Training guide
A cable lateral raise is a side raise against a cable from a low pulley: standing side-on to the machine, with the handle in your far hand so the cable runs across your body, you raise your arm out to shoulder height and lower it slowly. Set like that, the cable is hardest near the bottom of the lift, where a dumbbell is easiest, which is why where you set the pulley matters.
In the one trial so far, cable and dumbbell raises built the side of the shoulder equally in trained lifters, so the choice is about feel and small weight steps.
This guide shows the raise step by step on the 3D figure, the seated, behind-the-back and cuff versions, how heavy and how many, and how to keep your shoulders comfortable, with a cable shoulder workout to follow.
Stand side-on to a low pulley, take the handle in your far hand so the cable runs across the front of your body, and raise your arm out to the side, elbow soft and leading, to shoulder height; lower slowly. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) rates the single-arm cable lateral raise a beginner exercise.
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Low, about the height of your hand as your arm hangs, up to waist height: the one trial set it level with the hand, and ACE says waist height. Set like that, the cable is hardest near the bottom, where a dumbbell is easiest. That's mechanics and one trial's set-up, our editorial reading rather than a measured result.
In 24 trained adults, cable and dumbbell raises grew the side delt alike, by 3.3 to 4.6% in 8 weeks. It's one short trial, funded by a company that sells resistance training equipment.
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Raises above shoulder height went with signs of impingement in weight trainers, and thumbs down tipped the shoulder blade forward and pressed the tendon harder against the shoulder's roof. Raising slightly in front of your body changed side-delt activity by only about 5%, so it's a comfort choice.
2 or 3 sets of 12 to 20 each side, about 60 seconds' rest, the last set 0 to 2 reps short of failure, as our lateral raise guide says. Build towards about 10 hard side-delt sets a week, counting each set of overhead presses as half. Add weight in small steps: the trial used 0.25 kg.
Keep pain to about 5 out of 10 or less, back to its usual level by your next session, and see our shoulder pain in lateral raises guide. Lateral raises can be part of the cure: daily band raises eased neck and shoulder pain in office workers.
A lateral raise against a cable from a low pulley. The usual version is one arm at a time, standing side-on to the column with the handle in your far hand so the cable runs across the front of your body, as ACE describes it. You can also sit between two pulleys and raise both arms, run the cable behind your back, strap a cuff to your wrist instead of holding a handle, or lean away while holding the column.
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The side (middle) deltoid does most of the work, helped by the front and back deltoids, the supraspinatus (a rotator cuff muscle on top of the shoulder) and the upper trapezius. The middle part of the deltoid is multipennate: its fibres run at angles into a central tendon.
A dumbbell raise is hardest with your arm level, because gravity pulls straight down. A cable pulls along its own line, so from a low pulley on the far side it is hardest near the bottom, where the muscle is longest, and lighter at the top. The trial set the pulley level with the hand to put the peak load at the bottom, and a review notes that the pulley's height and your distance from it decide where the peak falls. A band under your foot behaves more like a dumbbell. This is our editorial reading of the mechanics and the trial's set-up; no study has measured it in a cable raise.
The number on the stack depends on the machine's pulley ratio, as our cable machine guide explains, so expect a light pin and compare yourself only on the same machine. The trial changed loads in 0.25 kg steps.
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Anyone with a shoulder that raises to shoulder height comfortably: ACE rates it beginner. In the trial, people whose shoulders hurt in a strict side raise were allowed to raise partway towards the plane of the shoulder blade, slightly in front of the body.
From our move page, ACE's single-arm cable lateral raise (a pulley at about waist height, the cable passing in front of the body), the trial's set-up, our lateral raise guide's height, thumb and angle cues and our cable machine guide's set-up. Keeping the plates just off the stack is coaching practice.
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The movement on the figure: Cable lateral raise
The one-arm cable raise at 2 or 3 sets of 12 to 20 each side (our lateral raise guide; push day B uses 3 sets of 12 to 20); the seated two-cable raise at 2 sets of 15 to 20 (our full-body machine workout); dumbbell and band raises at 2 or 3 sets of 12 to 20; the supported one-arm and side-lying incline raises at 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 each side, stopping 2 or 3 reps short (their move pages' dose). The behind-the-back, cuff, lean-away and Y-raise versions have no 3D demo: the cable lateral raise shows the arm path.
