Your side delts are the lateral head of your deltoid, and they’re the muscle that turns narrow shoulders into wide ones. A big chest and thick lats help your frame, but nothing widens you from the front the way a well-built lateral head does. Most lifters chase that with dumbbell lateral raises, and dumbbells work fine, but the resistance goes slack the second your arm passes your hip on the way down. Your side delt gets a break right when it should still be working.
A cable fixes that. The pulley pulls at a fixed angle instead of straight down with gravity, so your side delt stays loaded through the whole rep, from the bottom stretch to the top of the raise. You can also set the pulley low, high, or route it behind your back, which gives you angles a dumbbell can’t touch. That’s why a cable lateral raise, in one form or another, shows up in almost every shoulder session I write, and why this list is worth having on its own instead of buried in a general shoulder roundup.
Below are the 6 cable exercises I’d actually program for the lateral head, starting with the standard version and working through less common setups like the leaning raise and the double cable raise. If you’re after the rear delts instead, we’ve got a separate cable rear delt exercises guide, or see our cable shoulder exercises roundup if you want all three heads on one page. Every exercise here gets real how-to steps and a demo video, plus a sample workout and a look at the anatomy behind all of it.
Table of Contents
- 1 The 6 Best Cable Side Delt Exercises
- 2 Cable-Only Side Delt Workout
- 3 Shoulder (Deltoid) Anatomy
- 4 Frequently Asked Questions
- 4.1 Are cable lateral raises better than dumbbell lateral raises?
- 4.2 How often should I train side delts with cables?
- 4.3 Can I build wider shoulders with just cables?
- 4.4 What rep range builds side delts best?
- 4.5 Why do my traps take over on cable upright rows?
- 4.6 Is it OK to do cable lateral raises every push day?
- 4.7 Should beginners start with cable side delt exercises?
- 5 Final Thoughts
- 6 References
- 7 Other Muscle Groups Exercises
- 7.1 The 8 Best Rear Delt Exercises
- 7.2 The 9 Best Rear Delt Dumbbell Exercises [Tested]
- 7.3 The 8 Best Long Head Bicep Exercises
- 7.4 The 8 Best Front Delt Dumbbell Exercises
- 7.5 The 7 Best Lower Trap Exercises
- 7.6 The 10 Best Front Delt Exercises
- 7.7 The 7 Best Outer Quad Exercises (2023)
- 7.8 The 8 Best Bicep Cable Exercises
- 7.9 The 7 Best Cable Glute Exercises
- 7.10 The 8 Best Long Head Tricep Exercises
- 7.11 The 9 Best Side Delt Exercises for Broader Shoulders
- 7.12 The 6 Best Cable Rear Delt Exercises (2023)
- 7.13 The 8 Best Rear Delt Bodyweight Exercises
- 7.14 The 8 Best Lateral Head Tricep Exercises
- 7.15 The 7 Best Cable Forearm Exercises
The 6 Best Cable Side Delt Exercises
- Cable Lateral Raise
- Leaning Cable Lateral Raise
- Behind-the-Back Cable Lateral Raise
- Cross-Body Cable Lateral Raise
- Double Cable Lateral Raise
- Cable Upright Row
1. Cable Lateral Raise
Benefits of the Cable Lateral Raise
This is the baseline side delt exercise on a cable, and it’s the one I’d teach first. Because the pulley pulls at an angle instead of straight down, your side delt stays under load even at the bottom of the rep, where a dumbbell would go slack. An 8-week study on resistance-trained lifters found dumbbell and cable lateral raises built lateral deltoid muscle at almost identical rates, so don’t expect this to out-grow a dumbbell raise. What it does give you is smoother tension and less reliance on swinging the weight up with momentum, which matters once fatigue sets in late in a set. It’s also easier on your wrists than a dumbbell, since the handle sits in a neutral grip instead of forcing you to control an off-balance weight at the top of the rep.
How to Perform the Cable Lateral Raise
- Set the pulley to its lowest position and attach a single handle.
- Stand side-on to the machine with the pulley on your left, and grab the handle with your right hand, reaching across your body so the cable crosses in front of your hips.
- Step away enough to create tension, with a slight bend in your elbow.
- Raise your arm out and up to the side, leading with your elbow, until it’s roughly parallel to the floor.
