--- title: "Side delt exercises" description: "Lateral raises with dumbbells, cables and machines, plus upright rows. Technique on video and the load that keeps the work off your traps." locale: en url: "https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts" count: 32 type: muscles code: SIDE_DELT --- # Side delt exercises The side delt abducts the arm, meaning it lifts it out to the side, and that is pretty much where its job ends. Hence an unusually uniform list: lateral raises in one setup after another, plus the upright row. There is no compound here that loads this head really hard, because on an overhead press the front delt takes most of the work. The variants differ mainly in where the resistance peaks. A dumbbell weighs next to nothing at the bottom and only gets hard around shoulder height, a cable holds tension from the very first inch, a machine steers the path for you. This is a muscle where the result comes down to picking the right load more than to picking the right exercise. ## Why lateral raises are so sensitive to load Because the arm is nearly straight and the weight sits at the end of a long lever. A small dumbbell in your hand produces a moment at shoulder height that nothing else in shoulder training compares to. That is why moving up one dumbbell can change the exercise beyond recognition. When the weight is too heavy, the body finds a way around it, and it is usually one of three: a shrug, a swing of the torso, or a shorter path. All three come back in the warnings on the individual raise variants in this atlas, and all three mean the same thing. Less work for the side delt, more fatigue. This is one of the few movements where a bigger number on the dumbbell can be a step backwards. You cannot grind a heavy lateral raise through the way you can grind a barbell curl, because there is no stronger muscle here to pitch in. ## Dumbbells, cable or machine? The dumbbell is the simplest and the worst match for the strength curve: at the bottom the resistance is close to zero, and the peak lands exactly where the movement is supposed to stop. The leaning version, done holding onto a rack, moves the start deeper into the range, so tension shows up earlier. The seated raise takes away the legs and their ability to add momentum. The cable fixes the curve. The line pulls from the first inch, not from halfway up. The machine goes one step further and holds the path for you, which makes it easier to finish a set without help from the torso and harder to cheat once you are tired. The upright row is the only movement in this part of the atlas where you can use real weight, and it costs you wrist and shoulder freedom, because your hands are locked onto one path. The EZ bar version and the wide-grip version exist precisely to make that path less rigid. ## Common mistakes - **Arms above shoulder height** - Past shoulder level, abduction at the shoulder joint is done and the rest of the trip is the shoulder blade rotating, driven by the traps. That is exactly why the lateral raise descriptions stop your arms parallel to the floor. - **A locked-out elbow** - An elbow locked straight lengthens the lever and loads the joint harder for the same dumbbell. A slight bend held from start to finish shortens the lever without shortening the range. - **Rowing with your wrists** - On the upright row the elbows lead and stay higher than the wrists the whole way. Flip that order and the load moves onto the wrist while the shoulder gets less. ## By equipment - [Dumbbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/dumbbell) - 13 exercises - [Cable](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/cable) - 6 exercises - [Other](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/other) - 5 exercises - [Machine](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/machine) - 4 exercises - [Resistance band](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/resistance-band) - 4 exercises - [Bench](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/bench) - 3 exercises - [Barbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/barbell) - 2 exercises - [Bodyweight](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/bodyweight) - 1 exercises - [EZ bar](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/ez-bar) - 1 exercises - [Squat rack](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/squat-rack) - 1 exercises - [Suspension trainer](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/side-delts/suspension-trainer) - 1 exercises ## All Side delt exercises - [Lateral Raises Dumbbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/lateral-raises-dumbbell) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Iso Lateral Shoulder Press Both Arm](https://hi.fitness/exercises/iso-lateral-shoulder-press-both-arm) - Side delts · Machine - [Cable Lateral Raises](https://hi.fitness/exercises/cable-lateral-raises) - Side delts · Cable - [Machine Lateral Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/machine-lateral-raise) - Side delts · Machine - [Upright Row Barbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/upright-row-barbell) - Side delts · Barbell - [Dumbbell Seated Lateral Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-seated-lateral-raise) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Upright Row Dumbbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/upright-row-dumbbell) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Iso Lateral Shoulder Press Alternate Arms](https://hi.fitness/exercises/iso-lateral-shoulder-press-alternate-arms) - Side delts · Machine - [Upright Row Cable Resistance Band](https://hi.fitness/exercises/upright-row-cable-resistance-band) - Side delts · Resistance band - [Upright Row EZ Bar](https://hi.fitness/exercises/upright-row-ez-bar) - Side delts · EZ bar - [Barbell Wide Grip Upright Row](https://hi.fitness/exercises/barbell-wide-grip-upright-row) - Side delts · Barbell - [Cable Upright Row with Straight Bar](https://hi.fitness/exercises/cable-upright-row-with-straight-bar) - Side delts · Cable - [Cable Upright Row with EZ Bar](https://hi.fitness/exercises/cable-upright-row-with-ez-bar) - Side delts · Cable - [Dumbbell One Arm Lateral Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-one-arm-lateral-raise) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Iso Lateral Shoulder Press Single Arm](https://hi.fitness/exercises/iso-lateral-shoulder-press-single-arm) - Side delts · Machine - [Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/leaning-dumbbell-lateral-raise) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Cable Leaning Lateral Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/cable-leaning-lateral-raise) - Side delts · Cable - [Incline Lateral Raises Dumbbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/incline-lateral-raises-dumbbell) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Dumbbell Incline One Arm Lateral Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-incline-one-arm-lateral-raise) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Cable Bent Over One Arm Lateral Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/cable-bent-over-one-arm-lateral-raise) - Side delts · Cable - [Cable Seated Rear Lateral Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/cable-seated-rear-lateral-raise) - Side delts · Cable - [Dumbbell Lateral to Front Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-lateral-to-front-raise) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Dumbbell Bent Arm Lateral Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-bent-arm-lateral-raise) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Lateral Raises Dumbbell Seated with Swing](https://hi.fitness/exercises/lateral-raises-dumbbell-seated-with-swing) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Side Lateral Raise Resistance Band](https://hi.fitness/exercises/side-lateral-raise-resistance-band) - Side delts · Resistance band - [Band Seated Lateral Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/band-seated-lateral-raise) - Side delts · Resistance band - [Lateral Raise to Shoulder Press Resistance Band Cable](https://hi.fitness/exercises/lateral-raise-to-shoulder-press-resistance-band-cable) - Side delts · Resistance band - [Dumbbell Armpit Row](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-armpit-row) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Dumbbell Side Lying One Hand Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-side-lying-one-hand-raise) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Dumbbell Leaning Fly](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-leaning-fly) - Side delts · Dumbbell - [Suspension Trainer with Grips Y Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/suspension-trainer-with-grips-y-raise) - Side delts · Suspension trainer - [Lateral Raise Bodyweight](https://hi.fitness/exercises/lateral-raise-bodyweight) - Side delts · Bodyweight