The one-arm cable front raise is a shoulder exercise that uses a cable machine to lift your hand in front of your body. It’s a unilateral exercise, so you only work one shoulder at a time.
It is one of the most effective front raise variations for training your front deltoid muscles. Since you’re only working one arm at a time, your core has to work harder to maintain stability.
Doing a front raise with a cable machine gives your muscles almost uninterrupted time under tension and a massive pump.
You can also change your body position, weight, and attachments to change your grip and target your muscles from different angles.
Know More: Best cable shoulder Workout for 3D Shoulders
One Arm Cable Front Raise Muscles Worked
The one-arm cable front raise primarily targets the anterior deltoid, but it also engages other muscles in your upper body, including:
- Primary muscle worked: Anterior deltoid.
- Secondary and stabilization muscles worked: Upper pectoralis, trapezius, Lateral Deltoid, Serratus Anterior
How To Do Single Arm Cable Front Raise
- Attach a single grip handle to a low pulley cable machine.
- Stand facing away from the machine and grip the handle with your right hand using an overhand grip (palm facing down).
- For balance, stagger your feet. The foot in front should be the one that is opposite to your working arm.
- Keep your elbow slightly flexed and raise the stirrup (handle) forward and upward in a semicircular motion until your arm is above the horizontal.
- Hold for a count of two. Inhale as you slowly reverse the motion and lower the stirrup to the starting position.
- Do 8–10 reps of this side and then repeat with your opposite arm.
Form and Tips
- This is an isolation exercise, so the focus should be on form and muscle contraction, not weight.
- Do not allow the handle to touch your body, and do not allow your body to move (or swing) throughout the movement.
- Keep your back straight and your head up. Keep your body still. Only your arm should move.
- The front raise is a good exercise to superset with a shoulder pressing exercise.
- Keep a controlled motion and avoid jerky movements
- Remember to exhale while you exert.
- It is usually performed for moderate to high reps, at least 8–12 reps per set, and do 3-4 sets as part of an upper-body or shoulder-focused workout.
- Superset the one-arm cable front raise with other upper body exercises, such as push-ups or bench press.
Know More: 10 Best Single Arm Shoulder Exercises to build Deltoids
The Best Alternatives Of One-Arm Cable Front Raise
- Dumbbell Front Raise
- Barbell Front Raise
- Resistance Band Front Raise
- Arnold Press
- Cable Shoulder Press
- Cable Upright Row
- Dumbbell Shoulder Press
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.
Through “Fit Life Regime,” he generously shares the insights he’s gained over a decade in the field. His goal is to equip others with the knowledge to start their own fitness journey.