How To Do Lateral Raises

Guys, I want you to take a second and pretend you’re performing a standard Dumbbell Lateral Raise.

Do it right now as you’re reading this – no pair of dumbbells required.

Pay attention to your form and ask yourself afterward:

“Did I lift my arm and then tilt my hand forward, pretending like I was pouring water from a pitcher at the top of the movement?”

If you did, you just made one of the biggest Lateral Raise mistakes. And it’s time to fix it.

Let’s do a systematic review of the anatomy of the shoulder muscles to understand how deltoid exercises function and which Lateral Raises complement, not sabotage, these muscles.

I’ll also cover the best tips and tricks to ensure your shoulder workouts are safe and effective for maximum results.

ANATOMY OF THE SHOULDER MUSCLE

Before we dive into the best Lateral Raise with dumbbells, let’s break down the muscle anatomy of the deltoids.

Why should you learn about muscle anatomy instead of jumping straight into the exercises?

It’s all about the mind-to-muscle connection.

I can’t stress enough how crucial it is to develop and practice this connection.

It’s a concept I emphasize in all my training programs and one that you need to integrate into every workout.

The mind-to-muscle connection involves consciously engaging and contracting your muscles while lifting.

This helps you target and control the specific muscle groups as you move through each rep, maximizing the effectiveness of your workout.

In other words, focus and think about how the muscle is working. You need to feel the muscle doing its job.

By understanding the structure and function of your deltoids, you can enhance this connection and get the most out of your shoulder workouts.

The deltoid muscle consists of three distinct heads:

1. Anterior Deltoids
2. Lateral Deltoids
3. Posterior Deltoids

These three sections work together to support various movements and play an important role in the entire shoulder complex, especially during the Lateral Raise exercise.

Each head has its unique function, contributing to a balanced, powerful upper body.

Let’s break down each head or section, starting with the lateral delts – the main muscle we’ll be focusing on today.

LATERAL DELTS (SIDE DELTS)

The lateral deltoids, or side delts, are responsible for abduction movements, which involve lifting your arms away from your body. They also aid in medial rotation of the shoulder joint.

The middle deltoid fibers are essential for achieving that wide, broad-shouldered look.

Our primary focus in this article will be on the side delts, but understanding the other two heads is equally important.

ANTERIOR DELTS (FRONT DELTS)

The anterior deltoids are located at the front of your shoulders. They handle the following functions:

• Shoulder flexion (lifting your arm forward)
• Horizontal adduction (moving your arm towards the body)
• Medial rotation (rotating your shoulder inward)

Many people think their chest day workouts are enough to develop their front delts and achieve broad shoulders.

But the truth is, you need to put in extra effort to see significant results.

Incorporating a dedicated shoulder workout day into your routine can make all the difference.

The most common exercise for this muscle is the Frontal Raise.

The Frontal Raise activates the anterior delts and isolates the muscle, allowing you to build up the intensity needed to make it grow and get stronger.

POSTERIOR DELTS (REAR DELTS)

The posterior heads, or rear delts, are situated at the back of your shoulders.

These muscles are responsible for shoulder extension (lifting your arm behind you) and external rotation (rotating your arm outward).

I emphasize the importance of rear delts frequently because they are critical for preventing injuries.

Strengthening your rear delts reduces the strain on your anterior delts, providing a balanced and safe shoulder workout.

BEST LATERAL RAISES (AND HOW TO DO THEM)

By understanding the anatomy and function of your delts, you can better target these muscles and achieve a well-rounded, powerful shoulder profile.

When performed correctly, the Lateral Raise forces your side delts to grow, giving you a wider appearance (and helps you fill up those shirts).

Now, let’s get into how the best types of Lateral Raise exercises to add into your workout in order to build those side delts to their full potential.

I’ll go over how to do this excellent exercise and then explain some nuances of exercise execution that are usually overlooked.

STRAIGHT-ARM LATERAL RAISE

When performing the Straight-Arm Lateral Raise, one of the most common shoulder muscles rehabilitation exercises, the correct weight to start with is a lighter weight.

This is because as the the length of your arm increases, the weight you can handle decreases.

And improper weight selection can lead to strain or injury.

Don’t be discouraged by using lighter weights; your shoulders can’t read the numbers on the dumbbell.

They only feel the tension in the lateral deltoid muscles, and as long as the tension is high enough, your deltoids will grow even with lighter weights.

To make this exercise more effective, understand how the dumbbell variation impacts your shoulders.

When using dumbbells, the easiest part of the exercise is at the bottom due to reduced gravitational resistance.

If you choose a weight that challenges you at the top, it might be too light at the bottom, leading to insufficient muscle engagement throughout the full range of motion.