3D demoCable lateral raiseBeginner · A cable machine
3D demoSeated cable lateral raiseBeginner · A cable machine + A bench or box
3D demoDumbbell lateral raiseBeginner · A dumbbell
3D demoBand lateral raiseBeginner · A band
3D demoSupported one-arm lateral raiseBeginner · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoSide-lying incline lateral raiseBeginner · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoCable front raiseBeginner · A cable machine
3D demoBent-over cable rear raiseIntermediate · A cable machine24 trained men and women did cable raises with one arm and dumbbell raises with the other: 5 sets to failure twice a week for 8 weeks, 12 to 16 reps, adding 0.25 kg once a set passed 16. The side delt grew 3.3 to 4.6% with no difference between arms. Strength wasn't measured, there was no control group, the ultrasound's error was close to the size of the change, and a company that sells resistance training equipment funded it. A 2026 review reads it the same way: being hardest in the stretch didn't add growth here.
At matched effort, elastic tubing and dumbbells drew similar activity in the main shoulder muscles (64 to 86% against 59 to 87% of maximum) in 16 women, in exercises including the lateral raise. A band under your foot gets harder as you rise, like a dumbbell.
We found no study of pulley height, the cable in front or behind your body, cuffs against handles, leaning away, or seated against standing raises. One dumbbell study found a 30-degree forward lean made no difference to side-delt activity in 14 trained men. Choose by comfort.
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Most raise rankings come from EMG (electromyography: electrodes measuring how hard a muscle works) over a few reps, which doesn't predict what a muscle builds. The one growth trial matters more.
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In 77 men, 46 of them weight trainers, signs of shoulder impingement went with lateral raises and upright rows taken above 90 degrees. It's a snapshot study that can't show cause, but it's a good reason to stop with your arm level, as ACE describes.
In 10 bodybuilders, turning the thumb down shifted work to the back of the shoulder and the upper trapezius; a fine-wire study found more side-delt activity thumbs down (77% against 52% of maximum). But thumbs down tipped the shoulder blade forward in 20 people, and with the arm fully turned in at shoulder height, the force under the shoulder's roof was about 21 newtons against 3 or less with it neutral or turned out. None measured pain, so level or slightly up is the sensible choice, as our lateral raise guide says.
Raising within 30 degrees of the plane of the shoulder blade changed side-delt activity by only about 5% of maximum in 14 adults. The trial allowed people with sore shoulders to raise partway towards that plane, so use it for comfort.
Keep your elbow slightly bent and leading: bending it to 90 degrees lowered side-delt activity in bodybuilders.
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The upper trapezius worked at 97% of its maximum in raises with only 3 to 10 kg in 12 women with trapezius pain. Shoulders down, a lighter pin and stopping at shoulder height keep the side delt doing the work.
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A pin you can raise 12 to 20 times without swinging, shrugging or leaning, with 3 or 4 reps to spare in your first two weeks, as our plans advise.
2 or 3 sets of 12 to 20 each side, about 60 seconds' rest, the last set 0 to 2 reps short of failure, as our lateral raise guide and upper body workouts use. Light loads built as much muscle as heavy ones when sets were hard, across 28 studies.
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Build towards about 10 hard sets a week for your side delts across 2 sessions, counting each set of overhead presses as half, as our lateral raise guide works it out. The trial used 10 sets a week to failure: a study dose, not a starting point.
Add reps to 20, then the smallest plate. If that's too big a jump, use a half-step or add-on weight, as our cable machine guide says.
In a computer model of the lateral raise, a little momentum raised the load on the target muscles, but too much lowered it. Nobody has tested it in people, so lift under control and lower over 2 to 3 seconds (our advice, as in our lateral raise guide).
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If the cable goes slack at the bottom, step out until the plates lift.
Use a lighter pin and keep your trunk still, holding the column.
Your upper trapezius takes over. Keep your shoulders down and go lighter.
Stop with your arm level, as our lateral raise guide says.
Keep your thumb level or slightly up.
Keep it slightly bent and leading.
Lower over 2 to 3 seconds and keep the plates just off the stack.
Keep shoulder pain to about 5 out of 10 or less during the exercise, back to its usual level by your next session, as our shoulder guides advise. A sharp pinch means lower, lighter or stop.
