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Exercises

Cable lateral raise alternatives: side delts when the cables are taken

Published October 23, 2026

The best cable lateral raise alternative is the machine lateral raise, because it keeps load on your side delts from the very bottom of the rep, the way the cable does. With dumbbells, lean away from a post or lie sideways on an incline bench: both make the bottom of the raise hard, which a standing dumbbell raise can't. At home, a band lateral raise is the closest copy, and it gets harder as your arms rise.

What a cable lateral raise alternative has to replace

The exercise being replaced

Cable Lateral Raise

Shoulders

Both handles on low pulleys, cables crossed in front of you. The cable keeps pulling across your body, so your side delts are loaded from the bottom to the top of every rep.

How to do it

  1. Set both pulleys at the bottom of a cable crossover and stand in the middle, feet about shoulder width.
  2. Grab each handle with the opposite hand, so the cables cross in front of your thighs.
  3. Stand tall with a slight bend in your elbows and your shoulders pulled down.
  4. Sweep both arms out to the sides until your upper arms are level with the floor.
  5. Take two seconds to bring the handles back across your thighs, stopping before the stack touches down.

Cues

  • Elbows lead the hands
  • Stop at shoulder height
  • Keep tension at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back and shrugging to finish reps: drop one plate and keep your torso still.
  • Letting the stack rest between reps: stop the handles just before the weights touch so the cable never goes slack.
  • Lifting past shoulder height: your traps take over up there, so end each rep with your arms level.

Swap for: Machine Lateral Raise, Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raise, Band Lateral Raise

The cable lateral raise trains your side delts, the part of the shoulder that makes it look wider, with your traps helping near the top. What sets it apart from a dumbbell raise is where it is hard: the cable pulls across your body, so there is real load even with your arms down by your thighs, where a dumbbell weighs almost nothing.

So the best replacements keep tension at the bottom of the rep. A machine does it, and so does changing your body angle with a dumbbell.

Other cable and machine options

When the crossover is busy, one free pulley or the lateral raise machine gives you the same load at the bottom of the rep.

Same cable, one side at a time

Leaning Cable Lateral Raise

Shoulders

If one pulley is free but not both, do one arm while holding the frame and leaning away. The lean adds stretch at the bottom, so most people need less weight than on the two-arm version.

How to do it

  1. Set a single handle at the bottom pulley and hold the machine's upright with your near hand.
  2. Lean your body away until your support arm is straight.
  3. With the far hand, raise the handle sideways until your arm is level with your shoulder.
  4. Return slowly across your body, finish your reps, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Lean out
  • Stretch at the bottom
  • Hold the frame lightly

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back instead of to the side: you should be tilted sideways, facing straight ahead.
  • Using the support arm to swing: it only holds the lean.
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Same cables, different angle

Cable Y Raise

Shoulders, Upper Back

Arms travel up and out into a Y instead of straight to the sides, which brings in your lower traps. Use it to rotate in some variety when you still have the crossover.

How to do it

  1. Set both pulleys at the bottom and cross the cables so each hand holds the opposite handle.
  2. Step back to center with your arms crossed low ahead of your hips.
  3. Raise both arms up and out into a Y, thumbs pointing up.
  4. Bring the arms back down and across in front of your hips.

Cues

  • Thumbs up
  • Up and out
  • Light weight

Common mistakes

  • Raising straight forward: your arms should travel up and out into a Y, wider than your head.
  • Arching your lower back at the top: brace and stop when your arms are overhead.
Build a session with Cable Y Raise

Closest machine swap

Machine Lateral Raise

Shoulders

The pads sit on your upper arms and the machine loads you from the bottom, just like the cable. It also takes your grip and balance out, so you can go close to failure.

How to do it

  1. Set the seat so the machine's pivot lines up with your shoulder joints.
  2. Sit tall with your back on the pad, the arm pads resting just above your elbows, and hold the handles lightly.
  3. Raise your elbows out to the sides until your upper arms are level with the floor.
  4. Pause for a beat at the top.
  5. Lower slowly until the pads nearly touch your sides, then raise again.

Cues

  • Lead with your elbows
  • Shoulders down, away from your ears
  • Slow on the way down

Common mistakes

  • Shrugging the weight up when the set gets hard: drop the pin one plate and stop each rep with your arms level.
  • Swinging the pads up and letting them fall: take two seconds on the way down.
  • Seat set too low or high: line the pivot up with your shoulder, or the pads slide along your arms.
Build a session with Machine Lateral Raise

Dumbbells

A plain dumbbell raise is easy at the bottom. Leaning away or lying on a bench fixes that, so start with those two.

