Seated Side Lateral Raise

Also called seated lateral raise, seated side raise and seated dumbbell lateral.

Works

Shoulders

Equipment

Dumbbells

Level

Beginner

Type

Isolation

How to do it

Setup. Pick a couple of dumbbells and sit at the end of a flat bench with your feet firmly on the floor. Hold the dumbbells with your palms facing in and your arms straight down at your sides at arms' length. This will be your starting position.

1. While maintaining the torso stationary (no swinging), lift the dumbbells to your side with a slight bend on the elbow and the hands slightly tilted forward as if pouring water in a glass. Continue to go up until you arms are parallel to the floor. Exhale as you execute this movement and pause for a second at the top.
2. Lower the dumbbells back down slowly to the starting position as you inhale.
3. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Cues

• Sit tall, feet planted.
• Raise out to shoulder height.
• Tip the dumbbells like pouring water.
• Lower for 3 seconds.

Common mistakes

• Swinging the torso.
• Shrugging.

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.

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