Dumbbell One-Arm Seated Lateral Raise

Lateral raises (also called side raises) are primarily performed to place more emphasis on the middle head of the deltoid (shoulder muscle).

In addition to the main shoulder muscle itself, various muscles around the shoulder joint are recruited to stabilize it. These include smaller stabilizing muscles such as the four rotator cuff muscles, as well as the larger trapezius, which pulls the shoulder joint upward.

In the arms, the biceps and triceps help stabilize the position of the forearm relative to the upper arm. The muscles in the forearms then stabilize the wrist joint to control the dumbbells or barbell.

In this variation, lateral raises are performed seated with dumbbells as resistance and one arm per set. Performing the exercise with one arm means that the external abdominal muscles in particular have to work harder to keep the torso upright.

Dumbbell One-Arm Seated Lateral Raise Execution

Raise your arm out to the side and upward. Maintain the same slight bend in your arm. Keep the rest of your body as still as possible.

Finish at the height just before you feel your shoulders become pinched. Keep your elbows slightly below shoulder height.

Hold here for 1–2 counts.

Lower your arm in a controlled manner over 2–3 counts until you feel there is no more resistance (so do not bring it all the way back against your body).

Repeat.

Dumbbell One-Arm Seated Lateral Raise

Muscles involved:

Shoulder joint:

Deltoid (all heads)
Rotator cuff (subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor)
Trapezius
Levator scapulae

Chest:

Pectoralis major (especially the upper portion)

Arms

Triceps
Biceps
Forearm muscles

Abdomen:

Rectus abdominis (straight abdominal muscle)
External oblique (external abdominal oblique muscle)
Internal oblique (internal abdominal oblique muscle)
Transversus abdominis (transverse abdominal muscle, “corset muscle”)

(Lower) back and spine:

Erector spinae
Lumbar multifidus
Quadratus lumborum

Dumbbell One-Arm Seated Lateral Raise Setup

Sit on a bench with the dumbbell in your hand, with your arms able to hang freely at your sides. The active arm is beside your body with the thumb facing forward (so the palm faces inward, a “neutral grip”)*. Rest your other hand on your hip.
Keep the active arm slightly bent beside your body.

Dumbbell One-Arm Seated Lateral Raise Technique

“For the side of the shoulder”

The deltoid pulls on the upper arms from three directions. Lateral raises are usually performed by people who want to train “the middle” of the shoulder with them. However, sparse EMG measurements show that the anterior head also does the most work during lateral raises (while the posterior head works almost as hard as the middle head). The difference in recruitment between the different heads is nevertheless much smaller than, for example, during the shoulder press.

Arms Bent or Straight

The straighter your arms are, the farther your hands are from you, and the heavier the weight they hold becomes. Lateral raises with straight arms can therefore be harder than using a slightly heavier weight with bent arms. Normally, you want to make the exercise harder through proper execution, which would mean straightening your arms as much as possible.

However, the more you straighten your arms, the greater the stress on the elbow joint and the muscles that must stabilize it. Bending your arms slightly more can make it easier to focus completely on your upper arms.

Keep Wrist at Elbow Height

Rotating the shoulder inward or outward reduces recruitment of the middle head of the deltoid. If your wrist is higher than your elbow (at the highest point of the exercise), your shoulder is externally rotated and the anterior head works harder. If your wrist is (considerably) lower than your elbow, your shoulder is internally rotated and the posterior head works harder.

Raise, Don’t Swing

Because you move the weight primarily outward during the first part of the exercise, the muscles do not yet have to work as hard. Gravity begins pulling harder as the weight rises. The endpoint of the exercise is therefore the hardest part. Unfortunately, this point is often neglected.

A common mistake during lateral (and front) raises is performing the exercise ballistically. The arms are thrown outward with a swinging motion, and momentum then helps bring the arm farther upward. At the top, the weight is barely held, and is simply allowed to fall back down. Sometimes you even see the legs being used to generate momentum.

This is not a way to put the shoulder muscles to work. It is a way to raise a weight with as little effort as possible. The shoulders then only have to work at the top of the movement, while the way down (the eccentric phase) is almost completely neglected.

Instead, raise the weight in a controlled manner. You should be able to hold the weight still for a few counts at every point in the movement; if not, you are training with too much weight. At the top of the movement, actually hold the weight for 1 to 2 counts as well. Then lower it in a controlled manner over about 3 counts. Keep the rest of your body as still as possible to prevent “cheating”.

The seated variation makes cheating more difficult. Your legs cannot help, and the extent to which you can lean your torso backward is limited by the backrest.

In this one-arm variation, therefore also prevent yourself from tilting your torso to the left to make it easier to raise the weight in your right hand (and vice versa).

At a glance