Best dumbbell swap

Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Shoulders

Holding a post and leaning away tilts the dumbbell's line of pull so the bottom of the raise is no longer free. It is the closest a dumbbell gets to the cable's feel.

How to do it

  1. Hold a sturdy post or rack with your left hand, take the dumbbell in your right, and lean away from the support.
  2. Let the dumbbell hang in front of your hip with a slight bend in the elbow.
  3. Raise your right arm out to the side until it reaches shoulder level.
  4. Lower slowly, finish the set, and switch sides.

Cues

  • Lean away from the support
  • Raise to shoulder level
  • Control the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with your free hand to swing the body: the lean stays still through the set.
  • Raising too high above shoulder height: stop at shoulder level.
Build a session with Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Dumbbell swap for the stretch

Incline Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Shoulders

Lying on your side on an incline bench puts the hardest part of the raise near the bottom, where your side delt is stretched. One arm at a time, very light.

How to do it

  1. Set the bench to about 45 degrees and lean sideways into it, with your bottom arm along the pad for support.
  2. Hold a dumbbell in your top hand, arm hanging down in front of your hips, palm facing you.
  3. Raise it out in an arc until your arm is roughly parallel to the floor.
  4. Pause briefly, then lower slowly back across your body.
  5. Finish all reps, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Reach out, not up
  • Elbow slightly bent and fixed
  • Slow on the way down

Common mistakes

  • Rotating your thumb up and turning it into a front raise: keep your palm facing the floor at the top.
  • Rushing the bottom of the rep: that is where this version earns its place.
Build a session with Incline Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Standard dumbbell swap

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Shoulders

The most common replacement and fine on its own, but the bottom third is easy. Slow the lowering and don't rest at your sides between reps.

How to do it

  1. Pick light dumbbells you can raise for 12 clean reps, and stand with your feet hip width apart, the weights hanging by your thighs.
  2. Lean your chest forward a few degrees, pull your shoulders down away from your ears and soften your elbows.
  3. Sweep the weights out and slightly forward, leading with your elbows, until your upper arms are level with your shoulders.
  4. Hold that top position for a beat, then take two to three seconds to lower until the dumbbells are a hand's width from your thighs.
  5. Start the next rep from there without resting at the bottom or bouncing out of it.

Cues

  • Elbows lead, hands follow
  • Shoulders down, neck long
  • Push the weights out, not up

Common mistakes

  • Shrugging the weight up: if your shoulders rise toward your ears, drop to lighter dumbbells and stop each rep where your upper arm is level.
  • Swinging the torso to start each rep: brace, stand still and keep the first inch of the lift as slow as the rest.
  • Bending the elbows more and more as the set goes on: set the bend on rep one and keep it, or the lever shortens and the set gets easier without you noticing.
Build a session with Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Strict dumbbell swap

Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Shoulders

Sitting takes your legs and hips out, so you can't swing the dumbbells up. Pick it when your standing raises keep turning into a body heave.

How to do it

  1. Sit upright with a dumbbell hanging at each side.
  2. Bend your elbows just a little.
  3. Raise both dumbbells sideways until your arms are level with your shoulders.
  4. Lower slowly, stopping just before the dumbbells touch the bench.

Cues

  • Sit tall
  • Wide arc
  • No rest at the bottom

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to finish the rep: stay upright; the set ends when you cannot.
  • Raising the hands higher than the elbows: keep the elbows the highest point.
Build a session with Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Landmine

A bar in a corner works as a single cable: it pulls along an arc, so the raise stays loaded.

Landmine swap

Landmine Lateral Raise

Shoulders

The bar moves on an arc around its anchor, so the load stays on your side delt through the raise. One arm at a time, standing side-on.

How to do it

  1. Stand side-on to the landmine and grip the end of the bar with your far hand, arm across your body.
  2. Set your feet about hip width and brace so your torso stays square.
  3. Keep your elbow softly bent and raise the bar up and out to the side.
  4. Stop around shoulder height.
  5. Lower it slowly back across your body, finish your reps, then switch sides.

