Pallof press: press the handle out and don't let the cable turn you

The Pallof press is a press that's really a hold. You stand side-on to a cable or a band, hold the handle at your chest with both hands and press it straight out in front of you. The cable pulls you sideways and tries to turn your trunk toward it; the exercise is refusing to turn. That's why it's called an anti-rotation exercise.

In the core workout it fills the "stop the twist" slot. It's the opposite job to the Russian twist, which turns your trunk on purpose, and to the cable woodchopper, which turns it against a cable. This page covers the setup, the faults, the versions, what the studies measured, and the sets.

How to do a Pallof press

1. Set the cable at chest height with a single handle, or anchor a band at chest height in a door or round a post.
2. Stand side-on to the anchor and step away until the cable pulls on you while the handle is at your chest. Feet about hip width, knees soft.
3. Hold the handle at your breastbone with both hands, one wrapped over the other.
4. Brace and press it straight out until your arms are straight. Your hands should stay in line with the middle of your chest, not drift toward the anchor.
5. Pause for a second or two, then bring the handle back to your chest. Breathe steadily behind the brace.
6. Finish the set, then turn round and do the other side.

These cues are practical, not study findings. A 2021 exercise-technique article in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's coaching journal describes it as a trunk rotation exercise and sets out coaching points for each position, with a progression and regression continuum.¹

The common faults, and a fix for each

• Turning toward the anchor. Your chest and hips swing toward the cable as the arms straighten. Use a lighter weight or step closer in.
• Hips shifting sideways. Your hips slide toward or away from the anchor to make it easier. Squeeze your glutes and keep your hips under your shoulders.
• Pressing with the shoulders. Shrugging up or leaning back. Keep your shoulders down and let the press be a push straight out.
• Rushing. Fast reps hide a turn. Pause with your arms straight.
• Holding your breath. Brace, then breathe in small breaths behind it.

The versions, from steadiest to hardest

One study ranked them. In 12 physically active adults, six men and six women, who held the press out at arm's length against an elastic band, a phone strapped to the pelvis measured how much it moved in five versions.²

The two versions on the half ball moved the pelvis more than the three on stable ground, and heel to toe on the floor moved it more than kneeling. Men and women didn't differ.² The authors measured how hard each one is to keep still, not muscle activity or strength. The practical order follows: learn it kneeling, then standing, then heel to toe. Taking it onto a balance trainer is the hardest, and it isn't needed to train the job.

What the studies measured

The Pallof press has very little research of its own. A PubMed search for this page found three records with the name in the title or abstract, and one of them was a study of people with back pain, left out here. The others, plus one training study that used Pallof holds:

• Steadiness by position. The 12-person study above: kneeling was the steadiest, heel to toe and a balance trainer were harder.²
• Pressing and rowing barely moved it. In 34 women who weren't strength training, randomized to three ways of lifting, 10 weeks of machine chest presses, rows and shoulder presses, plus curls and triceps extensions (24 sessions) made every group stronger in the chest press and the row. A Pallof press hold, tested on a cable with arms straight, improved in only one of the three groups, on one side. None of the groups trained the Pallof press itself.³ So in this study, presses and rows alone did little for the Pallof hold.
• Holds programs. In 36 men, a six-week program of 30-second core holds twice a week, several of them Pallof holds with a band, changed the oblique activation measured during endurance tests compared with a group that didn't train. The changes were drops in the activation the tests needed, which the authors read as better efficiency.⁴ It measured muscle activity, not strength or size, and the Pallof holds were one part of the program.

So the Pallof press is a reasonable way to train your trunk to resist a turn, not one shown to beat other core exercises. The obliques, at the sides of your waist, are the muscles that resist the pull; that's anatomy, not a measurement of the Pallof press.

Sets, reps and where it goes

• Presses: two or three sets of 8 to 10 each side, with a one- or two-second pause at arm's length, about the "2 × 10 each side" that the cable workout uses. These numbers are practical.
• Holds: two holds of 30 seconds, the dose of the six-week holds program above; do both sides.⁴
• At the end of a session, after your main lifts, in the "stop the twist" slot of the core block, beside a plank, a carry and a crunch.
• Progress one thing at a time: a little more weight, a longer pause, or the next version in the table. (Progressive overload covers the options.)

Stop a set when the handle starts to drift toward the anchor, not when you can't press any more.

Common questions

Can I do a Pallof press with a band?

Yes. Anchor it at chest height in a door or round a post and step away until it pulls. The 12-person study used an elastic band, and the resistance band workout uses it as its core exercise.²

Pallof press or Russian twist?

Both, if you want both jobs. The Pallof press refuses a turn; the Russian twist makes one. The core workout uses the Pallof press for its rotation slot.

What if my back or shoulder hurts?

If you have pain, an injury or a medical condition, a doctor or a physical therapist should set the limits before you train; this page is general guidance for healthy adults.

If you'd rather have the week planned

A Pallof press takes a minute to learn; fitting core work into a week that already holds squats, presses and rows is the part a page can't do. Coaching is the version where your workouts live in Trainerize, built around the days and the equipment you actually have, and a weekly call looks at how the week went and sets the next one. Coaching for beginners explains how the first weeks work, and apply is the first step. Otherwise: at the end of your next session, do two kneeling sets of eight a side and watch whether your chest stays square.