Here, people often confuse the effective range of motion of an exercise with the full range of motion of a joint.

For the Straight-Arm Lateral Raise, limit the motion to the top half of the range with the perfect weight.

This keeps the time under tension on your deltoids high, ensuring effective shoulder muscle recruitment.

You can perform the full motion if desired, but focusing on the top half will provide more significant muscle activation and strength gains.

Remember, stick with light weights here to ensure protection from injury.

BENT-ARM SIDE RAISE

When performing the Bent Arm Lateral Raise, start by increasing the weight compared to what you would use for a Straight-Arm Lateral Raise.

Due to the shortened movement arm, you can handle heavier weights while maintaining the same slight tension on your deltoid muscles.

For example, if you use 20-pound dumbbells for Straight Raises, you might increase to 30 pounds for Bent Arm Raises.

This adaptation ensures effective muscle engagement despite the increased weight.

Be mindful of form to maximize the effectiveness of this exercise and avoid potential injuries.

Keep your wrist and hand above your elbow, ensuring your thumbs are higher than your pinkies.

This alignment prevents unwanted internal shoulder rotation, which can strain the rotator cuff and anterior deltoid.

Additionally, maintain the dumbbell in line with your torso, allowing the elbow to drift slightly behind to ensure the lateral deltoid muscles are targeted.

This exercise technique prevents the anterior deltoid from taking over, keeping the focus on building broader shoulders and enhancing the lateral head of the deltoid.

By focusing on these form cues, you’ll optimize the tension and muscle recruitment, making the Bent Arm Lateral Raise a powerful isolation exercise for building shoulders that are strong and muscular.

CABLE LATERAL RAISES

The Bent Arm Lateral Raise is great, but it still suffers from issues with the resistance curve and strength curve when using dumbbells. So how can we fix that? Enter the Cable Lateral Raise. Unlike dumbbells, the cable provides a consistent line of resistance that can transform your lateral raise.

Here’s the key: the cable remains perpendicular to your forearm throughout the simple movement. This means you have tension right from the start of the exercise, which is often missing with dumbbells. With cables, your shoulders are under tension even at the beginning of the movement, ensuring effective muscle engagement from the get-go.

When your shoulders are at their strongest—mid-movement—the cable’s tension is perfectly aligned, maximizing muscle activity. Even at the top of the movement, where your shoulders are not as strong, the cable still provides some tension, though slightly reduced. This makes the Cable Lateral Raise a superior option for maintaining tension throughout the entire range of motion.

By switching to cables, you ensure that your lateral deltoids are consistently challenged, enhancing shoulder muscle recruitment patterns, and promoting better overall shoulder development. This adjustment not only makes the exercise more effective but also helps in preventing potential injuries by providing a smoother, controlled motion.

Add this to your shoulder workout regime to see significant improvements in shoulder strength and mobility.

If you’re new to Lateral Raises or if you’re recovering from a shoulder injury, this is going to seem like advanced resistance training techniques.

So, be sure to go light, go slow, and focus on perfect form before trying the heavier variations.

BENT-ARM CABLE SIDE RAISE

If you want to maximize your shoulder gains, you’ve got to consider one last variation: the Cable Bent-Arm Lateral Raise.

Eccentric resistance training increases the benefits of the bent arm and the consistent resistance of the cable.

By bending your arm, you can bring it across your body, getting a deeper stretch at the start.

When you lift to the top, the perpendicular angle of the cable keeps tension high, even at the peak of the movement.

Here’s the magic: starting with your arm across your body engages your lateral deltoids more effectively, thanks to the increased range of motion and consistent tension.

As you lift, the bent arm lever ensures more tension at the top, unlike the straight-arm version. This means more muscle activity and better shoulder muscle recruitment patterns.

With this variation, you can also handle heavier weights due to the bent arm position.

This allows for controlled eccentric movements, adding another stimulus for growth.

If I had to crown a winner, the Cable Bent-Arm Lateral Raise takes the title for the best Lateral Raise exercise.

But remember, every version has its place and can help you build bigger, stronger shoulders when executed correctly.

AVOID THIS TYPE OF LATERAL RAISE

There’s one type of Lateral Raise that I still see being performed in gyms, and I want to put a stop to it.

What is it?

You take your standard Lateral Raise and then you add in a pour movement at the top.

It looks like this:

The Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise is a staple in shoulder strength workout routines, but adding a pouring movement at the top can be detrimental to your shoulder health.

I’ve mentioned before that you should never pour the pitchers when performing this exercise, and here’s why:

When you add an internal rotation to the Lateral Raise, it changes the dynamics of the movement, causing your shoulders to internally rotate with elevation.

This motion places unnecessary strain on the rotator cuff and can lead to potential injuries.

