💪 Cable Lateral Raise Form Guide
Sculpt wider shoulders with precision.
SportsReflector AI analyzes your cable lateral raise form by tracking key joint angles and body landmarks. We monitor shoulder abduction angle, elbow flexion, and torso stability to ensure optimal muscle activation and minimize injury risk. Metrics include range of motion, tempo consistency, and peak contraction.
Primary Muscles
Lateral Deltoid
Equipment
Cable Machine, D-handle attachment
AI Score Categories
5 metrics tracked
What AI Analyzes in Your Cable Lateral Raise
SportsReflector tracks 5 key metrics to generate your 0–100 form score.
AI Form Score
Every Cable Lateral Raise session gets an overall form score plus category-level scoring for each metric above.
4 Cable Lateral Raise Mistakes AI Catches
These are the most common Cable Lateral Raise form errors — and the ones most likely to cause injury or limit your progress.
Leaning away from the cable machine excessively shifts the tension from the lateral deltoid to the upper trapezius and lower back. This reduces the isolation of the target muscle and can lead to lower back strain due to compensatory movement.
Fix: Maintain a relatively upright torso, allowing only a slight lean (5-10 degrees) if necessary for balance. Focus on initiating the movement purely from the shoulder.
Swinging the weight up using momentum from the hips or torso reduces the time under tension for the lateral deltoid and diminishes the effectiveness of the exercise. It also increases the risk of shoulder impingement due to uncontrolled movement.
Fix: Select a weight that allows for a controlled, deliberate lift and lower. The movement should be slow and controlled, taking 1-2 seconds to lift and 2-3 seconds to lower the weight.
If the elbows drop significantly below the hands during the raise, it indicates that the biceps and forearms are taking over, or the weight is too heavy. This reduces the leverage on the lateral deltoid and compromises its activation.
Fix: Keep your elbows slightly bent (10-20 degrees) and maintain this angle throughout the movement. Focus on leading with the elbows, ensuring they are always at or slightly above the level of your hands at the peak of the contraction.
Raising the arm significantly above shoulder level (beyond approximately 90 degrees of abduction) can cause impingement in the shoulder joint, particularly involving the rotator cuff tendons. This also shifts activation away from the lateral deltoid to the upper trapezius.
Fix: Stop the upward movement when your arm is roughly parallel to the floor, or slightly below, ensuring your elbow is no higher than your shoulder. This maximizes lateral deltoid activation while protecting the shoulder joint.
Muscles Worked
Get Your Cable Lateral Raise Form Score
Record your Cable Lateral Raise on your iPhone and get an instant 0–100 AI form score with specific corrections for every mistake above.
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