Cable Side Raise

Lateral raises (also called side raises) are primarily performed to place more emphasis on the middle head of the deltoid (shoulder muscle).

In addition to the large shoulder muscle itself, various muscles around the shoulder joint are recruited to stabilize it. Smaller stabilizing muscles such as the four muscles of the rotator cuff, as well as the larger trapezius, which pulls the shoulder joint upward.

In the arms, the biceps and triceps have a stabilizing role in maintaining the position of the forearm relative to the upper arm. The muscles in the forearms themselves then stabilize the wrist joint in order to control the dumbbells or barbell.

In this variation, lateral raises are performed with a cable as resistance.

Cable lateral raise execution

1
Raise the arms outward and upward. Maintain the same slight bend in the arms. Keep the rest of the body as still as possible.
2
Finish at the height just before the shoulders feel pinched. Keep the elbows slightly below shoulder height.
3
Hold the cables here for 1–2 seconds.
4
Lower the arms in a controlled manner over 2–3 seconds until you feel there is no more resistance (so do not bring them all the way back against the body).
5
Repeat.

Cable lateral raise

Muscles involved:

Shoulder joint:

Deltoid (all heads)
Rotator cuff (subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres minor)
Trapezius
Levator scapulae

Chest:

Pectoralis major (especially upper portion)

Arms

Triceps
Biceps
Forearm muscles

Abdomen:

Rectus abdominis (straight abdominal muscle)
External oblique (external oblique abdominal muscle)
Internal oblique (internal oblique abdominal muscle)
Transversus abdominis (transverse abdominal muscle, 'corset muscle')

Lower back and spine:

Erector spinae
Lumbar multifidus
Quadratus lumborum

Cable lateral raise setup

Set the cable pulleys to the lowest position and attach a single handle.
Choose the desired resistance.
Grasp the cable on the left side with your right hand and the right cable with your left hand.
Stand in the middle, just behind the imaginary line between the two pulleys.
Keep this arm slightly bent beside the body. The hands are slightly in front of the body.

Cable lateral raise technique

“For the side of the shoulder”

The deltoid-shaped shoulder muscle pulls on the upper arms from three directions. Lateral raises are usually performed by people who want to train the ‘middle’ of the shoulder with them. However, (limited) EMG measurements show that during lateral raises the anterior head also does the most work (while the posterior head works almost as hard as the middle head). The difference between the involvement of the different heads is nevertheless considerably smaller than, for example, during the shoulder press.

Arms bent or straight

The straighter the arms are, the farther the hands are from you, and the heavier the weight they hold becomes. Lateral raises with straight arms can therefore be heavier than with a slightly heavier weight and bent arms. Normally, you want to make it heavier through proper execution, which would mean straightening the arms as much as possible.

However, the more you straighten the arms, the greater the stress on the elbow joint and the muscles that stabilize it. Bending the arms slightly more can make it easier to focus fully on the upper arms.

Keep the wrist at elbow height

Rotating the shoulder inward or outward reduces the involvement of the middle head of the deltoid. If your wrist is higher than your elbow (at the highest point of the exercise), your shoulder is externally rotated and the anterior head works harder. If the wrist is (considerably) lower than the elbow, your shoulder is internally rotated and the posterior head works harder.