Exercise for developing the muscles of the arms and back: raising dumbbells from the sides. Dumbbell lateral raises What muscles work when raising your arms up through the sides

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Date of: 2017-09-21 Views: 10 276 Grade: 5.0 I see this question regarding execution technique as very relevant due to the diversity of opinions and common mistakes. Let's clarify this issue and look at some of the nuances. The shoulder joint has a complex structure with its tubercles, acromion of the scapula, ligaments, adjacent muscle tendons and joint capsules. An incorrect technique for performing this exercise with weights leads to several undesirable consequences: Firstly, you work your deltoid muscles worse, which affects the final result. Secondly, you risk further problems with the shoulder joints and even the cervical spine, which will limit the development of the physical qualities of the upper shoulder girdle. When the humerus is abducted to the side, the deltoid muscle works. Somewhere in the 70-80° abduction, the scapulohumeral rhythm comes into play, when the scapula moves with its lower edge outward to increase the range of motion of the arm. Rotation of the scapula occurs with the participation of other muscles - the upper and lower fibers of the trapezius, serratus anterior, and rhomboid muscles stabilize the scapula. This mechanism is needed to prevent the humerus from colliding with the structures of the scapula and joint. Thus, the recommendation to put pressure on the upper arms with your hands or limit their movement in some way in order to disable the trapezius from working can lead to cumulative injury and indicates ignorance of functional anatomy. When abducting the shoulder to the side, you need to position the shoulder so that the long head of the biceps is minimally involved in the work, and also distribute the load evenly over all three sections of the delta. In no case should the humerus be moved to the side when it is pronated (rotated inward), here the tubercles of the humerus meet the ligaments and acromion, pinching the articular capsule. The recommendation to pour out glasses during abduction is not correct; you need to ensure the correct position of the shoulder, and keep the dumbbell bar approximately in the middle position (parallel to the floor). This exercise is often called dumbbell side swings. This name predisposes you to perform the exercise incorrectly. In swings, the delta muscles do not work fully; work here occurs due to elastic deformation of various structures and inertia, as a result of which the effectiveness of the exercise decreases. Therefore, it is correct to call them lifts in order to work under control. With poor mobility and stability of the shoulder blades and shoulder joint, dumbbell lifts, like any exercises where there is movement in the shoulder joints, become not entirely effective and the risk of injury increases. You will learn how to make your shoulder blades and joints mobile and stable from my articles and videos - subscribe!

Below is a visual video with the technique of performing the exercise.

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There are several basic exercises. These are various presses and rows of dumbbells and barbells, side raises of dumbbells while bent over and standing. Each exercise is effective and can be used either separately or in a super series.

Basic exercises

The position of the body at the beginning of the exercise can be either standing or sitting, with a straight back and dumbbells in your hands.

Execution technique: while exhaling, lift dumbbells across the sides to the shoulder joints. As you inhale, slowly return.

Do not allow your arm to fully straighten throughout the entire exercise; keep your elbow joints slightly bent. In order to use the maximum muscle fibers of the deltoid muscle in the work, when performing the hand, you need to turn your little fingers up. This position of the hands will ensure an even load on both the front and middle delta bundles.

To diversify the training process, you can change the position of the hand and turn the thumb up. In this case, the load will shift to the front delta beam.

Not the easiest exercise. Throughout the entire movement, it is necessary to control the position of the back (it should be flat), chest and shoulders (straightened and open). Do not lift the dumbbells above your shoulders, although this option is allowed if you want to include the trapezius in the work.

The trajectory of movement should be maximum - lifting to shoulder level, lowering to a position where the muscle is still in action and not relaxed. Perform the exercise until you feel a burning sensation in the muscle.

Monitor the position of the elbow joint; movement begins from there. The hand follows and ends up below the elbow.

Posterior deltoid training

Lifting dumbbells through the sides in an inclined position engages the rear delta and can be performed from a starting position standing or sitting. When standing in a bent position, the back muscles are also involved in the work. In the initial sitting position, the work of the deltas is more isolated. This option is more complex and requires maximum concentration of attention when performing it.

Execution technique

Standing bent over, head raised, while exhaling, lift the dumbbells to ear level. As you inhale, slowly lower your arms down. The technique is similar to the previous exercise and is performed in the same way, but while standing in an inclined position. Thumbs point to the floor, little fingers point to the ceiling, avoid movement at the elbows.

