Exercise Profile
  • Target Muscle Group
  • Exercise TypeStrength
  • Equipment RequiredDumbbell
  • MechanicsIsolation
  • Force TypePull
  • Experience LevelBeginner
  • Secondary Muscles
    None
Target Muscle Group

Shoulders

Shoulders Muscle Anatomy Diagram

Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise Instructions

  1. Grab a pair of dumbbells and sit up straight with your feet around shoulder width apart on the edge of a flat bench.
  2. Hold the dumbbells down at your sides with your palms facing in. Hold the dumbbells out at around 4 inches from your body. This is the starting position for the exercise.
  3. Keeping your body still, eyes facing forward, with a slight bend in you arms, slowly raise the dumbbells up to around shoulder height.
  4. Pause, and then slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for desired reps.

Exercise Tips:

  1. It's very important that your hands do not go higher than your elbows. To prevent this from happening, as you raise the dumbbells up, tilt them forward as if you were pouring a jug of water.
  2. Always do this exercise slowly.  It's an isolation exercise and the focus should be on working the muscle correctly - not moving as much weight as you can.
  3. Don't bring your arms up too high - up to shoulder height is far enough.
6 Comments
Aaron
Posted on: Sat, 02/28/2015 - 09:58

Why is this included in a "push" day if it is a "pull" exercise?

JR
Posted on: Sun, 09/18/2016 - 20:58

Its not a pull excercise. When you raise a dumbbell you are pushing it away from your body raising it up. Generally speaking, pushing (or raising) weight away from your body is a push, pulling weight towrds yo is a pull.

mukesh
Posted on: Tue, 10/25/2022 - 04:32

thank you

JohnR
Posted on: Sun, 10/21/2012 - 21:00

The video of this exercise is actually showing the wrong way to perform the seated dumbbell lateral raise. It clearly says not to have your hands higher than your elbows and that's what's being done here. So when you go to execute this exercise make sure you read the tips on sepcifically what to do.

Matias
Posted on: Wed, 09/05/2012 - 10:54

Is there any big difference from doing thesee seated towards doing them standing? Don't want to take up all the benches if the gym is close to full.

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Steven
Posted on: Thu, 09/06/2012 - 13:47

If you concentrate on reducing momentum while standing, not really.