A pinch on the outside or front of your shoulder as your arm nears shoulder height usually comes from the rotator cuff. Stop just below the pinch, raise slightly in front of your body with your thumb level, and go lighter. Our shoulder pain in lateral raises guide maps the other causes and has a three-stage plan, which uses the seated cable raise at 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15, light, to just below shoulder height.
In 198 office workers with frequent neck and shoulder pain, 2 or 12 minutes a day of elastic band training, 5 days a week for 10 weeks, cut pain by 1.4 and 1.9 points out of 10 against health information. A later report from the same trial says the exercise was a lateral raise in line with the shoulder blade, at 8 to 12 reps, about 2 seconds up and 2 down.
An undated hospital handout says standing lateral raises should be avoided because of their effect on the rotator cuff, and suggests bent-over or face-down raises instead. The research links impingement signs to raises above shoulder height, ACE rates the raise beginner, and treatment trials use it, so we treat the handout as a cautious line for sore shoulders.
Up to 36% of documented resistance training injuries are at the shoulder, mostly from surveys, which is why the height and thumb rules above are worth keeping.
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A press for the whole shoulder: the standing overhead press at 3 sets of 6 to 10 (our shoulders and arms workout) or the standing cable shoulder press at 3 sets of 8 to 12 (our cable shoulder workout); each set counts as about half a side-delt set. Face pulls at 3 sets of 12 to 15 and cable external rotation at 2 sets of 12 to 15 each arm, as our cable shoulder workout uses them; the standing cable reverse fly at 2 sets of 12 to 15 (editorial).
The cable shoulder workout trains the whole shoulder on one cable station: a standing press, one-arm cable raises, face pulls, reverse flys and rotator cuff work. Push day B uses one-arm cable raises at 3 sets of 12 to 20 each side, the cable machine workout pairs them with curls, and the full-body machine workout uses the seated cable raise. In the shoulder workouts, a cable raise can stand in for the dumbbell raise at the same dose.
A 35-minute shoulder session on a cable station: a standing press, one-arm lateral raises, face pulls, reverse flys and rotator cuff work, all with 3D demos.
35 minBeginner9 movesA band, A cable machinePush day B: seated dumbbell press, dumbbell bench press, cable flyes, cable lateral raises, dips and skull crushers, with sets, reps and rest.
50 minIntermediate11 movesA band, A dumbbellA 40-minute full-body workout on a dual cable station in four pairs: pull-through and row, press and Pallof press, pushdown and crunch, raise and curl.
40 minBeginner14 movesCardio machine, A bandA 45-minute full-body gym workout on machines: leg press, chest press, machine row, leg curl, shoulder press and arms, with sets, reps and rest.
45 minBeginner14 movesCardio machine, A bandA shoulder workout for all three heads: overhead press, lateral raises, reverse flyes, face pulls and rotations.
40 minIntermediate8 movesA band, A barbellA 30-minute home shoulder workout with dumbbells or a band: presses, lateral raises for the side of the shoulder, and rear-shoulder and rotator cuff work.
30 minBeginner8 movesA band, A dumbbellCable raises come round in push-pull-legs through push day B, and in the beginner and full-body plans through the full-body machine workout.
A 6-day push/pull/legs plan for experienced lifters: two push, two pull and two leg days, with sets, reps, rest and lighter weeks.
6 training days55 minAdvanced3 days a weekA first gym plan for beginners: 3 days a week, starting on the machines, adding free weights and cardio, with what changes by week 12 and what comes next.
3 training days50 minBeginner3 days a weekFor after about 8 weeks of a beginner plan: three full-body sessions a week, one heavy, one moderate and one light, in a gym or at home, for 12 weeks.
3 training days50 minIntermediateIf you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that feels tight, heavy or squeezing, or spreads to your arms, neck, jaw or back; a sudden, extremely painful headache, especially while straining; someone who faints while exercising; or palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Shoulder or arm pain with chest pain that feels tight or squeezing, especially with breathlessness, sweating or feeling sick, could be a heart attack, as our shoulder pain in lateral raises guide says: call 999.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
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Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for sudden or very bad shoulder pain, an arm you can't move, a shoulder that has changed shape or is badly swollen, pins and needles that don't go away, no feeling in your arm or shoulder, an arm or shoulder that's hot or cold to touch, pain after an injury or a fall, severe pain in both shoulders, or feeling feverish or unwell. Go to A&E if, after an injury, you can't move your arm or your shoulder looks out of place or has changed shape. See a GP if shoulder pain is getting worse or hasn't improved after 2 weeks.
