The humble dumbbell lateral side raise is a move that is loved for its ability to gain muscle mass but often feared for its potential wearing effects on the shoulder. If you want to get the best from this left, the detail is in the digits says popular fitness coach, Jeff Nippard.
If you have ever experienced your shoulders grinding during lateral raises, the emphasis that you are putting onto you front deltoids can be alleviated by simply rotating your grip says the natural powerlifter and bodybuilder in a recent Instagram demonstration. Here’s what you need to know.
Why perform the Dumbbell Lateral Raise?
This exercise is a popular move on the gym floor owed to its ability to increase the size of your side (or middle) deltoid. This is the muscle that gives your shoulders that full, rounded look, and is a must for serious bodybuilders. The lateral raise isolates the medial head of the deltoids and gives you that extra shoulder width but is often performed with less than perfect form.
Despite the popularity of the move, some people avoid it because they feel pain in their shoulders or feel no pain but fail to build mass in the right spot. Fortunately, a small adjustment could make a big difference, because Nippard says that your hand placement is paramount for making a safe and effective lateral raise, advising lifters against pointing their thumbs skyward.
“Well, if you point your thumbs up, you’re going to shift tension away from the side delts and on to your front delts,” explains the coach. “That’s because when you point your thumb up, what you’re actually doing is externally rotating your shoulders. This places the front delt fibers in the path of resistance and shoves the side delt fibers out to the side.”
Instead, the fitness author says you can experiment with having the little fingers up instead. “Now, your rear delt fibers are more in-line with the dumbbell, depending just how much you crank your pinkies up,” adds Nippard. If that doesn’t feel comfortable, the canny Canadian offers up an optimum degree of digit rotation. “If you only tilt your pinkies up by about 20 degrees, you’ll still mainly hit the side delt fibers, with a slight emphasis toward the rear aspect but if you feel shoulder pain with your pinkies up, there’s absolutely nothing wrong doing them with a neutral palm either.”
So, in summary, Nippard that says pinkies up is okay, even if just raised by 20 degrees. A neutral variation is also approved by the fitness author for growing those side delts, but when it comes to having the thumbs up, Nippard gives this approach the thumbs down. Got it? Great!
For more sensible fitness advice follow Jeff Nippard on Instagram!