No matter how they call this movement. Standing flyes, standing dumbbell abductions, standing forearms flyes, forearm abductions, standing dumbbell swings. For simplicity, we will designate it as a “standing mid-delt raise,” but it is anatomically correct to call it a lateral abduction. The number of techniques performed by athletes is even more varied. Some argue that you need to contrive to raise your shoulders and move the dumbbells in an arc. Others - under no circumstances should you lift the dumbbell above your elbow. Still others allow cheating, while others are strictly against it. Still others generally believe that the movement causes nerves to be pinched by the shoulder joint, and therefore should not be practiced. There are a lot of options, in fact, in fitness we need to master the simplest one, and not try to include “extra” muscles like the trapezius during work.

In fact, dumbbell flyes are rarely a cause of injury unless the technique is truly horrendous. Some athletes may throw weights toward their heads, raise their arms too high, swing aggressively, and rotate their arms backward at the shoulders during the movement. They run a serious risk, but not of muscle tears, as is commonly believed, but of sprained ligaments and subsequent inflammatory processes.

The problem with shoulders is that they are loaded not only in sports, but also in everyday life. We sit a lot, raising our shoulders and overstraining our trapezius, we carry bags on one shoulder for a long time, stretching one half of our body and involuntarily shortening the other, and we often do sharp lifts of our arms without warming up. This leads to overload of the joints.

Let's say a person has never trained. He comes to the gym and starts doing bench presses, bench presses, sitting, standing, and a couple more presses, but this time with dumbbells. All of them work the deltoids and involve the joint. It is enough to overwork and make an awkward movement and you can get a tear or sprain. Ironically, injury occurs on the last exercise most often, and it's not just any heavy bench press, but a standing isolation dumbbell swing or a cable raise. The reason here is not the movement itself, but the overload of the joint.

For beginners, it is not recommended to do more than 2-3 bench press exercises in one workout. If there are too many exercises, it is better to leave abductions or swings for a light session, and not do them when the body has already received sufficient load. Ideally, the workout should include 1 heavy press, 1 assisted press, and 1 bench or standing abduction. Only then will the volume be adequate.

Anatomical features are also of great importance. If the trapezius is overdeveloped, the athlete will not be able to perform the movement using the shoulders alone. This must be taken into account when choosing weights and start literally with 2-3 kg.

Injuries are often accompanied by inflammation, which is not localized, but spreads throughout the muscle bundle. They often affect the nerves, which increases the pain. Shoulder injuries should be diagnosed by a doctor. Home treatment based on guesswork will not lead to anything good.

Some of them have already been mentioned. The shoulders “suffer” usually due to the athlete’s excessive zeal for the physical form. Simply put, everyone wants to pump them up faster because they give the figure an athletic look and therefore turn training any part of the body into “shoulders.” This is not rational and leads to injury. A beginning athlete should not train his shoulders on the same day as his chest and back.

There are two basic rules for creating a split for beginners:

• If you are performing a standing or seated press on shoulder training day, it does not need to be attached to your chest or back. Do shoulders with legs like the old school athletes and stay healthy;
• If there is no bench press in the workout, but only abductions and lifting, then perform shoulder training on the day of light bench press along with triceps work

Training shoulders with the back only makes sense if there is really nowhere else to put them, all the presses in the workout are heavy, the legs are also heavy, and the back is performed according to the “injury pumping” principle. But this is not typical in fitness. It's more of a powerlifter's approach.

Important: if a beginner is not yet doing splits, abductions can replace the bench press in some cases. For example, when during training the classic bench press with a barbell was taught, and the front deltoids were already overloaded.

This movement has only a few technical features. They are aimed at ensuring that the load does not shift to the anterior and posterior bundles of the deltoid muscles. The front bundles raise the arms, the rear bundles pull them back. It’s simple - you don’t need to allow a swing with a clear emphasis on bringing the shoulder blades together and swinging forward with the dumbbells swinging in front of the chest. Options with shifting accents and cheating are loved by bodybuilding professionals for only one reason. These people train for years, sometimes decades. It’s difficult to “pierce” their muscles with anything and surprise them. That’s why they use methods that seem strange to the average person.

Important: This exercise is rarely performed first in shoulder girdle training, but almost always requires a joint warm-up. If you have already done standing and bench presses, you just need to perform a few rotations in the shoulder joint, moving your arm back. Those who have not done this require a full warm-up, with light presses with a body bar, abductions with rubber or without weights.