Sudden weakness lifting the arm after a jerking heavy rep or a fall, or a pop with a bulge low in the upper arm, needs checking the same day through a GP or NHS 111, as our shoulder pain in lateral raises guide explains.
Pins and needles or a cold arm with neck pain, or neck pain that hasn't gone after a few weeks: see a GP.
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After a big or unusual session, such as drop sets or a raise challenge, muscle pain, swelling or weakness far worse than the session explains, with dark pee, needs the same-day check through NHS 111, or A&E if you feel very unwell: it can be rhabdomyolysis, as our shoulder pain in lateral raises guide explains.
After heart surgery through the breastbone, or a heart or lung transplant, follow your surgeon's advice before pushing, pulling or lifting with your arms.
After breast cancer surgery or reconstruction, follow your surgical team's advice on when you can lift your arm above shoulder height, or push, pull or lift with it.
After a recent shoulder dislocation, or shoulder or elbow surgery, follow your surgical team's limits first.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
With a pacemaker or defibrillator, the American Heart Association asks you to check with your doctor before upper-body strength training, because repeated arm movements can damage or dislodge the leads.
Check the cable, clips and pin before you start, and keep your face out of the cable's line. A frayed cable or a clip that won't close means another station.
Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new or harder session is common and fades. Sharp pain, or pain that builds during a set or lingers into the next day, isn't: swap to an easier version, and see a clinician if it persists, as our plans advise. The NHS says to stop exercising straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, and to get help from 111 if symptoms worry you or don't go away.
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In the one trial, each person trained one arm with each, and they grew the side delt equally.
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The cable's pull is roughly steady, but the load on your shoulder changes with the angle: from a low pulley the raise is hardest near the bottom, as our cable machine guide explains.
No study has tested behind the back, cuffs or leaning away against the standard raise. Use whichever feels better on your shoulder.
The trial set the cable to be hardest at the bottom, and growth was the same as with dumbbells.
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Thumbs down shifts work to the back of the shoulder and the upper trapezius, and pressed the tendon harder against the shoulder's roof in lab studies. Keep your thumb level or slightly up.
Raises above shoulder height went with impingement signs, but trials use lateral raises to treat neck and shoulder pain.
Stand side-on to a low pulley and take the handle in your far hand so the cable runs across the front of your body. Raise your arm out to the side, elbow soft and leading, to shoulder height, then lower it slowly. Hold the machine with your other hand.
Low: about the height of your hand as your arm hangs, up to waist height. That's how the one trial and the American Council on Exercise set it, and it makes the raise hardest near the bottom.
No better, no worse: in the one trial, cable and dumbbell raises grew the side of the shoulder equally in trained lifters over 8 weeks. Cables load the bottom of the raise and let you add weight in small steps.
Either. The trial and ACE ran it in front; behind the back is popular, but no study has tested it, and we don't have a 3D demo of it. Use whichever feels better on your shoulder.
Either. A cuff on your wrist takes your grip out of it; the trial used lifting straps for the same reason. No study compares them.
Mainly the side (middle) deltoid, which gives your shoulders their width, with the front and back deltoids, the supraspinatus and the upper trapezius helping.
Light: a pin you can raise 12 to 20 times without swinging, shrugging or leaning. Add reps before weight; the trial moved people up in 0.25 kg steps.
2 or 3 sets of 12 to 20 each side, about 60 seconds' rest, the last set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Aim for about 10 hard side-delt sets a week across 2 sessions, counting each set of overhead presses as half.
The upper trapezius works hard in any raise, and more if you shrug, lift above shoulder height or turn your thumb down. Keep your shoulders down, stop at shoulder height and keep your thumb level.
Usually the raise is too high, too heavy or done thumbs down. Stop at or below shoulder height, raise slightly in front of your body, go lighter and keep pain to about 5 out of 10, settled by your next session. Our shoulder pain in lateral raises guide has the full plan.
You can, holding the column, but no study shows it builds more, and we don't have a 3D demo of it. Standing tall is simpler to get right.
With a resistance band, yes: stand on it or anchor it low beside you. A band under your foot gets harder as you rise, like a dumbbell, while a band anchored low on the far side behaves more like a cable (our reading).
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
