Instructions

  1. Move the pulley to its lowest position on a cable machine and attach a handle.
  2. Grab the handle in your right hand and stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, perpendicular to the pulley so your left shoulder faces it (you can hold the machine with your left hand for balance).
  3. Take a breath, lift your chest slightly, and lean forward about 10–15 degrees.
  4. Extend your right arm out in an arc toward the ceiling and slightly away from your chest with your palm facing the ground.
  5. Keep raising the handle until your right arm is roughly parallel to the floor, then lower it and return to the starting position. Switch sides and repeat with your left arm.

Expert Tips

  • Keep your torso as stable as possible. The more your upper body is moving during a rep, the less effective the exercise becomes for training your shoulders. If you find yourself heaving the handle up, you need to use less weight.
  • Think about lifting your elbow to the ceiling without shrugging your shoulders (this helps keep tension on your lateral deltoids rather than your traps).
  • Keep your palm facing the ground at the top of each rep. Avoid letting your thumb point toward the ceiling (this puts more emphasis on the front delt and less on your side delt).
  • Don’t rest at the bottom of each rep (with your arm at your side). Instead, immediately begin the next rep.

Workout Programming

A good starting place is 2–3 sets of 8–10 or 10–12 reps with 1–2 minutes of rest, taking each set 1–2 reps shy of failure.

I like to program the cable lateral raise toward the end of my push, shoulder, or upper-body workouts, so you can hypothetically include it in any workout.

The side delts are relatively small muscles, which has two implications for your training:

  1. You’ll probably find that you hit failure suddenly—the reps will feel relatively easy, then you’ll grind through 1–2 very hard reps, and then will have to end the set. That’s fine.
  2. You’ll add weight and reps very slowly—often only a rep or two every few weeks, and only adding weight once a month or so. Don’t let this discourage you—even advanced natural bodybuilders often max out at around 25–30 lb. on the cable side raise.

Mike’s Take

The cable lateral raise is one of the best exercises you can do for isolating, building, and strengthening your lateral deltoids (side delts), which is why I include it in both of my programs for men and women, Bigger Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger.

There are a few things that make the cable lateral raise so effective as a shoulder exercise:

  1. It isolates the side delts without being limited by any other muscle groups. When you hit failure on a set of cable side raises, you know you’ve fully trained your side delts.
  2. It keeps tension on your side delts throughout each rep, which hypothetically provides a better stimulus for muscle growth than exercises with a more irregular resistance curve.
  3. It’s safe and easy to learn. So long as you use proper form and an appropriate weight and number of sets, it’s hard to hurt yourself with this exercise.
  4. You can do cable side raises almost anywhere in the world, since almost every gym has a cable station.
  5. They don’t take much motivation or energy to perform and they require almost no setup, which makes them perfect for when you’re feeling drained or rushed.

They do have a few downsides:

  1. It takes longer to finish your sets, because you can only train one arm at a time. That said, in an absolute sense, this only adds a few minutes to your workouts.
  2. Some cable stations force you to add weight in large increments (5 pounds or more), which can make progression difficult. The side delts are a small muscle, so a 5 lb. increase is often too much. Thus, it’s common to spend over a month grinding away at the same weight to add a few reps before you can add any weight.
  3. It primarily trains your lateral (side) delts, so include other exercises for your anterior (front) and posterior (rear) delts. That’s not a "problem" with side raises, but something to keep in mind when programming workouts.

Now, many weightlifters wonder if they should do the cable or dumbbell lateral raise. The short answer is it doesn’t really matter, but if I had to pick just one, I’d pick the cable lateral raise.

Both exercises are nearly identical, with the only meaningful difference being the resistance curve. This refers to how much tension is placed on a muscle at different points during an exercise.

With the cable lateral raise, your side delts are under high levels of tension throughout almost the entire rep. With the dumbbell lateral raise, there are high levels of tension at the top of the rep when your arm is extended away from your body, and considerably less at the bottom of the rep.

Hypothetically, this should mean that the cable side raise is slightly better for building your side delts, because it’s forcing them to produce more tension throughout each rep.

That said, in practice I doubt this matters much, and that’s also what research shows. For example a study conducted by scientists at Nord University found comparable side delt growth from dumbbell and cable lateral raises.1

I’ve worked with tens of thousands of people over the past 20 years, and I’ve seen people build incredible shoulders doing mostly dumbbell lateral raises, mostly cable lateral raises, and a mix of both.

The most important thing is that you use proper technique, push each set close to failure, and are consistent over time.

Cable Lateral Raise Alternatives

  • Dumbbell Lateral Raise. The same movement as the cable lateral raise, but with dumbbells. You can use these interchangeably, though both have pros and cons.
  • Machine Lateral Raise. This requires essentially zero balance or coordination, so you can focus entirely on training the target muscle. It also allows you to safely take each set to failure and keeps constant tension on the muscle throughout each rep. The only downside is that not every machine allows you to get into a position where you can effectively train your lateral delts.
  • EZ-Bar Upright Row. The upright row is essentially a lateral raise performed with bent arms—your upper arms perform the same movement during both exercises.
  • Cable Upright Row (with rope handle). This is the same movement as the EZ-bar upright row, but with a rope handle and cable, which allows your hands to move independently.

3 Cable Lateral Raise Workouts

Here are three sample workouts that show how to program the cable lateral raise on a shoulder, push, or upper-body day.

Shoulder Workout with the Cable Lateral Raise

Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
EZ-Bar Upright Row: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest
Cable Lateral Raise: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest
Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest

Push Day Workout with the Cable Lateral Raise

Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
EZ-Bar Upright Row: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest
Cable Lateral Raise: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest

Upper-Body Workout with the Cable Lateral Raise

Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Lat Pulldown: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Seated Cable Row: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Cable Lateral Raise: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest

To progress these workouts, use double progression: use a weight that allows you to work within the given rep range, take each set 1–2 reps shy of failure, and once you hit the top of the range for your first set, add weight.

Muscles Worked by the Cable Lateral Raise

Shoulder anatomy showing the front, side, and rear deltoids

The cable lateral raise primarily trains your side delts, and also your traps and rotator cuff muscles to a lesser degree.

More Shoulder Exercises and Workouts

Scientific References +