to the pulley machine and hold the handle in one hand. The cable should run under your arm. Adopt a staggered stance for balance and brace your core.
3. Without twisting your hips or shoulders, push the handle out in front of you.
4. Return to the starting position and repeat.
5. Do the same number of reps on each side.

13. Plank Cable Row

Planks are an excellent exercise for teaching you how to brace your core correctly. But, the trouble is, once you can do them for more than a minute or so, they start getting dull and less effective. Use this variation to breathe new life into your planks. Like regular planks, this exercise works your entire core.

How to do it:

1. Adopt the standard plank position in front of a low cable machine fitted with a D-shaped handle. Brace your core and make sure your body forms a straight line.
2. Reach out and grab the handle with one hand.
3. Maintaining your plank, bend your arm, and pull the handle into your shoulder.
4. Extend your arm and repeat.
5. Rest and then do the same number of reps on the opposite side.

14. Side Plank Cable Row

This exercise is similar to #13, but you’ll use a horizontal rather than vertical rowing action while maintaining a side plank position. This increases oblique muscle activation.

How to do it:

1. Lie on your side facing a low cable machine fitted with a D-shaped handle. Resting on your lowermost arm, lift your body, so it forms a straight line. Take the handle in your free hand.
2. Keeping your core tight and body straight, row the handle into your side.
3. Extend your arm and repeat.
4. Rest and then do the same number of reps on the opposite side.

15. Double Cable Crunch / Cable Tuck Crunch

Are you looking for the most intense cable exercise for abs? This might be the one you want! This exercise involves using two pulleys at once to really overload your abs. You’ll need to lift your shoulders AND your hips for this one, which creates a very intense abdominal contraction.

How to do it:

1. Using a cable crossover machine, put on your ankle straps and attach your feet to a low pulley. Next, attach a rope handle to the opposite low pulley and, lying on your back, hold it securely.
2. Bend your arms and pull your hands into your shoulders. This is your starting position.
3. Bend your legs and pull your knees into your chest as you simultaneously lift your head and shoulders off the floor. Try and touch your elbows to your knees.
4. Lie back down and repeat.

Important Abs Training Tips

Get the most from the cable exercises for abs with these handy tips!

Don’t just work rectus abdominis

When it comes to core training, a lot of exercisers obsessively train their rectus abdominis in the hope that they get six-pack abs. While this IS your six-pack muscle, you won’t be able to see it unless your body fat levels are low enough. It’s also just one of the muscles that make up your midsection. So, for a great core, make sure you work all of the muscles that make up your midsection, and not just the one at the front.

Mix up your reps

Most people tend to do higher rep sets for abs training. This could be because they believe that high reps burn fat. Sadly, this is not the case! Make your abs workout more productive by using a range of reps, from low to high. Cable abs exercises are perfect for this because you can adjust the weight to make any exercise harder or easier. Try doing sets of 5, 10, 15, and 20 reps. If you can do more than 20, the weight is probably too light.

Don’t train abs every day

Like any muscle, your abs need rest so they can recover and grow. You wouldn’t train your biceps every day, so don’t treat your abs the same way. 2-3 intense core workouts per week should be enough for most exercisers. Doing more will not necessarily produce better results.

Isolate and Integrate

While cable abs exercises like crunches and side bends are effective, they are also isolation exercises. Your core usually works with the rest of your body, and at least some of your abs training should reflect this. Make sure you also do things like Pallof presses, single-arm cable presses, and rows to work your abs in conjunction with your arms and legs.

Use a controlled tempo and peak contractions to get better results

Some exercisers make their abs workouts less effective by using momentum. This will help you lift more weight but also takes tension away from the target muscles. Make your cable abs exercises harder by moving slower and more deliberately and contracting the target muscles at the mid-point of each rep. This will make any abs exercise more challenging and effective. 

Wrapping Up

When it comes to training your midsection, cables are hard to beat. Using a cable machine allows you to hit your core from almost any angle, as well as overload your muscles to increase strength and size. Also, unlike bodyweight abs exercises, where you need to do more reps to make your workout harder, with cables, you can use more weight to increase the demands of your workout.

So, whether you want to increase core strength for sports or sculpt a six-pack for the summer, these cable exercises for abs can help.  

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