Cues

  • Arm long
  • Out, not up
  • Slow on the way down

Common mistakes

  • Rotating your torso to swing the bar up: stand square and take a plate off.
  • Choosing a load that only moves with momentum: pick one you can lower over two seconds.
Build a session with Landmine Lateral Raise

Bands

A band is the cable you can take home: stand on it and it pulls down and in like a low pulley.

Best swap at home

Band Lateral Raise

Shoulders

Stand on a band and raise your arms out: the closest home copy of the cable, and it gets harder as your arms rise. Widen your stance for more tension.

How to do it

  1. Stand on the middle of the band with both feet and hold an end in each hand by your thighs, palms facing your legs.
  2. Raise both arms out to the sides, leading with your elbows, until your hands reach shoulder height.
  3. Pause for a beat at the top.
  4. Lower over two seconds and keep a little tension at the bottom.

Cues

  • Lead with the elbows
  • Pinkies level with thumbs
  • Slow on the way down

Common mistakes

  • Shrugging the band up with your traps: keep your shoulders down and stop at shoulder height.
  • Letting the band go slack at the bottom: widen your stance so there is tension on every rep.
Build a session with Band Lateral Raise

To pair with them

The sessions below add a press and rear delt work, so your whole shoulder gets trained, not just the side.

A press to pair with the raises

Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Shoulders

Raises alone don't load your shoulders heavily. The dumbbell sessions start with a press, then do the raises.

How to do it

  1. Set a bench upright or one notch back from vertical, sit with your feet flat, and rest a dumbbell on each thigh.
  2. Kick one knee up at a time to bring the dumbbells to shoulder height, then set your back against the pad.
  3. Turn your elbows slightly forward so they sit a little in front of your torso, palms facing forward or angled in.
  4. Drive both weights overhead on a slight inward arc until your elbows are straight, keeping your ribs down and your back on the pad.
  5. Lower slowly until the dumbbells are around ear height or a bit below, then press again.

Cues

  • Ribs down, back on the pad
  • Elbows a little forward
  • Press up and slightly in

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back off the pad to finish reps: that turns it into an incline press, so lighten the weight and keep your ribs stacked over your hips.
  • Flaring the elbows straight out at shoulder height: bring them a little forward so the shoulder joint stays comfortable at the bottom.
  • Stopping each rep well above your ears: lower to around ear height so the delts work through a full range.
Build a session with Dumbbell Shoulder Press

A band press to pair with the raises

Band Overhead Press

Shoulders

Raises alone don't load your shoulders heavily. In the band session it comes first, one arm at a time, before the lateral raises.

How to do it

  1. Stand on one end of a handled band with your right foot and hold the handle at your right shoulder.
  2. Brace your stomach and squeeze your glutes.
  3. Press the handle straight up until your arm is nearly straight.
  4. Lower it slowly to your shoulder. Do all reps, then switch.

Cues

  • Ribs down
  • Press straight up
  • Shoulder finishes by your ear

Common mistakes

  • Leaning away from the working arm: brace harder or use a lighter band.
  • Pressing out in front: end with your arm over your shoulder, not your toes.
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Rear delts, to pair

Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly

Shoulders

Raises train the side of your shoulder; this trains the back, where the cable rear delt fly would normally go.

How to do it

  1. Sit on the end of a bench, feet together and planted, with a light dumbbell in each hand.
  2. Fold forward from the hips until your chest nearly touches your knees, and let the weights hang below your legs, palms turned in.
  3. Bend your elbows a little and lock that angle in for the whole set.
  4. Open your arms out and up in a wide arc, elbows leading, and stop when your upper arms line up with your back.
  5. Pause for a beat at the top, then take two to three seconds to bring them back down until your arms hang straight again.

Cues

  • Arms wide, like spreading wings
  • Reach for the walls, not the ceiling
  • Chest stays on your knees

Common mistakes

  • Sitting up as the weights rise: if your chest leaves your knees to finish the rep, drop to lighter dumbbells and stop where your upper arms reach your back.
  • Turning the fly into a row: if your elbows bend more and drift toward your ribs, your lats take over; keep the same small elbow bend from the first rep to the last.
  • Shrugging your shoulders toward your ears at the top: keep your neck long and think about reaching your hands toward the walls rather than the ceiling.
Build a session with Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly

Rear delts with a band, to pair

Band Pull-Apart

Shoulders, Upper Back

The rear delt exercise for the band-only session.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall and hold a light band with both hands about shoulder-width apart, palms down, arms reaching forward level with your shoulders.
  2. Unlock your elbows slightly, set your shoulders down away from your ears and brace your stomach so your ribs stay in.
  3. Pull your hands out to the sides in a wide arc until the band touches your chest and your arms make a T.
  4. Pinch your shoulder blades toward each other for a moment at the end.
  5. Return your hands to the front slowly, keeping some tension in the band, and start the next rep.

