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Shoulders

Dumbbell Lateral Raise

The lateral raise isolates the side delts — that's where shoulder width comes from.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise: starting position
1Starting position
Dumbbell Lateral Raise: end position
2End position

Setup

Stand tall, dumbbells by your thighs, elbows slightly bent and locked at that angle. You can lean forward a touch, shoulders down.

Execution

  1. Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing in — starting position.
  2. Exhale and raise the dumbbells out to the sides to shoulder height, elbows slightly bent.
  3. Inhale and lower them back down without swinging your body.

Common mistakes

  • Swinging your body — if it won't go up without a heave, it's too heavy.
  • Shrugging to your ears — that's traps, not delts; keep the shoulders down.
  • Dumbbells above shoulder height — shoulder level is enough.
  • Dropping them on the way down — lower slower than you lift.

Programs that include it

Full Body — 2 Daysbeginners · 2 workouts a weekFull Body — 3 Daysbeginners · 3 workouts a weekPush / Pull / Legsintermediate–advanced · 3–6 workouts a week3-Day Splitintermediate · 3 workouts a week

Not sure about your form? Send me a video of a set — I'll take a look and tell you what to fix first.

More for this muscle group: Shoulders

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← All exercises

Position photos from the open free-exercise-db.