Standing lateral raises

Purpose of exercise: TO DEVELOP THE OUTSIDE HEAD OF THE DELTOIDS, WITH SOME BENEFIT TO THE REAR HEAD.

Execution: (1) Take a dumbbell in each hand, bend forward slightly, and bring the weight together in front of you at arm’s length. Start each repetition from a dead stop to keep yourself from swinging the weight up. (2) Lift the weights out and up to either side, turning your wrists side m turning your wrists slightly( as if pouring water out of a pitcher) so that the rear if the dumbbell is higher than the front (this helps to involve the rear head or the deltoids). Lift the weights to a point slightly higher than your shoulders, then lower them slowly, resisting all the way down. (A common mistake with this movement is to rock back and forth and swing the weights up instead of lifting them with the deltoids. Doing this cut down on the effectiveness of the movement and should be avoided.) 

Variation: you may have a tendency to cheat a little when doing standing lateral Raises. However, this can be avoided if the same exercise is done in a seated position.


 

One arm cross cable laterals

Purpose of exercise: TO WORK THIS OUTSIDE HEAD OF THE DELTOID AND BENEFIT THE REAR HEAD IN ISOLATION.

Doing one-Arm laterals with a cable and floor pulley gives you two advantages: it allows you to isolate first one side of body, then the other, and the cable provides constant tension unaffected by your motion relative to the pall of gravity.

Execution: (1) Grab the handle and stand with your arm down and across your body, your free hand on your hip.

(2) With a steady motion, pull outward and upward until your hand is just slightly higher than your shoulder. Do your reps with one hand, then an equal number with the other. Don’t lift the weight by rising up with your body—use the deltoids.

Variation: try doing the movement with the cable running behind you’re your back instead of in front

One-Arm cable laterals done from the rear will give you more separation between the delts and the upper arm. If you have a weak point in the rear delts, bending forward slightly white doing cable laterals works this area in addition to the side delts.