One-Arm Incline Lateral Raise

Also called incline one arm lateral, side-lying incline lateral raise and one arm incline raise.

Works

Shoulders

Equipment

Dumbbells

Level

Beginner

Type

Isolation, one side at a time

How to do it

Setup. Lie down sideways on an incline bench press with a dumbbell in the hand. Make sure the shoulder is pressing against the incline bench and the arm is lying across your body with the palm around your navel.

1. Hold a dumbbell in your uppermost arm while keeping it extended in front of you parallel to the floor. This is your starting position.
2. While keeping the dumbbell parallel to the floor at all times, perform a lateral raise. Your arm should travel straight up until it is pointing at the ceiling. Tip: Exhale as you perform this movement. Hold the dumbbell in the position and feel the contraction in the shoulders for a second.
3. While inhaling lower the weight across your body back into the starting position.
4. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
5. Switch arms and repeat the movement.

Cues

• Lie sideways on the incline.
• Arm across the body to start.
• Raise straight up, elbow soft.
• Lower for 3 seconds.

Common mistakes

• Swinging the weight up.
• Bending the elbow too much.

Where to start

A starting point, not a law. Pick a weight you could lift two or three more times than the top of the range. Tempo is seconds down, pause, up. When every set hits the top of the range, add a little weight.

Go easy, or pick an alternative, if you have a sore shoulder. Pain that's sharp or gets worse set to set means stop.

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