5 Cable Exercises That Trainers Love

A cable machine is your ticket to building big honking biceps, triceps, shoulders, and forearms. This versatile equipment can help you seamlessly tackle a full-body workout, but we're giving upper-body day a little TLC (save your Smith machine hip thrusts for another time) with five muscle building cable machine exercises to roast and toast your arms.

We tapped Ashley Boyer, ACE-CPT and master's candidate in Sports Performance and Conditioning, for her favorite cable machine arm day staples and how to program an arm day routine.

Cable Arm Workout Benefits

We love a home gym cable machine. They're versatile pieces of equipment that can help you tackle strength and hypertrophy work. Here are a few of the reasons why they're great for your arm workout.

Read More: How Do I Choose a Cable Machine

Hassle-Free Setup and Cleanup

Tossing around free weights is a great way to build arms that are the talk of the town, but half the workout can be spent lugging weights to-and-fro, setting up, and cleaning up. Cable machines eliminate that hassle, letting you focus on building strength and size in your triceps, biceps, shoulders, and forearms.

Quick and Efficient Supersets

Adjusting a cable machine is simple, fast, and intuitive, making it perfect for anyone short on time or looking to superset movements seamlessly. You can flow from one exercise to the next without wasting time switching plates or rearranging equipment.

Maximum Muscle Engagement

Many lifts for your arms and shoulders are isolation exercises rather than compound lifts. Cable machines provide constant tension throughout each movement, helping you fully engage your muscles and get the most out of every targeted rep.

Adjustable Angles

Cable machines let you pull from various angles, allowing you to emphasize different muscles in ways free weights can't easily replicate.

Beginner Friendly

"Cable machines are often used for prehab and rehab, and that's because the constant tension and guided path of the cable help to keep users stable and controlled," says Ashley Boyer, ACE-CPT. "Plus, for those uninitiated with lifting barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells, a cable machine can feel less intimidating."

5 Best Cable Machine Arm Exercises: How to, Benefits, and Muscles Worked

Step up to a cable machine or functional trainer and get ready to target your biceps, triceps, shoulders, and forearms.

Cable Bicep Curls

Target Muscle: Biceps brachii

This movement is similar to a freeweight bicep curl, however thanks to the cables there's constant tension on the muscle throughout each rep of a cable bicep curl. "This movement primarily targets your biceps, but your core taps in for stability and control," says Boyer.

How to:

• Attach a bar to the cable machine and lower the pulley to the ground.
• Take an underhand grip on the bar, stand tall with shoulders back, and keep your wrists straight.
• Tuck your elbows tight to your sides as you curl the weight up, pause, then lower with control.

Cable Hammer Curls

Target Muscle: Brachialis, biceps brachii, and brachioradialis

While this move looks similar to a cable bicep curl, the neutral hand grip engages the biceps while also getting the brachialis (muscle beneath the bicep) and brachioradialis (forearm muscle) involved. This move is particularly effective at building biceps and grip strength.

How to:

• Attach a rope to the cable machine and lower the pulley to the ground.
• Grip the rope with palms facing each other and stand tall with shoulder back.
• Keep your elbows tight to your sides as you curl the weight up, pause, then lower with control.

Overhead Cable Extension

Target Muscle: Triceps brachii 

While the cable tricep pushdown is a popular choice to target the triceps, the overhead cable extension works the muscle through a greater range of motion and places more emphasis on the long head of the triceps. The pushdown primarily targets the lateral head — the outer, more visible part of the triceps — but doesn’t fully stretch the muscle due to arm positioning.

In contrast, performing extensions with your arms overhead puts the long head under a deep stretch, engaging all three heads of the triceps (long, lateral, and medial) for a more well-rounded movement.

How to:

• Attach a rope to the cable machine and raise the pulley up high.
• Grip the rope and pivot to face away from the cable machine.
• Take an athletic stance, engage your core, and extend your arms as if throwing a soccer ball over your head and away.
• Keep your elbows close to your head as you extend, pause, and then return to start with control.

Cable Lateral Raise

Target Muscle: Lateral deltoids

The lateral (or middle) deltoid is the largest deltoid muscle and the cable lateral raise targets it with laser precision (with some assistance from the anterior (front) deltoid and the trapezius). "Avoid an ego lift with this one, which can throw off your form and shift the stimulus away from your lateral delts," says Boyer. "Instead, start off with a light weight and lock in perfect form."

