The Pallof press is a standing core exercise done side-on to a cable or band anchored at about chest height. You hold the handle at your chest with both hands, press it straight out and bring it back. The cable pulls you toward the anchor the whole time; the exercise is not letting it turn you, which coaches call anti-rotation.
It is named after John Pallof, the Boston-based physical therapist to whom, in Tony Gentilcore’s words, the exercise “has been attributed”. BarBend’s Shane McLean writes that Pallof showed Gentilcore and Eric Cressey what was then called the “belly press” in the fall of 2006. Brolic lists it as Pallof Press (Cable), with “Cable Pallof Press” as an alias, and as a second entry, Pallof Press (Band), with “Band Pallof Press”. Both are logged as one-sided exercises: one set covers both sides, and the rep count is per side.
Muscles worked
Brolic tags the abdominals as the primary muscle group for both entries, with no secondary muscles. Girls Gone Strong describes the job as using your core to resist rotating. Josh Wilkinson of Colossus Fitness calls it a deep core exercise; during the press, he says his abs are braced and his obliques are working.
No study we found reports which muscles do the work. A PubMed search for “pallof press” on October 30, 2026 returned three papers: two used it as a trunk-strength test, and one, under Common questions, measured pelvic movement.
Set up side-on to the anchor
Set the anchor at chest height. Girls Gone Strong sets the band at about sternum height; Wilkinson sets the cable in line with his chest.
Hold the handle in both hands and step out. Wilkinson takes the handle in one hand, lays the other over it and steps out a few feet, to where the cable starts trying to turn him toward the column.
Choose a stance; the coaches differ. Girls Gone Strong keeps the feet fairly close, about in line with the hip bones, and says a wide stance lets you use your base for stability instead of your core. Wilkinson calls feet a little wider than shoulder width “ultra ultra important”, with a soft bend in the knees. Pick one and keep it from set to set.
Brace before the first press. Girls Gone Strong sets the shoulders back and down, the rib cage toward the pelvis and the glutes tight. Wilkinson squeezes the abs as if about to cough.
Press and hold
Press straight out from the chest and bring it back in. Wilkinson’s rule is that nothing moves but the hands.
It is not a chest press. Wilkinson’s point is that pressing harder only adds tension for the cable to swing you back; the work is resisting the turn.
Hold at full reach. Wilkinson recommends a two-second hold with the arms straight, then a controlled return.
Keep the shoulders down and level. Girls Gone Strong names two faults: shoulders creeping toward the ears, which uses the upper traps for stability, and the torso turning.
If the hips drift, the load is too heavy. Wilkinson says a good Pallof press “should look effortless”, without excessive shaking or spinning.
Then face the other way and repeat for the other side.
Cable or band
| Pallof Press (Cable) | Pallof Press (Band) | |
|---|---|---|
| Resistance | The weight stack | The band’s stretch |
| To make it harder | More weight on the stack | A stronger band, or stand farther out |
| What Brolic records | Reps per side and the stack weight | Reps per side; no weight field |
Girls Gone Strong teaches the same press with either. Once the arms are out, its harder versions add movement: circles, pressing up and down, moving side to side, taking steps, or a partner tapping your arms off line.
Logging
Both entries are one-sided: one logged set covers both sides, and the rep count is per side, so 10 reps means 10 with the anchor on your left and 10 with it on your right. For the cable, enter the weight on the stack; the band entry has no weight field, because the band is the load. If one side gives out first, note which side and how many reps it got rather than averaging. The free workout log holds the notes, and the weekly set tally shows how these sets add to your abdominal work beside the captain’s chair knee raise.
In the set’s note, write the band’s colour and how far you stood from the anchor, as the Spanish squat guide does. Add the stance (close, wide or kneeling) and any hold at full reach, since neither shows in the rep count.
Common questions
Kneeling or standing? In a 2025 study, 12 physically active young adults held the press out kneeling on a foam pad, or standing feet together or heel-to-toe, on the floor or on a half-ball, while a phone on the pelvis recorded its movement. The half-ball moved the pelvis most, and on the floor heel-to-toe moved it more than kneeling. That is how hard a position is to hold still, not muscle growth.
It keeps turning me toward the anchor. Lower the stack weight, or with a band use a lighter one or step closer in; Wilkinson treats drifting hips as a sign of too much weight. If anything hurts, stop.
Sources and method
- Girls Gone Strong: Pallof press — anchor height, foot width, the brace, the faults and the harder versions; automatic captions and description.
- Colossus Fitness, Josh Wilkinson: Pallof press — stepping out, the wider stance, the brace, load and the two-second hold; automatic captions, the name from colossusfitness.com.
- Tony Gentilcore (2013) — the attribution to John Pallof.
- BarBend, Shane McLean: Pallof press vs plank — the “belly press” and fall 2006.
- Juan-Recio et al. (2025) — pelvic movement in five isometric versions; abstract.
- PubMed search for “pallof press” on October 30, 2026 — three papers, none on which muscles do the work.
- Brolic catalog — names, aliases, one-sided logging and muscle tags.
Anchor height, stance and the two-second hold are the coaches’ preferences, not optima from a trial, and no claim is made that the Pallof press builds more muscle than other core exercises.
