The Leaning Cable Lateral Raise is a variation of the traditional cable lateral raise. The main difference is that you lean away from the machine and create a diagonal angle between your body and the cable.
When you lean away from the cable machine, you will increase the tension on the lateral deltoid.
In this position, your shoulders have to work harder to lift the weight, which helps improve muscle fiber recruitment and, ultimately, better shoulder development.
The leaning position also naturally limits your ability to use body momentum to swing the weight up. This enforces stricter form and more focused deltoid activation.
Muscles Worked
- Primary Muscle Worked: Lateral deltoid.
- Secondary and stabilization Muscle Worked: Anterior deltoid, Rear delt, Core muscles, trapezius, supraspinatus and Forearms.
Leaning cable lateral raise primarily trains the middle delt; however, the activation for secondary muscles changed due to changes in the humeral external and internal rotation.
How To Do Leaning Cable Lateral Raise
- Attach a single handle to the low pulley of a cable machine.
- Hold the handle with the hand farthest from the machine. Keep your feet together.
- Hold onto the machine with your free hand and lean your body away from the machine until your arm is fully extended and the cable is taut. Your body should form a straight line from your feet to your head.
- Your working arm should be extended down by your side, with a slight bend in the elbow.
- Exhale as you raise your arm up to the side until it is parallel to the floor. Keep your elbow slightly bent and your palm facing down.
- Briefly pause at the top of the movement to maximize the contraction in your lateral deltoid.
- Inhale as you slowly lower the handle back to the starting position with control. Avoid letting the weight drop too quickly.
- Do 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps on each arm.
Tips and Form
- Maintain a slight bend in your elbow (about 10-15 degrees). This reduces stress on the elbow joint and keeps tension on the deltoid muscle.
- Avoid excessive leaning. The goal is to create a slight angle without compromising your posture.
- Only lift your arm to shoulder height. Going higher can shift tension away from the lateral deltoid and engage other muscles like the upper traps.
- Retract and depress the scapula (pull shoulders back and down) to stabilize the shoulder joint.
- Start with a manageable weight to master the form before progressing to heavier loads.
- Keep your wrist neutral to avoid unnecessary strain and maintain proper force direction through the arm.
Manish is a NASM-certified fitness and nutrition coach with over 10 years of experience in weight lifting and fat loss fitness coaching. He specializes in gym-based training and has a lot of knowledge about exercise, lifting technique, biomechanics, and more.
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