How to:

• Attach a D-handle or cuff and adjust the pulley to just below hip height.
• Set a stable stance with a neutral spine and grab an upright with your non-working arm.
• With a slight bend in your elbow, lift your arm to shoulder height, pause, then return with control.

Cable Front Raises

Target Muscle: Anterior deltoids

The cable front raise targets your anterior (or front) deltoids, which are responsible for internal rotation and shoulder flexion. In simpler terms, this muscle helps you to rotate your arm inward and moves your arm forward and upward. "Make a conscious effort to keep your shoulders down and away from your ears throughout your reps to keep the focus on your delts," says Boyer.

How to:

• Attach a bar and adjust the pulley to the ground.
• Face away from the cable machine and take an overhand grip on the bar.
• With straight arms, lift the bar out and away to about shoulder height.
• Pause, then lower with control.

How to Program Cable Arm Workouts

Cable machines are *chefs kiss* for supersets — where you move back and forth between two (or more) moves — thanks to the ease of adjustment for pulley height and resistance. Additionally, since the exercises we've detailed are isolation movements (single-joint work) rather than compound ones (multiple joints work at once), it's best to stick to a higher rep range to reduce stress on your joints.

Hypertrophy Cable Arm Superset

This programming from ACE-CPT Ashley Boyer uses moves we've covered (and more) and limits the amount of times you need to adjust your pulley and swap out handle attachments in each block. For each movement, aim for 10 to 15 reps with minimal rest between back-to-back movements. Rest for 60 to 90 seconds between sets.

Round 1 Agonist/Antagonist Superset: 3 rounds

• Cable Hammer Curls
• Cable Overhead Tricep Extension

Round 2 Superset: 3 rounds

• Cable Front Raise
• Cable Bicep Curls

Round 3 Superset: 3 rounds

• Cable Tricep Pushdown
• Cable Lateral Raise (each side)

Additional Cable Workouts

Arms? Done and dusted. Now check out these other cable machine exercise guides to help you build a well-rounded routine:

• Best Triceps Cable Workouts
• Benefits of Close-Grip Cable Lat Pulldowns
• How to Do a Seated Cable Low Row
• Full Body Cable Workout on The Ares™ Cable Machine
• Cable Triceps Extensions

Takeaway

Leave your dumbbells racked because the cable machine is here to simplify your arm workout with adjustable resistance and constant tension.

We covered biceps, triceps, and shoulders, with some assistance from your forearms for a well rounded routine. Now tap in for some cable arm work to build bigger and stronger accessories for your tank tops.

FAQs

What are the benefits of doing arm workouts on a cable machine?

A cable machine allows you to tackle a variety of lifts, with the ability to adjust the angle of resistance, amount of resistance used, and handle attachments in moments. This translates to a simpler setup and quick adjustments, ideal for accessory arm work and supersets.

How to use the cable machine for arms?

First you'll want to decide which muscles in your arms you'd like to target. Choose a lift that hits those muscles (biceps, triceps, shoulders, or forearms), attach an appropriate handle (D-handle, rope, or bar), and set the pulley to the correct height for that exercise. With proper form, as detailed above, tackle your reps, take a rest, and repeat.

Are cable overhead extensions or pushdowns better for your triceps?

Both moves deserve a spot in your routine, however, they target the triceps in different ways. The overhead extension puts the heat on the long tricep head, with some activation from the lateral and medial heads. The pushdown targets the lateral head with some activation from the medial head, however, due to arm positioning there's limited engagement from the long head. As such, the overhead extension is a more well-rounded tricep exercise while the pushdown can help target the most visible part of the tricep muscle.

What's the best REP® cable machine?

Don't make us choose! The best REP® cable machine depends on your budget, space, and needs. However, the ARES™ 2.0 cable system is a premium option that attaches to your comptabile power rack, giving you rack and cable functionality without taking up additional space. It also provides dedicated lat pulldown and low row capabilities.

Rosie Borchert is a NASM-CPT, former Nike Volleyball coach, and fitness writer whose work has appeared on BarBend and Tonal. If anyone would like to hire her to play beach volleyball, snowboard, binge watch TV, or go climbing, please get in touch.

This article was reviewed by Ashley Boyer, ACE-CPT, for accuracy.