Lateral raise (dumbbells)

What you should feel?? When performed correctly, you will feel a “burn” or fatigue build up in the muscles of the outer shoulder. You should not feel pain in the joint but you may feel a strong build up of muscle fatigue in the surrounding muscles.

• Hold your dumbbells in both hands and start to lift them out to your sides
• Keeping the elbows locked, raise the arms up to your side, just above shoulder height
• Lower back down to the starting position in a controlled manner
• Keep your wrists in a neutral position the whole way through
• and continue until you have finished the set

• Deltoids
• Trapezius

Lateral raises are the cornerstone of strong shoulders and the ability to lift things in this way in your daily activities. Although we may not lift in this exact pattern every day, much of the movement arc is used in every day tasks like lifting shopping bags and putting things in cupboards beside you. If you have insufficient strength in these shoulder muscles, it can lead to unnecessary injury of the rotator cuff and shoulder joint.