Dumbbell lateral raise – Exercise

FitFam,

Today, I am going to introduce you to a new exercise. I know this video might come off intimidating because this guy is “huge” in size, and normally I would try to use a female in order to make women more comfortable or Scott Herman (but I didn’t necessarily agree with his teaching of this particular exercise 100%) and didn’t want to confuse any of my readers. Not saying he is bad, because I do respect his videos and many of them I follow his instructions when I forget or when I am trying something new at the gym. Anyways, this exercise can be done at the gym and/or at home if you own dumbbells, or weight plates. This particular video is demonstrating the exercise using dumbbells. 

Personally, this exercise burns the hell out of my delts every time, like no matter how little the weight is (I have decreased it) and it still burns the same, so this is something that you don’t need high weights in order to feel the results, If you do decide to use higher weights, keep in mind that your form/technique should not stray, if you notice you cannot keep your form/technique or you cannot keep controlled – that is a sign to decrease the load or do minimal reps ( just saying because I know some of us want to look like bosses at the gym lifting heavy, but lifting heavy with bad form does not get you gym cred from me; no matter how big your muscles are) and I try to not embarrass myself; so if I am struggling with a heavier weight, I have no problem sucking up my pride and decreasing my load. 

First off, hands up if you have performed this exercise and your neck started to hurt? Raise your hands if you have performed this exercise and did it incorrectly? Raise your hands if you have heard different ways to perform the exercise and you’re confused? lol. That is a lot of people and no reason to be ashamed because different trainers will teach their clients different ways of performing an exercise, not everyone on YouTube knows what they are doing, and not everyone is born with exercise knowledge instilled in them – this is why we have people with degrees and certifications and experience (hopefully trusting they know what they are speaking about) – some don’t. So don’t be ashamed, it is a learning experience for everyone at some point.  No matter what your situation is, there is a proper way of doing the exercise and the problem is many people disagree with what muscles come into effect and which don’t and which should be doing what and really .. IT SHOULD BE WORKING THOSE SIDE DELTS. 

If you are feeling neck pains, it could be for multiple reasons, one being you are using a high weights and putting more stress on your neck. It is possible to work the rear delts the more you lean forward, and that is fine if that is your goal at hand, but if you want to work the side delts, then leaning too far forward will not do the job. Like Seth mentioned in the video, hand placement also makes a difference because you will eventually hit your shoulder in different areas depending on the positioning of the body and where your hands are placed on the dumbbell. – if you want to hit your side delts then place your hands in the middle of the dumbbell, and have a straight back (less leaning forward)- a little lean is okay though. 

Now we could go into depth and make you read a textbook worth of information, but I don’t want to and you don’t need to. 

How to:

Let me know what you think of the exercise, and how much weight you use. Hate it? love it? never have done it? I want to hear it. 

Your Fitness Blogger,

Shay-lon xxxx