The rotator cuff muscles are crucial for shoulder stability and mobility, and subjecting them to undue stress can result in shoulder pain and long-term damage.

Here are the key issues with the Pouring Lateral Raise:

• Increased Risk of Injury: The internal rotation combined with shoulder abduction (lifting your arms to shoulder level) can impinge the rotator cuff muscles. This can lead to shoulder impingement syndrome, a common shoulder complaint among weightlifters and competitive bodybuilders.
• Impaired Shoulder Mobility: Regularly performing this movement can compromise shoulder mobility and shoulder flexibility, making it difficult to execute other shoulder exercises or daily activities without discomfort.
• Incorrect Muscle Activation: The goal of the lateral raise is to target the lateral deltoids, but adding a pouring motion shifts the focus away from the lateral head and onto the rotator cuff muscles, reducing the effectiveness of the exercise.

HOW TO CORRECT IT

Are you guilty of making this mistake? Don’t worry – You’re not the only one!

Here’s what I want you to do in order to correct this issue:

Avoid any angles that force internal rotation at the top of the movement.

Keeping your thumbs slightly higher than your pinkies will help maintain the correct Lateral Raises form and protect your shoulder joint.

Keep your arms at a slight bend and raise your arms above shoulder height without any additional rotation.

This ensures that the tension remains on the lateral deltoid muscles, promoting muscle growth and maximal strength without risking injury.

Focus on smooth, controlled motions rather than momentum-generating movements.

This helps in maintaining consistent tension on the targeted muscles and improves shoulder muscle recruitment patterns.

BEST SIDE RAISES FOR WIDER SHOULDERS

What makes for an amazing exercise to achieve wide, well-developed shoulders?

First, you need to focus on abduction movements to effectively target the lateral deltoids.

Variety is also crucial—incorporating different angles and lateral raise variations into your routine can yield better results than relying on just one exercise.

Additionally, a comprehensive shoulder workout should include exercises that utilize both light dumbbells and heavy weights, ensuring you’re not stuck in the middle ground without progress.

With that in mind, let’s kick off this list with an exercise that’s perfect for waking up the lateral delts:

SIDE DELT ACTIVATION DRILL

ABDUCTION ROW

EXTENDED SIDE DELT RAISE

LATERAL RAISES: COMMON MISTAKES

When training for broader and more flexible shoulders, the most common mistakes come from your body trying to compensate by using other muscles, which kills your gains.

What’s more, if you ever have shoulder pain, you definitely need to correct these mistakes before they do more damage to your shoulders.

Let’s break down these mistakes and how to fix them to maximize your shoulder workouts.

EXTERNAL ROTATION

A lot of make the mistake of adding external shoulder rotation during Lateral Raises, especially in a slightly bent-over position.

While some abduction is happening, it quickly turns into external rotation at the top.

Not that external rotation is bad, but when guys you want to isolate the middle delt, you don’t want any external or internal rotation.

This is particularly problematic for anyone with shoulder impingement, as it can exacerbate the issue.

Instead, focus solely on the abduction motion to keep the tension on the lateral deltoid.

LEANING FORWARD

Another common mistake is leaning.

When people can’t lift their arms any higher, they tend to lean in the opposite direction.

This doesn’t increase shoulder abduction; it just shifts your body, giving the illusion of a higher lift.

Now, keep this in mind: If you’re intentionally performing the Abduction Row, this slight lean is okay.

But if your goal is to perform the traditional Lateral Raise, then you do NOT want to lean.

Even with a slight bend in your elbow flexion, leaning prevents you from properly activating the lateral delts.

Focus on keeping your body steady and maintaining the form correct without leaning to ensure you’re targeting the right muscles.

SHRUGGING

The most popular substitution error is shrugging, which engages the traps instead of the delts, which is just poor form.

When you reach a point where you can’t lift the dumbbell any higher, you might start shrugging to artificially raise the weight.

This happens a lot when your middle delts are weaker than you think.

Avoid this by keeping your shoulders down and focusing on lifting with your delts, not your traps.

By avoiding these common mistakes and focusing on perfect form and smooth motion, you’ll prevent shoulder pain and potential injuries.

Keep your movements controlled and your body stable to maximize this effective shoulder-strengthening movement.

Incorporate a variety of shoulder exercises and Lateral Raise variations to fully develop your shoulder muscles and achieve those broader shoulders.

With four excellent options to choose from, you can incorporate each one into your shoulder workouts to efficiently build up those lateral delts.

Not sure when to use which exercise?

If you’re looking for comprehensive programs that integrate exercises at the optimal times, explore our collection of ATHLEAN-X workouts.

HOW TO DO LATERAL RAISES FAQS