- Lower it back down under control, keeping tension on the cable the whole way, then switch sides.
Equipment: cable machine, single handle. I run this for 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps per arm.
This video from Live Lean TV Daily Exercises shows how to perform the standing cable lateral raise.
Looking for more ways to hit this same muscle without a cable machine? See our lateral raise alternatives guide.
2. Leaning Cable Lateral Raise
Benefits of the Leaning Cable Lateral Raise
Leaning away from the stack changes the angle of pull enough that your side delt gets loaded through a longer range than a standard raise allows, including a deep stretch below your hip that you can’t reach standing upright. That stretched position is where a lot of lifters are weakest, so this one exposes a gap a standard raise hides. I’ll use it once someone’s stalled on regular cable or dumbbell raises for a few months, since it forces the lateral head to work through territory it’s never had to cover. Your obliques and core also get some isometric work here just holding the lean, so don’t be surprised if your midsection feels this one the next day too.
How to Perform the Leaning Cable Lateral Raise
- Set the pulley to its lowest position and attach a single handle.
- Stand right next to the machine and grab the handle with the hand closest to it.
- Lean your upper body away from the machine, holding the frame or a fixed post with your free hand for balance, until your working arm hangs across the front of your body at a steep angle.
- Keeping the lean, raise your arm out to the side and up until it reaches shoulder height.
- Lower it back down slowly, holding the same lean for the whole set, then switch sides.
Equipment: cable machine, single handle, something sturdy to hold onto while you lean. I keep this to 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps per arm since the extra range makes it harder than it looks.
This video from Renaissance Periodization shows how to perform the leaning cable lateral raise.
3. Behind-the-Back Cable Lateral Raise
Benefits of the Behind-the-Back Cable Lateral Raise
Routing the cable behind your body instead of in front changes the resistance curve so your side delt stays loaded harder through the top half of the raise, which is usually where a standard lateral raise starts losing tension. It also keeps your torso from rotating to help the lift, since the cable pulls from behind rather than across your front. I use this one late in a shoulder session, after the joints are warm, since starting cold with the arm behind your hip isn’t the most comfortable way to begin a workout. Keep the reps controlled here. It’s easy to let your shoulder shrug up toward your ear as you fatigue, and that just hands the work to your traps.
How to Perform the Behind-the-Back Cable Lateral Raise
- Set the pulley to its lowest position and attach a single handle.
- Stand sideways in front of the machine and grab the handle with your far hand, reaching behind your lower back to take hold of it so the cable runs behind your body instead of in front.
- Step forward slightly to create tension, letting your working arm hang close to your opposite hip.
- Raise your arm out to the side and up to about shoulder height, keeping your torso still.
- Lower it back behind your hip under control, then switch sides.
Equipment: cable machine, single handle. Start light here, 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps per arm, until your shoulder gets used to the position.
This video from Live Lean TV Daily Exercises shows how to perform the behind-the-back cable lateral raise.
4. Cross-Body Cable Lateral Raise
Benefits of the Cross-Body Cable Lateral Raise
Setting the pulley above shoulder height flips the resistance curve again, this time biasing the top of the raise instead of the bottom. Your side delt has to fight the cable as your arm nears full extension out to the side, which is usually the easiest part of a standard raise. I like pairing this with a low-pulley version like the standard cable lateral raise so one exercise loads the bottom of the range and the other loads the top, covering the whole rep hard instead of just part of it. The crossed starting position also means your delt is already under some tension before the rep even begins, so lighter loads still feel challenging.
How to Perform the Cross-Body Cable Lateral Raise
- Set the pulley above shoulder height and attach a single handle.
- Stand facing sideways to the machine and grab the handle with your far hand, reaching across your chest so your arm starts extended toward the machine.
- Step away enough to load the cable, keeping a slight bend in your elbow.
- Pull the handle down and out to your side until your arm is roughly parallel to the floor.
- Let the cable pull your arm back across your body under control to reset, then switch sides.
Equipment: cable machine, single handle, a high pulley setting. I use 3 sets of 12 reps per arm here.
This video from Renaissance Periodization shows how to perform the cross-body cable lateral raise.