Cues

  • Arms long, hands wide
  • Shoulders down, then apart
  • Slow on the way back

Common mistakes

  • Bending your elbows to finish: keep the same small bend from start to end; if you have to bend more, use a lighter band or a wider grip.
  • Shrugging: think of pulling your shoulder blades down toward your back pockets before you pull apart.
  • Arching your back and pushing your ribs out: brace and keep your ribs stacked over your hips so the pull comes from your shoulders.
Build a session with Band Pull-Apart

Example sessions without the cable lateral raise

Session 1

Gym, cable station always taken

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentLateral Raise Machine, Dumbbells, Incline Bench, Landmine

You train in a busy gym where the crossover is never free, but there is a lateral raise machine and benches.

The machine raise takes the cable's place first, with load from the bottom. Incline and landmine raises add one-arm work that is also hard at the bottom, and rear delt flyes cover the back of your shoulder. 12 working sets.

Side and rear delts
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Machine Lateral Raise1 warm-up set first 4 × 12–15 1 1 min
Incline Dumbbell Lateral RaiseSets are per arm. 3 × 12–15 1 1 min
Landmine Lateral RaiseSets are per arm. 2 × 10–15 2 1 min
Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly 3 × 15–20 1 1 min
How to run it
Once or twice a week, after your pressing or on its own day. Keep every rep slow on the way down.
How to progress
Raises move up in small jumps. Add reps until every set reaches the top of its range, then add the smallest weight you can and start at the bottom of the range again.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Home, dumbbells only

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells

You train at home with a pair of adjustable dumbbells and a bench, but no cables.

A dumbbell press loads your shoulders heavily first. Standing lateral raises and a high-rep seated finisher make up for the easy bottom of a dumbbell raise with more reps and no rest at your sides, and rear delt flyes finish. 12 working sets.

Shoulders
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Dumbbell Shoulder Press1 warm-up set first 3 × 8–12 2 90 s
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 4 × 12–20 1 45 s
Seated Dumbbell Lateral RaiseNo rest at the bottom. 2 × 20–30 0 45 s
Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly 3 × 15–20 1 45 s
How to run it
Twice a week. Light dumbbells only work near failure, so end raise sets within a rep of it.
How to progress
Add reps first. When every set of a raise reaches the top of its range, move up the smallest step your dumbbells allow.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Home or travel, bands only

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets33 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands

You have a set of resistance bands and nothing else.

A one-arm band press loads the front of your shoulders first. Band lateral raises then replace the cable raise with the most sets, and band pull-aparts train the back of your shoulder. 11 working sets.

Shoulders
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Band Overhead PressSets are per arm. 3 × 12–20 1 1 min
Band Lateral Raise 5 × 15–25 1 45 s
Band Pull-Apart 3 × 15–25 1 45 s
How to run it
Two or three times a week. Bands are light, so keep rests short and sets close to failure.
How to progress
Add reps until the top of the range, then widen your stance on the band or move to a thicker one.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What can replace cable lateral raises?

The machine lateral raise is closest, since it also loads the bottom of the rep. With dumbbells, use a leaning or incline lateral raise; at home, a band lateral raise.

What muscles do cable lateral raises work?

Mainly your side delts, with your upper traps and front delts helping. Stopping at shoulder height keeps most of the work on the side delts.

Do you have to lean forward for lateral raises?

No, but a slight forward lean of a few degrees and raising your arms a little in front of your body lets most people lift without a pinch. Leaning sideways away from a post is what makes a dumbbell raise feel like a cable.

What is the best rep range for lateral raises?

Most people do best with 12 to 20 reps, taken to 1 or 2 reps short of failure. Heavier raises usually turn into swinging.

How much weight should I use for lateral raises?

Pick the weight you can raise to shoulder height for 12 to 20 reps without swinging or shrugging, and that lets you pause at the top. For most people that is far less than they expect.

Are dumbbell lateral raises as good as cable lateral raises?

They train the same muscle well, but the bottom third of a dumbbell raise is very light. Lean away from a post or slow the lowering to make up for it.