If stubborn shoulder growth is holding you back, Jay Cutler has an exercise to break through that plateau. On March 25, 2026, he broke down how to effectively grow the shoulders with his seated lateral front raise variation.
During his prime, Cutler boasted cannonball delts, which helped him reach the top of the sport. In 2006, he dethroned Ronnie Coleman at the Mr. Olympia. Cutler’s bodybuilding contributions stand tall to this day. He secured the Mr. Olympia crown four times and won the Arnold Classic for three consecutive years.
Beyond that, Cutler is one of two men to win back the Sandow trophy after losing it onstage. He shares that honor with the reigning Mr. Olympia Derek Lunsford. He’s long stepped away from competing, but Cutler hasn’t turned his back on the exercises that helped him forge such a legendary physique.
Jay Cutler Shows How to Grow Shoulders With Lateral Front Raise Variation
In the video, Cutler opened up on his side lateral front raise variation that helps grow stubborn shoulders:
“There’s a lot of different variations that you can do for the side lateral. I think the best exercise for the shoulders is the side lateral. Now, I prefer to do these seated only because I feel like I can get better body position and obviously, no swinging, but more importantly, I do almost like a front raise and a side lateral at the same time.”
Instead of focusing on strict form and isolation, he said to ‘go through the motion’ for the best results.
“Sometimes people are looking to do a little more strict and really isolate in a sense where I feel you have to kind of go through the motion. You have to have almost in between, where it’s a side lateral and a front raise. Remember, I had some of the biggest delts when I was training at full capacity,” Jay Cutler shared.
While there are three heads to the deltoid (anterior, lateral, and posterior), Cutler emphasized that most of the focus should be on the side delts, making this lateral raise variation all the more useful.
“You’ll see, it’s from the side, and come out a little bit from the front, really engage that shoulder. Now, there’s three heads to the deltoid: There’s a front, side, and the rear. I think that, ideally, you can not isolate one single head of the shoulder, but you want to get that main focus on the side.”
He prefers using this exercise while seated to limit body momentum because otherwise lifters risk recruiting other muscles, like the traps.
“I think doing it seated, using your body position, where the chest sits high, and really using a weight that you can control but at the same time, not be too, too strict and bring in the traps or other movements. Look out for that full contraction.”
Cutler is well known for his actionable workout advice. Aside from shoulders, he recently outlined how to achieve wide and thick lats. He shared that pulldowns (reverse grip and wide grip), seated cable rows, pullovers, and freedom rack barbell rows were the biggest drivers of growth.
Even today, Cutler’s shoulders remain a strong point on his physique. He believes this side lateral front raise variation was one of his secret weapons throughout his tenure.
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Watch the full video from the JayCutlerTV YouTube channel below:
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