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. The one real limitation is heavy leg work: a cable machine handles hip-hinge work well with pull-throughs, but squat-type leg work is bodyweight-only here, so adding a dumbbell or kettlebell for goblet squats is the simplest upgrade.
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 works every major muscle group in each session, so your weekly sets for each muscle are spread across shorter, manageable workouts instead of piled into one day you might miss. When total weekly sets are the same, research finds the exact split makes a fairly small difference, so the practical advantage is consistency.
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 | 90-120 sec |
| Lat Pulldown | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Cable Pull-Through | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Bodyweight Squat | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Cable Crunch | 5 | 10-15 | 60-90 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cable Chest Press | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Seated Cable Row | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Cable Pull-Through | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Side Lunge | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Cable Woodchopper | 5 | 10-15 | 60-90 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cable Chest Press | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Single-Arm Cable Row | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Cable Pull-Through | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Walking Lunge | 5 | 8-12 | 90-120 sec |
| Superman | 5 | 10-15 | 60-90 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.
Generate your custom planGetFitArchitect's tools are free to use, no account required. If this saved you time, you can help keep it that way.
Keep the tools free →Frequently asked questions
Is training on a cable machine as effective as free weights for building muscle?
For building muscle, current research says yes. A 2023 meta-analysis comparing free-weight and machine training found no meaningful difference in overall strength gains, and the muscle growth comparisons point the same way when sets are taken close 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 cable 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.