Cable Shoulder Workouts & Exercises for Size & Strength

Most people think building broad, strong shoulders requires barbells, dumbbells, and machines.

They’re not wrong—this equipment works. But it’s not the only option.

Cable shoulder exercises can be just as effective if you know how to use them correctly. Unlike free weights, cables keep constant tension on your muscles, are highly adaptable, and allow you to train your shoulders from angles that other implements can’t.

The best exercises for building shoulder size and strength with cables are:

• Standing cable shoulder press
• Seated cable shoulder press
• Cable side lateral raise
• Cable upright row
• Close-grip lat pulldown
• Cable face pull
• Cable rear delt fly

In this article, you’ll learn how to organize these exercises into effective cable shoulder workouts, why cables are great for shoulder training, tips for maximizing your gains, and more. 

Key Takeaways

• To build well-rounded shoulders, you need to train all three deltoid heads—the front, side, and rear delts.
• The best cable shoulder exercises for size and strength are the standing and seated cable shoulder press, cable side lateral raise, cable upright row, close-grip lat pulldown, cable face pull, and cable rear delt fly.
• Cable shoulder exercises have unique benefits—they keep constant tension on your muscles, are easy to adapt, and allow you to train from angles that barbells and dumbbells can’t.
• To get the most out of your cable shoulder workouts, train close to failure and increase the weight you lift as you get stronger.
• Most people should include at least one or two cable shoulder exercises in their routine. They’re especially useful if you have limited equipment, are rehabbing an injury, train in a crowded gym, or just prefer cables.

Table of Contents

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• Shoulder Anatomy
• 7 Cable Shoulder Exercises for Size and Strength
• The Best Cable Shoulder Workouts
• The Benefits of Doing Cable Shoulder Exercises
• 3 Tips for Better Cable Shoulder Workouts
• Who Should Do Cable Machine Shoulder Workouts?
• FAQ #1: Which cable shoulder exercises work the front delts?
• FAQ #2: Are cable shoulder workouts enough to build big shoulders?
• FAQ #3: Do cable flys work your shoulders?

Shoulder Anatomy

The deltoids—or “delts”—are the muscles that cover your shoulder joints and help move your upper arms forward, upward, and backward.

Each deltoid has three heads:

• Anterior (“front”) deltoid
• Lateral (“side”) deltoid
• Posterior (“rear”) deltoid

Here’s how they look on your body:

To build strong, well-developed shoulders, you need a combination of exercises—each one targeting a different part of the deltoids:

• Overhead presses train all three deltoid heads, but are especially good for building the front delts.
• Exercises where your upper arm moves out to the sides isolate the side delts to build shoulder width.
• “Pulling” cable shoulder exercises, or those that involve moving your arms from in front of you to your sides, round out the rear delts.

Now, let’s go over the best shoulder exercises with cables for training each part of your delts 

7 Cable Shoulder Exercises for Size and Strength

The most effective shoulder exercises using cables have a few things in common: they allow you to train your shoulders through a large range of motion, lift heavy weights safely, and train with progressively heavier weights over time. 

The following exercises tick all these boxes, which is why they’re my picks for the best exercises to include in your cable shoulder workouts. 

1. Standing Cable Shoulder Press

Why: The standing cable shoulder press is a staple cable machine shoulder exercise because it trains your front, rear, and side delts, along with your rotator cuff muscles and upper back. It also lets you lift heavier weights than most other cable shoulder exercises, making it ideal for building muscle and strength. That’s why all the best shoulder workouts with cables begin with the standing cable shoulder press. 

How to:

1. Adjust both pulleys on a dual cable machine to the lowest setting and attach the single-handle attachments. 
2. Grab a handle in each hand and stand centrally between the pulleys. 
3. Lift the handles so you’re holding them just above your shoulders with your palms facing forward.
4. Press the handles toward the ceiling until your arms are straight.
5. Lower the handles and return to the starting position.

READ MORE: 6 Vertical Push Exercises for Shoulder Mass & Strength

2. Seated Cable Shoulder Press

Why: The seated cable shoulder press works your shoulders much like the standing version, making it another first-rate cable machine shoulder exercise worth including in your workouts. The main advantage of the seated version is that it allows you to lift slightly heavier weights since you don’t have to stabilize your body as much.

The downside, however, is that positioning a bench between the cables takes time, and getting the cables into the starting position can feel awkward since you can’t adjust your body as easily.

How to: 

1. Set both pulleys on a dual cable machine to the lowest setting, attach the single handle attachments, and position an upright bench centrally between the pulleys.
2. Grab a handle in each hand and sit on the bench.
3. Lift the handles so you’re holding them just above your shoulders with your palms facing forward.
4. Press the handles toward the ceiling until your arms are straight.
5. Lower the handles and return to the starting position.

