Cable Front Raise
The cable front raise is a front shoulder isolation exercise where you lift a handle, bar or rope from a low pulley straight up in front of you. It trains the front delts with steady tension from the first centimetre. Most lifters get plenty of front delt work from pressing, so use it as a targeted extra, not a staple.
Muscles worked
The cable front raise trains the shoulders.
Primary
Weekly sets for shoulders
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for shoulders, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the cable front raise
- 01Set the pulley at the lowest position and attach a straight bar, rope or single D-handle.
- 02Face away from the stack, with the cable running between your legs, and grab the attachment.
- 03Stand tall with arms straight down in front of your thighs and a light brace through your trunk.
- 04Raise your arms forward with a soft elbow bend until your hands reach shoulder height.
- 05Lower the attachment slowly back to your thighs while keeping your torso still.
Coaching cues
- Lift to eye level, no higher
- Arms long, elbows soft
- Ribs down, no back arch
Common mistakes
- Swinging the weight up with a hip thrust removes the delts from the lift, so stand still and lighten the stack.
- Arching your lower back as the hands rise means the load is too heavy, so brace your abs and reduce weight.
- Raising the handle far above your head adds trap work, not delt work, so stop at shoulder height.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers isolation work toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Cable Front Raise alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your cable front raise free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.