How to perform the movement:

1. Stand directly in front of the mirror so that you can see your movements;
2. Take dumbbells in your hands with minimal weight, but such that you can feel it;
3. Move your forearm to the side, along an arched path, raising your elbow to the side, but not higher than your shoulder;
4. Elbows slightly bent;
5. The dumbbells in the hands turn in the same direction as the movement;
6. When we move our arms to the sides, the little finger is at the top, the thumb is at the bottom, this causes the dumbbells to turn;
7. Lifting and lowering are performed smoothly and slowly, without cheating the body and additional unnecessary movements

In normal mode, the movement is performed for 10-12 repetitions. But there are also special cases. For example, a person has very responsive slow muscle fibers and needs high repetitions or statics, that is, holding dumbbells at the top point. Or an option with a relatively low-repetition regime is possible, if the opposite is true. Here it is important to observe yourself and do what the body responds to.

Important: the exercise should not be performed using inertial force in any of the options. If you need to push with your legs, jump, or move your body, the weight is too heavy and needs to be reduced.

The one-arm abduction is an option for those who struggle with muscle imbalances or suffer from cheating. You need to grab a vertical support with your free hand and stand, transferring your weight to the center of the arch of both feet. Then the arm is moved to the side, completely repeating the technique of the main exercise.

Although the goal is to overcome imbalances, the movement is performed on both sides for the same number of repetitions.

It is necessary to avoid excessive bending to the side to avoid pinching the nerve and not to provoke an inflammatory process.

Features of movement

Below are the features of the exercise:

1. This is a muscle-isolating movement; you don’t need to take huge dumbbells and try to push them up as best you can;
2. The weight is selected individually, strictly so that it is possible to lift it by contracting the middle fascicle of the deltoid, and not by including the trapezius and muscles of the body and legs in the work;
3. If cheating cannot be eliminated at all, you need to do the movement in the “sitting on a bench” position with your back pressed against the back;
4. No opportunity to develop equipment? Try stretching the rubber shock absorber to the side along the trajectory of the dumbbell abduction. Take the lightest one. The tape will teach you to turn off the trapezius muscles.

The list of mistakes made by beginners and professionals is almost the same:

1. The desire to pump up muscles as quickly as possible, and the choice of dumbbells that are too heavy, which will certainly interfere with performing the exercise correctly;
2. Walking on your toes, rolling on your feet, changing the position of your legs;
3. Performing the movement by tilting the body;
4. Starting position with your back tilted back;
5. Changing the trajectory of movement, throwing dumbbells to the head;
6. Uneven rise on the right and left. If you have a curvature of the spine, perform the movement with one arm at a time;
7. Flexion at the hip joint with forward bending;
8. Changes in the angle of the hip joint as you get tired;
9. Turning on extra muscles as you get tired

Shoulder swings are often performed as a drop set to create an extensive pump. This is only permissible if the athlete is experienced and can maintain the starting position throughout the exercise.

For those who work with cheating, we can recommend smooth leads on the lower block of the crossover. This will help eliminate unnecessary pushing and other movements and allow you to improve your technique almost instantly. The exercise must be performed regularly, then mastering it will not be a big problem.

Raising dumbbells from the sides is an exercise aimed at developing the deltoid muscles (shoulder muscles) and allows you to work their middle bundle in isolation. Let's take a closer look at the anatomy and technique of the exercise.

What muscles work when you raise your arms up from the sides?

The deltoid muscles of the shoulder consist of three small bundles: the anterior, middle and posterior deltoids. When performing side-to-side dumbbell lifts, the middle bundle is worked out as much as possible, and the front and rear bundles are included in the work to a slightly lesser extent.

The back muscles help to carry out the movement - trapezius, rhomboid and serratus superior posterior.

In this case, you need to achieve such a technique that the biceps do not “pull” the load on themselves, and all three delta bundles are included in the work.

This exercise improves the mobility of the shoulder blades and shoulder joint. The main thing is to do it correctly so as not to harm these joints.

In general, the anatomy of this exercise looks like this:

Benefits of exercise

There are not many exercises and actions in everyday life that allow you to work the middle bundle of the deltoid muscle. There are more exercises that involve the front and rear deltoids, and they also help with some exercises not directly related to pumping the shoulders. This is due to the peculiarity of the location of the middle delta, which allows this muscle to strain less often, and the load goes to the anterior or posterior bundles. And dumbbell lateral raises work great in this area if done slowly and deliberately.

By performing swings regularly, you can increase the strength and growth of shoulder muscles, improve flexibility and mobility of the joints.

Technique for performing dumbbell lateral raises

Before starting the exercise, it is important to choose the right weight with which you will work. For women who do not pursue the goal of building muscle mass, it is advisable to limit themselves to 3 kg dumbbells (1 kg is suitable for beginners). Men can start with 3 kg and gradually increase the weight of the projectile.

