Best Cable Shoulder Workouts & Exercises

Shoulders have a unique strength curve. With dumbbells, there is zero tension at the bottom of a lateral raise. Cables provide tension at the bottom, middle, and top of the movement. This constant tension throughout the full range of motion is arguably the most effective way to stimulate shoulder growth.

Use the Cable Y-Raise for the side delts, Face Pulls for the rear delts, and Cable Front Raises for the front delts. Because the cables allow you to adjust the angle of resistance, you can line up the cable perfectly with the direction of the muscle fibers for each specific head.

Yes, they are generally safer than overhead pressing with free weights. Cable lateral raises and face pulls place very little compressive load on the spine. They are excellent for learning how to isolate the deltoid without the upper traps taking over, which is a common issue with dumbbells.

Set the pulley to hand-height or slightly lower. Stand sideways to the machine and reach across your body to grab the handle. Lean away from the machine slightly. As you raise the handle, think about pushing your hand out towards the walls rather than just up. Stop when your arm is parallel to the floor.

Shoulders respond well to metabolic stress and high volume. Perform your heavy pressing first with barbells or dumbbells, then move to the cables for high-rep isolation work in the 15 to 20 rep range. Supersetting Face Pulls with Lateral Raises is a classic strategy to pump massive amounts of blood into the shoulders in a short time.