How to do the Leaning Cable Lateral Raise
Step by step
- Set a low pulley, take the handle in the hand farther from the stack, and hold the frame with the other hand.
- Lean your body away from the stack so your working arm hangs across in front of you.
- Raise the handle straight out to the side, leading with your elbow and pinky.
- Lift until your arm reaches about shoulder height, feeling the side of your shoulder work.
- Lower slowly back across your body, then finish your reps and repeat with the other arm.
The thing people get wrong
Leaning away gives the side delt a longer range and constant tension. Keep the lean fixed instead of rocking on every rep.
Coaching cue
Raise the handle straight out to your side, not out in front of you.
Stay safe
Hold a fixed part of the machine frame; leaning on anything that can shift drops you sideways.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Stand upright beside the stack until the leaning version feels stable.
- Harder: Pause for two seconds at the top of each rep.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Side delts
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.