Nobody wants to do the same exercises over and over that leads to plateauing out. The cable machine is a highly versatile kind of equipment. There are plenty of ways that you can use cables to make your upper body muscles stronger, especially your shoulders.

Not sure how to use cables instead of dumbbells or a barbell to build your shoulders? Try these five effective cable shoulder exercises to grow bigger, stronger, and wider shoulders!

How Do You Train Shoulders With Cable?

There are many different movements that you can train your shoulders with a cable that we widely opened up later in this text. Here we’ll see cable machine shoulder exercises best rep and set range. The cable machine actually is one of the best options for hypertrophy rather than strength and power. (As you may know, hypertrophy is the enlargement of your muscle tissue from the increase in the size of its cells). Therefore, you won’t be trying hard to lift as heavy as possible. Rather you hone in on specific movements with different ranges from mid to high rep.

One of the best ways to train your shoulders with cable is to follow a good rep and set range. if you require a refresher regarding rep ranges alongside your desired results, you can follow these guidelines:

• 0-5 Reps – Power/Strength
• 6-8 Reps – Strength/Hypertrophy
• 8-15 Reps – Hypertrophy
• 15+ Reps – Hypertrophy

You should try to have a great mix of these rep ranges in your exercise program. The key factor is no matter what rep range you go with you just have to always be working with a weight that is difficult to finish off the last 1-2 reps in the set. In the case of using the cable machine, you can easily work to failure without fear of dropping the weights or not being able to control it if you can’t complete the rep properly.

Which Exercise Is Best With A Shoulder Workout?

One of the most frequently asked questions is what should I work out on shoulder day? Or what exercise is best with a shoulder workout? To answer these two important questions it’s good to understand our shoulder structure and muscles. Our shoulder is made up of three heads – the front delt (anterior), side delt (medial), and rear delt (posterior). The best shoulder workout is the one that will work all three of them, along with the trapezius muscle in your upper back, for a very satisfying shoulder session.

So, now you may ask how should I choose a workout that works all those muscles together? If that sounds like a lot of programming, we have some good news for you! – Here are some best shoulder workouts that check all the boxes! You’ll only need a barbell, dumbbells, and a weights bench for these exercises. If you can’t go to a gym and don’t have the weights or dumbbells at home then some shoulder workouts on the list can be done without equipment. However, using cheap bits of home kit like resistance bands can be handy.

Following is a list of the best shoulder exercises you can do — for more strength, more muscle size, and more stability.

• Barbell Overhead Press
• Half-Kneeling Landmine Press
• Arnold Press
• Push Press
• Bottoms-Up Kettlebell Press
• Wide-Grip Seated Row
• Leaning Lateral Raise
•  Incline Y Raise
• Stability Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise
• Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
• Barbell Overhead Carry
• Dumbbell Lateral Raise Pause Set
• Single-Arm Push Press
• Resistance Band Front Raise/Lateral Raise Combo

How Do You Use A Shoulder Cable?

If you are not sure how to make your deltoids stronger using cables instead of free-weights? Here are 11 of the best shoulder workout with cables! You can use these most essential cable shoulder exercises alongside barbell and dumbbell overhead presses or as an alternative.

1. Cable Overhead Press

Unlike most overhead press exercises, this movement works your anterior and posterior deltoids at the same time. That’s because you should use your rear delts to stop your arms from falling forward while you use your anterior deltoids to push the weight up. The cable overhead press is a very joint-friendly overhead pressing type of movement. Just remember to brace your core when you pull your shoulders down and back. Here you can see how to do a Cable Overhead Press.

2. Cable Face Pull

Cable face pulls target the posterior deltoids, middle trapezius, and rhomboids. As such, this is an excellent posture workout. Don’t forget to ensure the tension stays on the purpose muscles by keeping your arms up and level with your shoulders and your torso upright. If you lean forward or drop your arms while doing this exercise, the tension will move from your posterior deltoids, mid-traps, and rhomboids onto your lats.

Here are three instructions to help you keep the tension on the exact part you want.

• Use a two-sided rope with a cable pulley at about chest level.
• Lower your elbows slightly while keeping your hands at head level.
•  Pull the rope toward your face and contract your rear deltoids as pulling both sides apart.

3. Single-Arm Lateral Raises

Lateral raises are a popular movement when it comes to growing and strengthening the shoulder muscles. So, they are the best options to be added to your routine. Most people use dumbbells when performing lateral raises, however, you can do them with a cable machine as well for a different stimulus. Especially if the dumbbell rack at the gym is busy. Make sure to perform this movement correctly by exercising on both sides. To understand how to perform a single-arm lateral raise you can watch this youtube video.

4. Bent-Over Rear Delt Flyes

Bent-over rear delt flyes cause your shoulder muscles to look good from all angles. So, make sure you’re also adding rear delt flyes to your program. This fantastic movement targets the rear delt, which is the back part of your shoulder muscle.

To do this exercise correctly, you’ll need to stand in the center of the cable machine and grasp a cable in each hand. Before you start, adjust the cables so they’re at the correct point on the machine. It’s very important to keep the elbows locked and bent slightly while doing this movement.

5. Cable Upright Row

Cable upright rows target the front section of your shoulder and are a very handy exercise to add to your upper body days. You can use either a straight bar attachment or a rope attachment while doing this movement. Whichever attachment you use, just try to adjust the cable so it’s at its correct point. Then, grasp the bar or rope with both hands and take a step back to put some tension on the cable. In this exercise, you’ll need to stop when the elbows are level with your shoulders.

Can You Build Muscle With Cable?

Cable shoulder workouts allow you to hit your deltoids from multiple angles, avoiding plateaus and sculpting 3-D delts in the process. If you badly want to make boulder shoulders, cable exercises are a must.

Generally, if you want to build massive muscles and powerful shoulders, you should include some kind of overhead press in your workouts. Overhead presses are proven shoulder mass builders, and there are many variations to choose from, including:

• Military press
• Z press
•  Arnold press
• Dumbbell overhead press
• Bradford press
• Push-press
• Viking press and …

Although each of these moves is a viable alternative to standard overhead presses, most just involve a slight difference in technique and they’re all still overhead presses. If you keep on doing the same training over and over, eventually, your progress will begin to stall and could plateau entirely. One of the best ways to maintain your progress and keep building bigger, stronger muscles is to use other workout tools. Cable machine exercises can be your best shot in this case. 

Final Thoughts

Although all types of overhead press will help you build bigger, stronger shoulders, cable shoulder workouts are the best options. They help you build quality mass and deltoids that look great from the front, side, and back. If you need more variety on your shoulder workouts, dumbbell lateral, front, and bent-over raises are also excellent options.

However, if you want to maximize your deltoid development badly, cables are the way to go. Using cables, you can easily keep all the tension on the exact muscles you want to work. In addition, most cable workouts are all but cheat-proof, so your training will be more effective.

Lastly, building the best shoulders is possible, if you get serious about cable training. Cable machines are the ultimate tool for sculping your best-ever deltoids.