LATERAL
SHOULDER RAISE (SHOULDER ABDUCTION)
 MPEG:
Lateral Shoulder Raise
CORRECT FORM
| 1)
Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand against at your side,
palms facing against your body. The dumbbells can be at your
side or slightly in front of your torso.
2) Maintaining
your palm in the same position throughout the entire exercise,
raise our arms out to the side by bending at the shoulder.
Keep your elbow straight, but not locked while lifting the
weight. |
|
 |
3) Lift the
weight to the level where it is perpendicular to the front of your
torso (not above the shoulder). Move at the shoulder. Looking in
a mirror, the space between your head/neck (upper trapezius)
and tip of your shoulder should not raise up. This would be
shrugging your shoulders.
4) Lower the weight slowly
as you return to the starting position.
5) Inhale as
you lower the weight, exhale as you lift the weight.
MUSCLES
USED
SAFETY
CONSIDERATIONS/PRECAUTIONS
The primary problem
occurs when someone lifts too far overhead, or when lifting by shrugging
up the entire shoulder girdle. In both cases, there is a greater risk
of developing a shoulder impingement syndrome. Be sure to move
at the the shoulder, and not at the neck/upper traps. Stop when
you get to a 90 degree angle in relation to you body. This will also
occur if you are using too much weight. Since your deltoid muscle
cannot handle the weight, the upper trapezius muscle kicks in to help
out.
The second problem comes from a common technique that has long
been practiced and written about for decades, which is referred
to as "pouring" at the top of the movement. In this
case, when you reach to top of the movement, you would actually
turn your palms down and backward as if you were pouring water
into a bucket. |
 |
It is a misnomer that this increases stress on the deltoid. Not only
is this incorrect, but it can also be dangerous. Turning your arm
in like this jams some of the tendons (the supraspinatus in particular)
of the rotator cuff muscles and the bursa up against the roof of the
shoulder (the acromion bone). This can lead to the same shoulder impingement
syndromes mentioned earlier.
EFFECTIVENESS
The lateral shoulder raise
is good for developing and isolating the deltoid muscle. Because this
works a small aspect of the deltoid muscle, it is more effective if
this is done closer to the end of a workout, once the larger muscle
groups have been trained. If you are doing it correctly, you should
feel a burn in the deltoid muscles, not in the arms or the neck.
HELPFUL
WITH TRAINING FOR
Bodybuilding, boxing, martial
arts. |
