Cable Squat
The cable squat is a squat where you hold a bar or rope from a low pulley in front of you and lean slightly back against the cable. It trains the quads and glutes, with the hamstrings assisting. The counterbalance helps you sit upright and deep, so it suits beginners and anyone working on squat depth.
Muscles worked
The cable squat trains the quadriceps and glutes, with hamstrings helping.
Primary
Helpers
Weekly sets for quadriceps
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for quadriceps, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the cable squat
- 01Set the pulley at the lowest position and attach a straight bar or rope.
- 02Grab the attachment, step back until your arms are straight and the stack lifts off the pins.
- 03Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and toes turned out slightly.
- 04Sit down between your heels, leaning back slightly against the cable, until your thighs reach at least parallel.
- 05Drive through your whole foot to stand back up, keeping your chest up.
Coaching cues
- Sit back into the cable
- Knees track over your toes
- Chest up, drive the floor away
Common mistakes
- Pulling the bar toward you with your arms wastes the counterbalance, so keep your arms straight and let the cable hold you.
- Letting your knees collapse inward loses quad and glute tension, so push them out over your toes.
- Stopping well above parallel cuts the useful range, so squat as deep as you can while keeping your heels down.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers compound lifts toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Cable Squat alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your cable squat free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.