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Cable One Arm Lateral Raise
A single-arm lateral raise with the cable running behind or in front of the body, keeping the lateral delt loaded through the bottom half of the range where dumbbells go slack.
ShouldersCableShoulder abduction
GoLightWeight mediacable-one-arm-lateral-raise
Demonstration coming soon
Primary
Lateral deltoids
Secondary
Anterior deltoidsUpper trapeziusSupraspinatus
Equipment
Cable
Pattern
Shoulder abduction
Setup
- 01Set a single handle on the lowest pulley position.
- 02Stand side-on to the stack and grab the handle with the far hand, cable running across the body.
- 03Hold the inside of the machine or frame with the near hand for balance.
- 04Stand tall with the working arm across the front of the thighs under light tension.
Execution
- 01Raise the arm out to the side in a wide arc with a slight elbow bend.
- 02Lead with the elbow until the upper arm is parallel to the floor.
- 03Pause briefly at shoulder height.
- 04Lower under control until the hand returns across the thighs.
Checkpoints
- -Elbow leads the arc and stays slightly higher than the wrist.
- -Torso stays vertical; no side lean away from the stack.
- -Tension is present at the very bottom of every rep.
- -Shoulder stays down as the arm rises.
Common mistakes
- -Leaning away from the cable to fake extra range.
- -Raising above shoulder height and shifting load into the traps.
- -Turning the pinky down aggressively and provoking impingement.
- -Letting the stack drop the arm instead of controlling the eccentric.
Programming notes
- -Use 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 20 reps per arm.
- -The across-the-body start loads the stretched position; treat that bottom range as the money zone.
- -Lateral delts recover fast, so 2 to 4 weekly slots are reasonable for a lagging side delt.
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