5. Double Cable Lateral Raise
Benefits of the Double Cable Lateral Raise
Working both arms at once cuts your set time roughly in half, which matters if you’re supersetting shoulders with something else or just running short on gym time. Standing centered between two stacks also forces you to keep your torso stable and upright, since you can’t lean into one side to cheat a rep the way you sometimes can on a single-arm raise. It’s a good one to finish a session on, since both delts get taken to fatigue together instead of one arm resting while the other works. The tradeoff is you can’t isolate a weaker side the way you can with the single-arm versions, so if one shoulder lags behind the other, keep at least one single-arm raise in your rotation too.
How to Perform the Double Cable Lateral Raise
- Set both pulleys on a dual cable station to their lowest position and attach a single handle to each.
- Stand centered between the two stacks and grab the left handle with your right hand and the right handle with your left hand, so the cables cross in front of you.
- Step forward slightly to create tension on both sides.
- Raise both arms out to the sides at the same time until they’re roughly parallel to the floor.
- Lower both arms back down together under control.
Equipment: dual cable station, two single handles. This needs a specific machine setup, so it’s not available at every gym. I run it for 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps.
This video from Cory Gregory shows how to perform the two-hand cable lateral raise.
6. Cable Upright Row
Benefits of the Cable Upright Row
This is the only compound option on the list, and it lets you load your side delts heavier than any single-joint raise here. A wide grip, hands about 1.5 to 2 times shoulder width, keeps your shoulder from rotating too far inward as the bar comes up, which is what makes narrow-grip upright rows uncomfortable for some lifters. Pulling to chest or chin height instead of your neck also keeps the movement in a safer range. I treat this as a strength-and-size builder for the side delts and traps together, not a pure isolation exercise. If you’ve had shoulder pain on barbell upright rows before, the cable version is worth trying first since the pulley lets you set the exact height and grip that feels comfortable, instead of being locked into a fixed bar.
How to Perform the Cable Upright Row
- Set the pulley to its lowest position and attach a straight bar or rope.
- Stand facing the machine and grab the bar with an overhand grip, hands about 1.5 to 2 times shoulder width apart.
- Let the bar hang at arm’s length in front of your hips.
- Pull the bar straight up along your body by driving your elbows out and up, stopping around chest height.
- Lower it back down under control to the starting position.
Equipment: cable machine, straight bar or rope attachment. I run this for 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps.
This video from Catalyst Athletics shows how to perform the cable upright row.
Cable-Only Side Delt Workout
You don’t need all 6 of these in one session. Here’s a session built around 4 of them that I’d actually run, mixing a bottom-loaded raise, a stretch-focused raise, a two-arm finisher, and a heavier compound pull.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Cable Upright Row | 3 | 10-12 |
| Cable Lateral Raise | 3 | 12-15 per arm |
| Leaning Cable Lateral Raise | 3 | 10-12 per arm |
| Double Cable Lateral Raise | 2 | 15-20 |
Start with the upright row while you’re fresh, since it’s the only lift here where you’re moving real weight. Work through the two single-arm raises next, then finish with the double cable raise as a two-arm burnout. Swap the behind-the-back or cross-body raise in for one of the single-arm slots every few weeks so you’re not training the exact same angle every session.
Shoulder (Deltoid) Anatomy
Your deltoid has three heads that sit over the shoulder joint like a cap, and each one pulls your arm in a different direction. The anterior (front) head sits over your collarbone and drives pressing and raising your arm forward. The posterior (rear) head sits over your shoulder blade and pulls your arm backward, handling rows and reverse flyes. The lateral head, the one every exercise on this page targets, sits on the outside of your shoulder and lifts your arm straight out to the side, a movement called abduction.
The lateral head is what gives your shoulder its round cap shape and adds width when you’re standing straight on. It works alongside your rotator cuff, specifically the supraspinatus, which helps initiate the first part of an arm raise before the deltoid takes over the rest of the range. That’s part of why cable exercises with a controlled starting angle, rather than a heavy dumbbell yanked off your side, tend to feel smoother on the shoulder joint. Your trapezius also gets involved on exercises like the upright row, since it helps raise your shoulder blade as your arm comes up.