1. We take a comfortable, stable position: feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly turned to the sides.
2. It is best to hold dumbbells with a neutral grip, without turning the hand in any direction.
3. We keep our back straight and rigid, with the shoulder blades moving towards each other.
4. Bend your elbows slightly.
5. As you exhale, gently raise your arms with the dumbbells up.
6. At the top point, the elbows should be in line with the shoulders, and the hands should be slightly below this line.
7. As you inhale, lower your arms and repeat the exercise.
8. Another breathing option: inhale, hold the lift; At the top point we exhale and begin to lower our arms down. This type of breathing is usually used by male athletes when lifting heavy weights.

We perform 12–15 times. 4 approaches will be enough.

Video: swings, technique for performing dumbbell side raises while standing

During the exercise, you should not raise your arms above your head. The exercise can be performed either sitting or standing. Before training, try to remember a number of nuances that will make it even more effective and safe:

1. When lifting dumbbells from the sides, do not use too much weight - correct technique plays the biggest role here. If you take dumbbells that are too large, the load will shift to your back, and the exercise will become ineffective for pumping up your deltoids.
2. Your arms should be raised until your shoulder is parallel to the floor, not higher. The deltoid muscles stop working when you raise your arms higher, since at this moment the load falls on the trapezius.
3. Don't help yourself with your body. If you feel yourself starting to sway, it means the weight is too heavy. The body must be firmly fixed, and movement must be carried out only by raising the arms.
4. Don't bend your elbows too much; this also takes a lot of pressure off your shoulder muscles.
5. The arms should rise through the sides, there is no need to bring them forward; Elbows should point back, not down.

Raising dumbbells through the sides is one of the most effective exercises for pumping the deltoid muscles, especially the middle bunch. To fully develop the shoulder muscles, you should alternate this exercise with others, for example, standing dumbbell press, Arnold press, overhead barbell press, and so on. This will allow you to achieve symmetry and an equal degree of elaboration of all delta beams.

Along with the usual exercises for pumping up the deltas, there is one more, maximally focused on working out the middle beam - lateral dumbbell raises. This exercise may also be called - swing dumbbells to the sides. In this article we will look at the technique and methodology for their implementation.

Execution technique

• Before starting the exercise, you should stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, and toes slightly apart.
• Hold the dumbbells in your hands with a neutral grip (palms facing in). Keep your arms straight. The gaze is directed ahead.
• Inhale deeply, hold your breath and begin the exercise.
• When you lift the dumbbells, bend your elbows slightly.
• The lift should be completed when the dumbbells have reached shoulder level.
• Exhale and begin to release the dumbbells to the starting position.
• When raising your arms, do not allow your body to move. The ideal execution is one in which the body remains straight.

1. Choose your working weight wisely. Dumbbells that are too heavy will force the muscles of the upper back to work, which will take away most of the load from the deltoids. In addition, according to anatomy, it is impossible to lift very large things in this way, since there is a lever effect here. Ultimately, excess weight will cause you to bend your elbows even more, making the exercise completely ineffective.
2. Do not lift the weight to a vertical position. As studies have shown, lifting dumbbells from horizontal to the floor and above is carried out by the strength of the trapezius muscles. There is almost no load on the deltas here. So raise your arms only to the horizontal.
3. Complement dumbbell lateral raises with standing and seated presses. In this case, the deltas will be pumped more deeply and efficiently.
4. Lifting dumbbells through the sides can also be performed on a block. Grasp the handle of the lower block, which is located to your left, with your right hand, and the handle of the block on your right with your left hand. In the initial phase of the exercise, your wrists will be crossed. In general, the technique of execution is similar to the technique with dumbbells. A one-sided version of this exercise is also perfect.
5. Inhaling and holding air will help you keep your body upright. The air-filled chest will serve as support for the middle spine.
6. If you feel pulled forward during the exercise, the weight of the dumbbells is too heavy or your elbows are bent too much. Move the dumbbells strictly to the sides, and bend your elbows at an angle of no more than 10-15 degrees.
7. Raise your arms with dumbbells vertically for at least one set. This will have a positive effect on the flexibility of the shoulder joints, which, for example, will greatly help in performing a snatch.
8. Professional athletes also advise periodically “shocking” the deltoids with heavy weight. To do this, take dumbbells that are 10%-15% heavier than your usual weight. With a slow, pointed movement, lift them to an angle of 45 degrees and slowly lower them.