Back to We Have to Talk About Lateral Raises
Strong Support
quantitative
Analysis v3
History

When trained individuals perform cable lateral raises and dumbbell lateral raises with the same number of sets, reps, weight, and effort to muscle failure, both exercises result in the same amount of...

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Pro
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Against

Mechanism

Synthesis from 1 study

How it works

The side shoulder muscle grows the same whether you use a dumbbell or a cable, as long as you stretch it fully and push it until it can't move anymore. The stretch under load activates internal sensors that tell the muscle to build more protein, making it thicker.

Most probable mechanism

In Simple Terms

When the side shoulder muscle is stretched while under load, the internal spring-like protein titin senses the stretch and triggers signals that tell the muscle to build more protein, leading to growth. This happens whether the weight is a dumbbell or a cable, as long as the muscle is stretched fully and pushed to failure.

Causal chain
1

The lateral deltoid muscle is taken through a full range of motion to a lengthened position where the humerus is parallel to the torso, placing the muscle on the descending limb of the length-tension relationship.

Supported by evidence
which leads to
2

Mechanical tension applied at this lengthened position activates titin-based mechanosensors within the muscle fibers, initiating intracellular signaling cascades involving mTOR and MAPK pathways.

Indirect evidence only
which leads to
3

These signaling pathways increase the rate of muscle protein synthesis and suppress protein breakdown, resulting in net accretion of myofibrillar proteins.

Supported by evidence
which leads to
4

The accumulation of myofibrillar proteins increases the cross-sectional area of muscle fibers, leading to measurable thickening of the lateral deltoid.

Verified by multiple studies

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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Community contributions welcome

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Dumbbell versus cable lateral raises for lateral deltoid hypertrophy: an experimental study

Randomized Controlled Trial
Human
2025

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

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Similar Assertions

In people who regularly train, using cables or dumbbells for side shoulder raises produces the same amount of muscle growth in the side deltoid when the number of sets, effort level, and movement range are kept identical.

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89%

In people trained in resistance exercise, performing lateral raises with dumbbells or cables twice a week for 8 weeks results in a 3.3% to 4.6% increase in the thickness of the side shoulder muscle.

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78%

Among people who regularly lift weights, 8 weeks of lateral deltoid training with dumbbells or cables results in the same increase in muscle thickness, showing that the type of resistance (heavier at the top or bottom of the movement) does not change muscle growth when the movement range is kept the same.

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78%

In people who already train with weights, doing lateral raises with dumbbells or cables for 8 weeks results in a 3.3% to 4.6% increase in the size of the side shoulder muscle.

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77%

In people who regularly lift weights, training the side shoulder muscle with dumbbells or cables for 8 weeks results in the same small to moderate increase in muscle thickness, regardless of whether the equipment provides more resistance at the top or bottom of the movement.

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77%

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