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Side delt lateral raises

georgia21

georgia21

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2010
124
8
Have major problems doing these.

I just dont feel it/i dont initiate from side delts. I feel that my "neck" (is this the right english word?) takes over all the work.

I already watched a ton of videos, tried light weight, heavy weight, straight arms, with an angle, with bands, dumbbells cable,
seated and standing, nothings working. Even when i go to 50 reps or so with 5lbs i dont get sore or anything..


Do any of you have some advice on that matter?

If anyone of you feels it right in side delt how would you describe sequence of movement
that you do with your arms? Do you raise with your elbows or upper arms and to the side or just up?


I also believe in only doing lateral raises and no pressing for shoulders, so pls no "do shoulder presses" or so.
Don't have any problems with rear delts tough, or front.

Thanks in advance
 
woodswise

woodswise

TID Board Of Directors
Apr 29, 2012
4,334
1,340
Your arms should be nearly but not quite straight, and your thumbs should point forward and slightly down, as though you are pouring a bottle of beer onto the ground. As you raise your arms you should bring them slightly to the front of your body, not perfectly straight to the sides, but just a little in front of your head so your pinkies line up with your ears. Raise the weight and pause briefly at the top. You should be able to do them with 20 to 30 lbs if you have some real training experience, and maybe 10 to 15 lbs if you are not well conditioned. If you do them like this I guarantee you'll feel them in your side delts.
 
Last edited:
myosaurus

myosaurus

TID Board Of Directors
Sep 21, 2010
934
401
sounds like you're very trap dominant(as i am) and your AC joint naturally doesnt allow very long range of motion...(some people can raise arms way above shoulder without much problem, while others get stuck below parallel to shoulder due to lack of space between acromion process and humerous) you can see one pic has larger space between humerous/acromion process and one does not.
one way to take trap out of the way is to practice raising arms without shrugging. also initiate the later raise slow, say one inch at a time..... so raise your arm 1 inch out, then another inch, then so on , until you reach p[arallel to the shoulder and reverse down. trap being largely fast twitch fibers will overtake if you move too fast. start with 5lbs and build mind/muscle connection, then progress to more weight. good luck.
 

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N.O.V.

N.O.V.

MuscleHead
Jan 24, 2014
309
67
Have you tried them while leaning away from a piece of equipment? Hanging on with they other hand? Focus on the peak contraction of the delt. If you are trap dominant, you could pre exhaust the delt.. with presses. I know that's not the answer you wanted lol, but any time I've ever had a muscle overpowering another I have used pre exhaustion for several weeks to bring the weaker muscle up to par.
 
Stumpy

Stumpy

Olé, Olé, Olé VIP
Sep 29, 2010
2,290
379
I love these as my shoulders are one of my strong points. I do them one handed at a time after Dbell press. Try putting one arm at your side with your forearm/palm going across the front of your waist for support. With your other free hand start to do your Dbell lat raise. Use a smooth & controlled method to raise the Dbell but never raise it higher than shoulder height (anything higher than shoulder height and you start to bring other muscles into the game and are no longer concentrating on the side delt) and slowly resist the weight as you let your hand/Dbell go back to starting position at the side of your body....repeat action.
 
Cro-MagNum Muscle

Cro-MagNum Muscle

New Member
Jun 25, 2014
7
1
I had this same problem as well. Try placing your hands slightly behind your hips in the starting position, as opposed to in front of your body. With your elbows straight, and your thumbs turned slightly inward, raise the dumbbells until they are straight out to your sides. You should resemble a christian cross at the end of the movement. In other words, only go up until your arms are parallel to the floor, forming a ninety degree angle to your torso. This is a very strict movement. Performing the exercise in this manner should take the front deltoid out of the movement, shifting the load to the side deltoids. Made sure you pause for a moment at the top, and return to the starting position slowly. I hope this helps, and good luck! ~Peace~
 
PillarofBalance

PillarofBalance

Strength Pimp
Feb 27, 2011
17,066
4,640
I actually lean over a bit to do these. Sounds kinda weird but it took me a couple years of experimenting to get that mind muscle connection down.

It also helped when I started doing delt pins. It gave me a target to focus on squeezing. And it works for me quite well. When i actually do these my shoulders blow up quick.
 
Rockshawn

Rockshawn

MuscleHead
Sep 24, 2013
514
93
I do too POB. You have to watch in the mirror and make sure the medial delt is getting activated and not the front. Standing straight up, at least for me, hits more front delt.

I also use plates to do them for a different kind of resistance.
 
oldschool1967

oldschool1967

VIP Member
Aug 6, 2011
1,649
172
All top notch answers above brother, you might also try this, stand at a cable machine, put the pulley at its lowest point and grab the handle with your closest hand and do cable laterals like this..with your clostest hand at your side, raise up till parallel with your neck( there is a thought that once your hand goes higher than your neck, you are incorparating more traps than delts.) Albert Beckles loved these and ya can't really argue with his delt development!
 
R

Realize

VIP Member
Sep 7, 2010
451
135
Your arms should be nearly but not quite straight, and your thumbs should point forward and slightly down, as though you are pouring a bottle of beer onto the ground. As you raise your arms you should bring them slightly to the front of your body, not perfectly straight to the sides, but just a little in front of your head so your pinkies line up with your ears. Raise the weight and pause briefly at the top. You should be able to do them with 20 to 30 lbs if you have some real training experience, and maybe 10 to 15 lbs if you are not well conditioned. If you do them like this I guarantee you'll feel them in your side delts.
This is pretty much how I do them, That twist at the top gives a little more trap work as a bonus for me. I also do them one at a time. One arm on the dumbell rack and then the other arm immediately.
 
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