3. Cable Side Lateral Raise

Why: The cable side lateral raise is one of the best shoulder exercises using cables for developing the side delts. Developing this section of the deltoids is crucial for building wide, proportional shoulders. 

How to: 

1. Set the pulley on a cable machine to the lowest setting and attach a single handle attachment.
2. Stand with your feet either touching or shoulder-width apart, parallel to the handle, and your right foot closer to the handle than your left. 
3. Grab the handle with your left hand and the machine with your right hand (most people prefer to grab the metal column that holds the pulleys), then lean your body to the left until your right arm fully extends. 
4. Raise your left hand out to the side until your upper arm is parallel to the floor. 
5. Reverse the movement and return to the starting position. 
6. Once you’ve completed the desired number of reps, switch sides and repeat the process with your right arm.

READ MORE: How to Do the Cable Lateral Raise: Form & Benefits

4. Cable Upright Row

Why: The cable upright row trains the side and rear delts as well as the upper traps. In other words, it’s an excellent cable shoulder exercise for developing all the muscles that “frame” your upper body and aesthetically connect the neck to the shoulders and upper back.

How to:

1. Set the pulley on a cable machine to the lowest setting and attach the straight bar handle. 
2. Stand upright in front of a cable machine and hold the straight bar in front of your thighs, palms facing you.
3. Lift the handle toward your chin until your upper arms are parallel with the floor, keeping your elbows higher than your forearms throughout the movement. 
4. Reverse the movement and return to the starting position.

5. Close-Grip Lat Pulldown

Why: While all pulldown exercises train your rear delts, research shows that the close-grip lat pulldown is the most effective. What’s more, unlike many rear deltoid exercises with cables, it also allows you to handle heavy weights, so it’s ideal for building shoulder mass.

How to:

1. Attach a V-bar to the lat pulldown machine pulley, then adjust the thigh pad so that it locks your lower body in place.
2. Stand up and grab the handle. While keeping your grip on the handle and your arms straight, sit down, allowing your body weight to pull the bar down with you.
3. Nudge your thighs under the pads and plant your feet on the floor. 
4. Pull the handle toward your chest.
5. Once the handle is underneath your chin, reverse the movement and return to the starting position.

READ MORE: Close-Grip Lat Pulldown: Form, Benefits & Variations

6. Cable Face Pull

Why: The face pull trains all the muscles responsible for pulling horizontally toward your face (including the rear delts) and strengthens the shoulder muscles that rotate your arm upward. These benefits are unique to the face pull and may help you build stronger, more robust shoulders. 

How to:

1. Set the pulley on a cable machine to eye level and attach a rope handle.
2. Grab one end of the rope in each hand and step back until the cable is taut and your arms are stretched out in front of you.
3. Stand upright with a slight bend in your knees and your feet shoulder-width apart.
4. Keeping your elbows high, pull the rope toward your eyes, spreading the rope apart until your hands are above your shoulders.
5. Reverse the movement and return to the starting position.

READ MORE: How to Do the Face Pull: Benefits, Form, & Alternatives

7. Cable Rear Delt Fly

Why: Research shows that exercises that mimic the movement involved in the cable rear delt fly activate the rear delts to a high degree, which is a solid indicator it’s worth including in your cable machine shoulder workouts. 

How to: 

1. Set both pulleys on a dual cable machine to head height or slightly above.
2. Grip the ball at the end of the right-hand cable in your left hand and the ball at the end of the left-hand cable in your right hand, then stand centrally between the pulleys.
3. Take 1-to-2 steps backward and raise your arms out in front of you.
4. While keeping slightly bent elbows, pull your hands away from each other until your arms are directly out to your sides (or slightly behind your body).
5. Reverse the movement and return to the starting position. 

The Best Cable Shoulder Workouts

You now know the best cable shoulder exercises for training all three heads of the deltoids. Now, let’s discuss how to organize these exercises into effective cable shoulder workouts. 

The following workouts contain the best shoulder exercises using cables and the perfect amount of volume and intensity to build strong, broad shoulders without wearing yourself out.

For best results, do Cable Shoulder Workout #1 once weekly for 8-to-10 weeks as part of a well-designed training program, take a deload, and then replace Cable Shoulder Workout #1 with Cable Shoulder Workout #2 for the following 8-to-10 weeks.

After that, you can follow the same pattern every 8-to-10 weeks of training or create your own workouts using the exercises above.

