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Exercise library · Shoulders

Cable front raise

Front raise for the shoulders on a cable.

How to do it

1 of 3

Back to the cable, handle by your thigh

  1. Starting position

    Stand with your back to a low cable, hold the handle by your thigh with a straight wrist and a slightly bent elbow.

  2. The movement

    Raise your arm straight forward to shoulder height, pause briefly and lower the handle slowly to your thigh.

Most common mistake

Don't lean back, brace your core and keep your body still as you raise your arm.

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Muscle group
Shoulders
Equipment
Cable
Where
Gym
Logged as
Weight × reps

Muscles worked

Your front delts do the work in the cable front raise, backed up by your upper chest. The cable comes from behind and below, so it pulls even when your arm hangs by your thigh. Your shoulder therefore works at the bottom too, where a dumbbell offers almost no resistance. With one arm at a time, your trunk and obliques must resist as the cable tries to pull you back and twist you. It also shows if one arm is stronger.

Common mistakes

  • Slack cable at the bottom. Stand too close to the machine and the weight rests when your arm hangs, so the start of the lift comes for free. Take a step forwards so the weights lift off the stack already in the starting position.
  • Twisting towards the working arm. Your trunk then helps out and your shoulder gets less to do. Keep your hips and shoulders facing straight ahead, and go lighter if you cannot stay still.
  • Letting your hand cross towards the middle. Many people take the arm across the body on the way up, which gives the chest more to do. Lift straight forwards, with your hand in line with your shoulder.

Variations and alternatives

  • The dumbbell front raise trains both arms at once and needs no cable station.
  • The cable lateral raise uses the same station but trains the side of your shoulder, handy to do straight afterwards.
  • The face pull on the same station trains the back of your shoulders, which often get less work than the front.

Sets and reps

Do two or three sets of 10 to 15 reps for each arm. Start with your weaker arm and let it set the number, so both sides do the same amount. Choose a weight you can steer both up and down, not one you have to jerk into motion. The guide to sets and reps covers how the numbers fit together.

The steps on the weight stack can be large for a single arm. Let the reps climb first and the weight follow, in line with progressive overload. If the next step is too big, add a set at the same weight for a couple of weeks first.

Swap for

Taken, or missing the equipment? The same movement with something else.

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