Dumbbell Lateral Raise

1. Stand with feet hip width apart, holding light dumbbells at your sides; 4 to 10 kg per hand is plenty for most lifters.
2. Soften your knees slightly and hinge forward a few degrees so the dumbbells hang just in front of your thighs.
3. With a slight, fixed bend in the elbows, raise both arms out to the sides.
4. Lead with the elbows and keep the wrists just below elbow height, as if pouring water from a jug.
5. Stop when your arms reach shoulder height, roughly parallel to the floor, and exhale.
6. Lower the dumbbells over two to three seconds, resisting gravity the whole way down.
7. Stop the descent just before the weights touch your thighs to keep tension on the delts, then raise again.

Common Mistakes

• Swinging with the hips: bouncing the weights up with momentum trains nothing; if you must swing, the dumbbells are too heavy.
• Raising above shoulder height: going well past parallel shifts work to the traps; cap the movement at shoulder level.
• Shrugging during the raise: letting the traps hike upward steals tension from the side delts; keep the shoulders pressed down as the arms rise.
• Turning it into a front raise: letting the arms drift forward changes the target muscle; keep the dumbbells in line with your shoulders or slightly in front.