# Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise: how to do it

- Main muscles: side delts
- Equipment: dumbbell, bench
- Level: beginner
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/seated_lateral_raise/9938b35820/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Sit tall on the bench end, dumbbells by your sides, palms in.
2. Keep a slight bend in your elbows.
3. Raise your arms out to the sides until they reach shoulder height.
4. Pause, then lower slowly back to your sides.

## Cues

- Elbows lead, hands follow
- Shoulders down, chest up
- Stop at shoulder height

## Common mistakes

- Rocking the body to lift; sit still and use lighter dumbbells.
- Hands higher than elbows; keep elbows level or above.
- Shrugging up; keep your shoulders away from your ears.

## Starting position

Seated on the end of a flat bench (or an upright bench with the back pad at 85–90°), torso upright, hips and thighs on the seat, feet flat about hip-width, knees about 90°. Abs braced, shoulder blades down and back, head neutral. A dumbbell in each hand, closed neutral grip (palms facing the body). Dumbbells hang beside the hips, just outside the bench edge so they clear the seat.

## The movement

Both arms rise together out to the sides in an arc; elbows and upper arms lead and stay a little ahead of the hands. Movement is shoulder abduction, not rotation. The elbow bend does not change. The torso stays upright and still; no rocking back on the seat.

## End position

(turnaround point): upper arms raised out to the sides to shoulder height: shoulder abduction 90° (accept 80–95°). Elbows level with or slightly higher than the wrists and directly to the side of the shoulders; because the elbows are bent, the dumbbells sit slightly in front of them. Arms 0–20° in front of the frontal plane. Brief pause.

## Tempo

Raise 1.5 s, hold 0.5 s, lower 2 s.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Seat / back pad | bench end, torso vertical | back pad 85–90° |  |
| Knee angle | 90° | 80–100° |  |
| Elbow flexion (held fixed) | 20° | 10–30° |  |
| Shoulder abduction at top | 90° | 80–95° |  |
| Arms forward of frontal plane at top | 10° | 0–20° |  |
| Elbow height vs wrist at top | elbow ≥ wrist | equal to 5 cm higher |  |
| Torso sway | 0° | 0–5° |  |

## Sources

1. [[ExRx.net: Dumbbell Seated Lateral Raise (Internet Archive copy)](](https://web.archive.org/web/2023/https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/DeltoidLateral/DBSeatedLateralRaise)
2. [[ACE: Lateral Raise (dumbbells)](](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/26/lateral-raise/)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/seated-lateral-raise