Cable Machine Workout Program
This is a 3-day full body workout program built around a cable machine, for anyone training at a gym or home setup where that's the primary piece of equipment. Every exercise below only requires the cable machine and bodyweight, giving you a complete plan without needing free weights on top of it.
Equipment needed
A cable machine keeps tension on the target muscle through the full range of motion in a way free weights can't, which this program leans into for chest, back, and shoulder work especially.
The program
With fewer days available, full body training hits every major muscle group multiple times a week even though each session covers everything. That higher frequency matters more for progress than splitting muscle groups across days you don't have.
Day 1: Full body
Warm-up
5 minutes of light cardio to raise your heart rate, then a couple minutes of dynamic movement for whatever you're training first. Finish with 2-3 ramp-up sets on your first exercise before your working weight.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cable Chest Press | 5 | 8-12 | 60-90 sec |
| Lat Pulldown | 5 | 8-12 | 60-90 sec |
| Cable Lateral Raise | 2 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
| Cable Face Pull | 2 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
| Cable Glute Kickback | 5 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
| Cable Crunch | 5 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
Cool-down
A few minutes of static stretching for whatever felt tightest during your session, holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds.
Day 2: Full body
Warm-up
5 minutes of light cardio to raise your heart rate, then a couple minutes of dynamic movement for whatever you're training first. Finish with 2-3 ramp-up sets on your first exercise before your working weight.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Push-Up | 5 | 8-12 | 60-90 sec |
| Bodyweight Hip Thrust | 5 | 8-12 | 60-90 sec |
| Cable Lateral Raise | 2 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
| Cable Straight-Arm Pulldown | 5 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
| Cable Face Pull | 2 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
| Cable Woodchopper | 5 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
Cool-down
A few minutes of static stretching for whatever felt tightest during your session, holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds.
Day 3: Full body
Warm-up
5 minutes of light cardio to raise your heart rate, then a couple minutes of dynamic movement for whatever you're training first. Finish with 2-3 ramp-up sets on your first exercise before your working weight.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knee Push-Up | 5 | 8-12 | 60-90 sec |
| Glute Bridge | 5 | 8-12 | 60-90 sec |
| Cable Lateral Raise | 2 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
| Cable Pullover | 5 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
| Cable Face Pull | 2 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
| Plank | 5 | 10-15 | 45-60 sec |
Cool-down
A few minutes of static stretching for whatever felt tightest during your session, holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds.
How to progress week to week
Once you can hit the top of the rep range for every set on this full body plan, add weight on your Cable machine the next session and expect reps to dip back toward the bottom of the range. That cycle of adding reps, then adding weight, is what steadily builds size over time. At an intermediate level, progress typically settles into something closer to this pattern, a small jump every week or two rather than every session.
Want this tailored to your exact schedule?
This program uses fixed settings. The workout plan tool builds the same kind of plan around your own equipment, goal, experience, and days per week.
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Keep the tools free →Frequently asked questions
Is training on a cable machine as effective as free weights for building muscle?
For hypertrophy specifically, yes, research and practical experience both point to constant tension being just as effective a stimulus as free weights when sets are taken close enough to failure. What a cable machine trains less of is the stabilizer demand of a free barbell or dumbbell, which matters more for pure strength or athletic transfer than for muscle growth.
What's the difference between a cable machine and a functional trainer for this program?
Functionally, nothing that matters here. A functional trainer is essentially a dual-stack cable machine with adjustable pulleys, and every exercise in this program works the same way on either setup.
Can this program be combined with a Smith machine if a gym has both?
Yes, and doing so opens up more exercise variety and lets a plan run 4 days instead of 3. See the Functional Trainer + Smith Machine Combo Program below for that version.