This is also why changing the pulley height matters so much on the exercises above. A low pulley pulls your arm down and across at the start of the rep, so the cable loads your side delt hardest right at that stretched bottom position. A high pulley does the opposite, pulling your arm up and across at the start, so the load shifts toward the top of the range instead. A dumbbell can only ever pull straight down, which is why it’s harder to bias one end of the range over the other without changing your body position entirely. Cables let you pick the angle instead of working around it.
If your shoulders overall are lagging and side delts are just one piece of a bigger gap, our grow underdeveloped shoulders guide covers the front and rear heads too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are cable lateral raises better than dumbbell lateral raises?
Not for muscle growth. An 8-week study on resistance-trained lifters found both built lateral deltoid muscle thickness at nearly the same rate, in the 3.3% to 4.6% range, with no meaningful difference between them. Cables do give you smoother tension and let you set the pulley at angles a dumbbell can’t reach, which is why I like having both in a program instead of picking one over the other.
How often should I train side delts with cables?
Twice a week works well for most lifters, whether that’s on a dedicated shoulder day or tacked onto the end of a push day. The lateral head recovers fast since it’s a small muscle, so you can usually push volume and frequency here harder than you would on a larger muscle group like your quads or back.
Can I build wider shoulders with just cables?
Yes. Your side delts grow from progressive tension over time, and they don’t care whether that tension comes from a cable, a dumbbell, or a machine. A cable-only approach even has an edge for this specific muscle, since the constant tension makes it easier to keep your side delt loaded through the stretched bottom position where a dumbbell tends to lose resistance. For more angles on the width question specifically, see our side delt exercises for broader shoulders guide.
What rep range builds side delts best?
Somewhere between 10 and 20 reps per set tends to work best for isolation raises like these, since the lateral head is small and doesn’t need heavy loading to grow. Heavier compound work like the cable upright row can drop into the 8 to 12 range. I’d rather see someone hit 15 clean reps with a controlled tempo than grind out 8 heavy reps with their traps and momentum doing half the work.
Why do my traps take over on cable upright rows?
Usually it’s a grip that’s too narrow, which forces your shoulder into more internal rotation and shifts the work toward your traps and away from your side delts. Widen your grip to about 1.5 to 2 times shoulder width and stop the pull around chest height instead of pulling all the way to your chin. If your traps are still doing most of the work after that, drop the weight and focus on driving your elbows up and out rather than just yanking the bar upward.
Is it OK to do cable lateral raises every push day?
Yes, as long as the total volume across the week stays reasonable. The lateral head is small and recovers quickly, so 2 or 3 sets of a cable raise tacked onto the end of every push day usually won’t leave you overly sore or interfere with your pressing strength. Just keep an eye on your total weekly sets across all your side delt work, isolation and compound combined, so you’re not accidentally piling on far more volume than you’re recovering from.
Should beginners start with cable side delt exercises?
The standard cable lateral raise is a fine starting point for a beginner, since it’s straightforward to learn and the cable keeps the weight moving on a fixed path. I’d hold off on the leaning and behind-the-back versions until you’ve got a few months of regular shoulder training in, since both ask more of your balance and shoulder mobility than a beginner usually has yet. Build the basic movement pattern first, then add the harder angles once it feels easy.
Final Thoughts
Start with the standard cable lateral raise if you’re new to training side delts on a cable. Once that’s dialed in, add the leaning raise for the stretched bottom position and the cross-body raise for the top, and you’ve got the whole range of motion covered from two different angles. The double cable raise is a good time-saver when you’re short on time, and the cable upright row is the one I’d keep in the mix if you want real strength added alongside the size. You don’t need to run all 6 in a single session. Pick 3 or 4 that fit your equipment and rotate the rest in every few weeks so your shoulders keep getting a stimulus they haven’t fully adapted to.
References
- Deltoid muscle: Origin, insertion, innervation, function (Kenhub)
- Dumbbell versus cable lateral raises for lateral deltoid hypertrophy: an experimental study (PMC)
- Smart Shoulder Solutions: An Evidence-Based Approach to Training the Deltoids (ACE Fitness)
- An Electromyographic Analysis of Lateral Raise Variations and Frontal Raise in Competitive Bodybuilders (PMC)
Other Muscle Groups Exercises
If you enjoyed this post, check out our other collections of the best exercises for each muscle group below.
