What muscles do lateral raises work?
Lateral raises are a shoulder exercise. More specifically, they target the lateral deltoid, the largest of the three muscles that cover the outside of the shoulder—the other two are the anterior deltoid, which is found on the front of the joint, and the posterior deltoid, which is in the back. If you’re doing the exercise properly, your lateral deltoid will be doing most of the lifting, with some support from the trapezius, which is the muscle that covers the top of the shoulder and connects to the base of the neck.
Why you should do lateral raises
Working the shoulder muscles with lateral raises is key to keeping you strong, toned, and mobile. Here are some of the biggest reasons why you should be working the movement into your exercise regimen.
Optimal shoulder mobility
Lateral raises, and other exercises that strengthen your shoulder, are incredibly important for maintaining the mobility and strength you need to carry out the tasks you do every single day. The shoulder joint has the largest range of motion of any joint in the body and in order to keep it that way—and to avoid injuries to the joint—you need to make sure that all the muscles surrounding it are strong and flexible.
Increased upper body exercise capability
Powerful, supple deltoids open the door to a huge variety of other upper body exercises. With the exception of bicep curls and tricep kickbacks, almost every other upper body exercise involves movement in the shoulder joint. Strengthening your deltoids with lateral raises ensures that you’re able to do all these different movements without pain or strain in your shoulders.
Sexy shoulder definition
Do you know anyone who works out who isn’t after toned, sexy shoulders? Yeah, we don’t either. Lateral raises will give you that enviable teardrop shape on the outside of your shoulder that will have you abstaining from sleeves for the foreseeable future.
How to do lateral raises
While lateral raises may look simple, they are a little tricky to get right. Follow these steps to do perfect lateral raises.
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Stand with your feet hip-width apart or sit on a bench or chair with your feet flat on the floor. Hold light to medium weights at the sides of your thighs with your palms facing in.
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Keeping your shoulders pressed down and shoulder blades down your back, energy going down through your hands, raise the weights out to the sides to shoulder height. Your elbows should stay slightly higher than your hands and your palms should face the floor. Form tips: Maintain a slight bend in your elbows throughout the movement. Nothing should move except your arms. Your shoulders should stay down throughout the entire movement, especially when your arms reach their highest point.
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Slowly lower the weights back to your sides, following the same path they took on the way up. Form tip: Never just drop your arms back down to your sides. Lower them deliberately.
How to do lateral raises with the amp
While most people do lateral raises with dumbbells, it’s possible—and effective—to do them with a cable machine like the amp. When you’re using the amp, you’ll do one arm at a time instead of both at the same time.
To do: With the device arm in a low position, stand so it is next to you. Hold the single handle in front of your body with your outside hand. Pull the handle out to the side, lifting it to shoulder height while following the form tips above, then lower back down. Do a set on one side, then switch to the other side. We love doing lateral raises on band mode to help maintain muscle engagement through the entire move.
How much weight should you use?
Lateral raises don’t require heavy weights. The lateral deltoids are relatively small muscles so the movement is most effective with light to medium weights. Here’s how to tell if the weights you are using are too heavy:
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Can you lift them without using any momentum? Nothing should move during lateral raises except your arms. If you find yourself twisting your back, bending your knees, or trying to pull the weights up instead of raising them out, your weights are likely too heavy.
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Are you lifting your shoulders? If your shoulders find their way up to your ears at any point during the movement, your weights are too heavy.
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Is the move straining your neck? You should never feel lateral raises in your neck. If you do, your weights are too heavy.
3 lateral raise variations to try
Once you’ve mastered standard lateral raises, try incorporating these 3 variations into your workouts:
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Thumbs Up Lateral Raise: Instead of keeping your palms facing down, they’ll face forward so your thumbs are up. This will engage the anterior (front) deltoid in addition to the lateral deltoid.
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Bent Arm Lateral Raise: Start with your arms at your sides, then bend your elbows to right angles and maintain the shape as you raise your arms out to the sides. This will add some engagement of the triceps and latissimus dorsi.
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Rainbow Lateral Raise: Start with your hands in front of your thighs with your palms facing out and elbows slightly bent. Raise your hands out to the sides, continuing past shoulder height all the way up to overhead, keeping your shoulders pressed down the entire time. This variation works the shoulder joint through a larger range of motion, plus incorporates the anterior and posterior deltoids and the pectorals into the mix.
Strong and sculpted in no time
If you’re looking for toned, defined shoulder muscles that will also support your shoulder joints and maintain optimal mobility, lateral raises are a great one to incorporate regularly into your workout routine. For more smart and beneficial exercises, look no further than the amp device. The AI-powered app delivers unlimited access to personalized programs and workouts to streamline and strengthen your shoulders and more.