Cable Shoulder Workout #1

• Standing Cable Shoulder Press: 4 sets | 6-to-8 reps | 3-to-5 min rest
• Close-Grip Lat Pulldown: 4 sets | 6-to-8 reps | 3-to-5 min rest 
• Cable Side Lateral Raise: 4 sets | 8-to-10 reps | 2-to-3 min rest 

Cable Shoulder Workout #2

• Seated Cable Shoulder Press: 4 sets | 6-to-8 reps | 3-to-5 min rest
• Cable Upright Row: 4 sets | 6-to-8 reps | 3-to-5 min rest 
• Cable Rear Delt Fly: 4 sets | 8-to-10 reps | 2-to-3 min rest 

The Benefits of Doing Cable Shoulder Exercises

Constant Tension

Unlike with free-weights exercises, cable shoulder exercises keep constant tension on your muscles throughout the entire range of motion. While this doesn’t mean they’re superior, it means they train your delts slightly differently than free weights, which is likely beneficial for anyone trying to maximize muscle growth. 

Easy to Adapt

Cable machines are highly adaptable. For example, you can change the height of the pulley, use different handles, adjust the angle of resistance by standing, sitting, or altering the direction you’re facing, and so on. 

This flexibility allows you to adapt the machine to suit how you like to train and what you’re trying to achieve.

Highly Versatile

Because cable machines are adaptable, they allow you to train your delts in countless ways. The benefit of training your muscles from different angles and through varying ranges of motion is that it produces more balanced growth than less varied training. 

3 Tips for Better Cable Shoulder Workouts

1. End every set 1-to-3 reps shy of muscle failure.

As I explain in my fitness books for men and women, to maximize your results, you must take most of the sets in your cable shoulder workouts to within a rep or two of failure.

Ask yourself at the end of each set, “If I had to, how many more reps could I have gotten with good form?” If the answer is more than two, increase the weight or reps to make your next set more challenging.

2. Once you hit the top of your rep range for a set, move up in weight. 

If your cable machine shoulder workout calls for 6-to-8 reps of the seated cable shoulder press and you get 8 reps for a set, add 10 pounds to your next set.

If you manage 5 or fewer reps with the new weight, reduce the weight by 5 pounds to ensure you stay in the 6-to-8 rep range. 

Follow this pattern of trying to add reps or weight to every exercise in every workout.

3. Take the right supplements.

These supplements can help you optimize your performance and gains while following a cable shoulder workout routine:

• Protein powder: Protein powder, such as whey or casein, provides your body with the nutrients needed to build muscle tissue and recover from workouts.
• Creatine: Creatine supplements, such as creatine monohydrate powder and gummies, boost muscle and strength gain, improve anaerobic endurance, and reduce muscle damage and soreness from your workouts.
• Pre-workout: A high-quality pre-workout enhances energy, mood, and focus, increases strength and endurance, and reduces fatigue.

(If you’d like even more specific advice about which supplements you should take to reach your health and fitness goals, take the Legion Supplement Finder Quiz, and in less than a minute, you’ll know exactly what supplements are right for you.)

Who Should Do Cable Machine Shoulder Workouts?

Cable shoulder exercises are highly effective for gaining muscle and strength, so it’s smart for most gymgoers to include at least one or two in their program.

Whether you should only do cable shoulder workouts is more complicated.

While cable shoulder workouts (workouts that only include cable shoulder exercises) are workable, they’re not as effective for gaining whole-body muscle and strength as free-weight shoulder workouts that include exercises like the overhead press, shoulder press, and Arnold press.

This is because you usually can’t lift as heavy or work as many muscles at the same time with cables.

Nevertheless, cable machine shoulder workouts can be a viable way to train, especially if:

• You have limited equipment: Even poorly stocked gyms (hotel gyms, for example) usually have a cable machine, so you can do cable shoulder exercises regardless of your circumstance. 
• You’re training around a shoulder injury: Cable shoulder exercises are slightly more stable than free-weight exercises, so they can be useful for rebuilding strength when coming back from an injury.
• You train in a crowded gym: If barbells, dumbbells, and machines are taken, cable shoulder workouts can be a time-efficient way to train your shoulders with a single piece of equipment.
• You enjoy training with cables: If you like cable shoulder workouts, you’re more likely to stick with them and see better results than forcing yourself through exercises and workouts you dislike.

FAQ #1: Which cable shoulder exercises work the front delts?

Any overhead pressing exercises train your entire shoulder, but they work the front delts the hardest. In fact, if you’re doing enough pressing in your workouts, you don’t need extra isolation exercises for the front delts.

READ MORE: Best Front Deltoid Exercises for Mass

FAQ #2: Are cable shoulder workouts enough to build big shoulders?

Yes, you can build muscle with cable shoulder exercises alone. That said, while cables have their advantages, free weights generally let you lift heavier, making them better for muscle growth in many cases.

And that’s why programs that combine both free-weight and cable shoulder exercises are usually best for building shoulder mass. 

FAQ #3: Do cable flys work your shoulders?

Cable flys primarily train the chest, but they do work the front delts to a small degree. However, if building bigger front delts is your goal, overhead presses are far more effective, so focus on those over flys.