Shoulders · Cables · 20 exercises

Shoulder workouts with cables

A cable shoulder workout: presses, raises and face pulls with tension on the delts through the whole range.

The deltoid has three heads. Overhead presses work the front and side heads hard, but the side head grows best from raises, and the rear head needs its own work from reverse flyes, face pulls and rear-delt rows. A balanced shoulder workout covers all three.

A cable keeps tension on the muscle through the whole range, including the ends of a movement where a dumbbell goes slack, and moving the pulley up or down changes the angle of resistance. Cables make it easy to add a little weight at a time.

Cable shoulder workout

One-arm lateral raises are where cables beat dumbbells: tension right from the bottom.

Cable Shoulder Press
Sets
3
Reps
10
Rest
90 s
Cable Lateral Raise
Sets
4
Reps
12–15 each side
Rest
60 s
Face Pull
Sets
3
Reps
15
Rest
60 s
Cable Cross-over Reverse Fly
Sets
3
Reps
15
Rest
60 s
Cable Front Raise
Sets
2
Reps
12
Rest
60 s

Can’t do one of these?

Machine taken or training somewhere else? Each of these has substitutes that work the same muscles.

Tips

Keep lateral raises light and strict. The side delt is small, and a weight you have to swing is mostly trained by your traps and momentum.
Press with your ribs down and glutes tight so the bar travels over your midfoot instead of your lower back arching to make room.
Give the rear delts as many sets as the front. Most pressing already trains the front head; the rear head is the one that lags.
Step far enough from the stack that the weight never touches down between reps; that keeps the tension on the whole set.

Run this workout in SPLYT

Every exercise here is in SPLYT’s library. Save the workout as a template, log your sets on iPhone or Apple Watch, and next time your weights are already filled in from what you lifted.

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20 shoulder exercises with cables

Every one links to step-by-step instructions and a demonstration. Swap any of them into the workouts above.

All shoulder exercises →

Questions

How many shoulder exercises can you do with cables?

SPLYT’s exercise library has 20 shoulder exercises you can do with cables, including Face Pull, Cable Front Raise and Cable Lateral Raise. Each one links to step-by-step instructions and a demonstration.

How many sets should I do for shoulders?

Around eight to sixteen hard sets a week of side and rear delt work, on top of your pressing. The front delts get plenty of work from chest and shoulder presses already.

Are upright rows bad for your shoulders?

A narrow grip pulled high can pinch the shoulder for some people. A wider grip, pulled to about chest height, is easier on the joint and still trains the side delts and traps.

Are cables as good as free weights?

For building muscle, yes. Free weights let you go heavier on the big lifts, while cables keep tension through the whole movement. Most good programs use both.