The lateral raise works the shoulders — and in the Zyra Workouts catalog, only the shoulders: both the dumbbell lateral raise and the cable lateral raise are isolation rows with an empty secondary list. That makes it the cleanest shoulder-volume tool in the app: one working set is exactly one shoulder set. This guide covers the two versions, the isolation targets, the 2 kg step, and the one place they behave differently in the log — the cable version is filed as unilateral.
Muscles worked
| Role | Muscle group | Counts per working set |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Shoulders | 1 set |
| Secondary | — | — |
Mechanically the movement is shoulder abduction: the upper arm swings out to the side with the elbow only slightly bent, which is the job of the middle part of the deltoid. Nothing else moves enough for the catalog to credit it. The overhead press shares the primary muscle but adds triceps and core; the lateral raise deliberately does not.
| Dumbbell lateral raise | Cable lateral raise | |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | dumbbell | cable |
| Category | isolation | isolation |
| Default rest | 60 s | 60 s |
| Unilateral in the catalog | no | yes |
| Load logged as | per hand | stack weight, per side |
| Step | 2 kg | 2 kg |
Setup and execution
Dumbbell. Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, a slight bend in the elbows, palms facing the thighs. Raise both arms out to the sides until the hands are about shoulder height, elbows leading, then lower under control. The load is lightest at the bottom and heaviest at the top of the arc — that is just geometry.
Cable. Set the pulley low, stand side-on, hold the handle in the far hand so the cable crosses in front of the body. Raise the arm out to the side to shoulder height and lower under control. Then turn round and do the other arm. Because the cable pulls from below and to the side, the resistance is still on at the bottom, where a dumbbell hangs slack.
In both versions, a small elbow bend held constant through the set keeps the lever the same from rep to rep — a mechanical cue, not a safety instruction.
Rep and RIR targets by goal
Both rows are isolation, so the generator uses the isolation table. Note the hypertrophy row: RIR 1, and a ceiling of 14 (round((10 + 15) / 2) + 1 = 13 + 1).
| Goal | Reps | RIR | Rep ceiling | Sets (beginner / intermediate / advanced) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 6–8 | 2 | 9 | 2 / 3 / 3 |
| Hypertrophy | 10–15 | 1 | 14 | 2 / 3 / 3 |
| General fitness | 8–12 | 2 | 12 | 2 / 3 / 3 |
RIR is reps in reserve — how many more reps were left when the set stopped. @RIR 2 means the set ended two reps short of failure. The rep ceiling is the engine's "expected max": the midpoint of the range plus the RIR target, round((repMin + repMax) / 2) + rir. Beat the ceiling and the load steps up next time. Default rest is 60 s — the shortest tier in the catalog, shared by most single-joint moves.
Why the cable version is logged per side
The catalog marks the cable lateral raise unilateral: true and the dumbbell version unilateral: false. In the logging canvas that maps to the L/R toggle. When it is on, adding a set creates two rows — an L row and an R row — each with its own weight, reps and RIR, so an uneven pair (10 kg × 14 left, 10 kg × 12 right) is recorded as it happened. The volume counter does not look at the side flag: every completed non-warm-up row is a working set, so a left-right pair adds 2 to shoulders. Three "sets" of cable lateral raises done one arm at a time are therefore six rows and six counted sets, against three rows and three counted sets for the dumbbell version done both arms together. Keep that in mind when you compare the two in the weekly sets calculator.
The progression engine pairs recommendations with rows positionally, so the left row and the right row each get their own wand — one side can progress while the other holds.
How progression steps on this exercise
Both versions step 2 kg (dumbbell and cable share the fixed non-barbell step). On the hypertrophy target (10–15 @RIR 1, ceiling 14):
| Last row | Next session |
|---|---|
10 kg × 17 | 12 kg × 10 — progress, reps back to the floor |
10 kg × 14 | hold 10 kg × 14 — the ceiling was reached, not beaten |
10 kg × 8 | 8 kg × 10 — back-off |
Two kilograms on a 10 kg dumbbell is a 20% jump, which is why lateral-raise progress shows up as reps for a long time before the weight moves. That is arithmetic, not a training claim. The 1RM page exists for completeness, but a single-rep max is not what anyone trains this movement for.
Alternatives
Ranked for the dumbbell lateral raise (same primary muscle, +4 loadable, +2 same category, +1 same equipment, then name):
| Rank | Alternative | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rear delt fly | isolation, dumbbell — 7 |
| 2 | Face pull | isolation, cable — 6 |
| 3 | Cable lateral raise | isolation, cable — 6 |
| 4 | Arnold press | compound, dumbbell — 5 |
For the cable version the order is face pull, dumbbell lateral raise, rear delt fly, Arnold press. Swapping to the rear delt fly or the face pull keeps the shoulder set but adds a 0.5 credit to back, because those rows list back as a secondary.
The short version
Shoulders only — one set, one shoulder set. Isolation targets (10–15 @RIR 1 for hypertrophy, ceiling 14), 60 s rest, 2 kg steps that fire rarely because they are large relative to the load. The cable version is unilateral: L and R rows, each counted as a set. Zyra Workouts is a training log, and this page is a guide to one movement in its catalog. Educational overview only — not medical advice.