Standing Lateral Raises
Primary Muscle Group: Deltoids
Secondary Muscle Group: Traps
Equipment Needed: Dumbbells
The Benefits of Standing Lateral Raises
Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises are a great isolation exercise that effectively targets the medial head of the shoulder.
As well as stronger, larger shoulders, the benefits of the lateral raise extend to increased shoulder mobility. If you brace correctly throughout the lift, your core also benefits, and muscles in the upper back, arms and neck will also feel the strain after a few sets.
Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises is best used as a finisher in a shoulder workout preferably after a heavy pressing exercise.
You get better result by using light weight so you can focus on perfect form and technique.
The dumbbell lateral raise is a good exercise for building width in your upper body which gives you the "V" shape.
If you are looking for other exercises that are the best for building muscle or wanting to lose body fat then you should check our Free Workout Plan or our Workout Plans With Coaching for professionally designed workout plans that have been proven to get results.
The Risks of doing Standing Lateral Raises
To avoid injury, it’s important to warm up your rotator cuffs before performing standing dumbbell lateral raises. If you injure your rotator cuff, you could be out for a few weeks or even months!
How To Do Standing Lateral Raises
1. Grab a set of dumbbells and stand straight up with the dumbbells at your sides.
2. Your palms should be facing your body. You should be holding the dumbbells slightly off your body, as this keeps the tension on the side delts. This is your starting position for the exercise.
3. To execute, slowly raise the dumbbells up to around shoulder height. It's important that you do not let your wrists go above your elbows while raising the weight, as this will take the work off the side delts and put it on the front delts.
4. Pause at the top of the movement, and then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position.
5. Do not let the dumbbells touch your body, and then raise them for the next rep.
For Perfect Technique
The dumbbell lateral raise is one of those exercises that so many people do incorrectly. First, this is an isolation exercise, so you should be focusing on stretch and muscle contraction, not using heavy weights.
You need to keep your rep timing slow and controlled. Avoid using momentum to swing heavy weights up because this is not going to get you the best results from the dumbbell lateral raise.
Its also very important that your elbows stay above your wrists. If your wrists come up too far, the focus comes off your side delts and onto your front delts. A good trick to ensure this does not happen is to tilt the dumbbells down as if you were pouring a jug of water as you raise them up. This makes it very hard to raise the wrists higher than the elbows.
And finally, keep the side delts under stress for the whole set by not allowing the dumbbells to touch your body or "hang" at the bottom of the movement.
Variations
Once you have mastered the Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises exercise you can try alternative exercises that target similar muscle groups such as;
How To Do Smith Machine Shoulder Press
1. Set up for the smith machine shoulder press by setting a bench down in the smith machine and adjusting the back to a 90 degree angle.
2. Now sit down on the bench and adjust the position so that the bar comfortably comes down just in front of your face.
3. Next, add the weight you want to use and sit down on the bench.
4. Un-rack the weights and bend your elbows slightly. This is the starting position for the movement.
5. Slowly lower the weight down until the bar is just below chin height, pause, and then raise the bar back to the starting position without locking your elbows out at the top of the movement.
How To Do A Standing Barbell Shoulder Press
1. Stand with the bar on your front shoulders. Narrow grip, straight wrists, vertical forearms. Lock your knees and hips.
2. Raise your chest towards the ceiling by arching your upper-back. Try to touch your chin with your upper-chest.
3. Take a big breath, hold it and press the bar in a vertical line. Don’t press it in front or behind your head. Press it over your head.
4. Stay close to the bar while you press the weight up. Shift your torso forward once the bar has passed your forehead.
5. Hold the bar over your shoulders and mid-foot for proper balance. Lock your elbows. Shrug your shoulders to the ceiling and return the bar back to the starting position.