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In a new video on the Athlean-X channel, strength coach Jeff Cavaliere CSCS shows four different variations of the side raise and evaluate its usefulness in helping you strengthen your shoulders.
Start with the classic straight arms version using a dumbbell. “The first thing that will happen is that you will have to use a lighter weight,” he says. “As the length of the arm increases, the weight on the hand will have to decrease in order to handle it.” This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: remember, the point here is to make sure the muscle is under enough tension, and a heavier weight isn’t required for that.
However, it’s also worth noting that the movement is harder at the top of the lift, and a weight that makes you work hard at the top will likely be too easy at the bottom half. Cavaliere fixes this by limiting the range of motion to the top 45 degrees of the exercise. “This will still be a challenge no matter what kind of weight you put in your hand,” he says, adding that you can alternatively introduce style and a half reps.
He then demonstrates the benefits of performing this lift with a bent arm. You can increase the weight here, and he suggests adding the extra half of the weight he was using for the straight arm version.
“You’re going to want that weight to stay relatively in line with your torso, and not in front of you,” he says. “Let your elbow roll back and keep the dumbbell in line with your body. Tension-wise, it should feel pretty similar, because the adaptation was done by increasing the weight of the dumbbell to keep the tension high.”
Then lower the dumbbells and turn your attention to the Cable Lateral Raise. When doing the straight arm version of this, make sure the cable is at a right angle to your forearm – this will ensure you have a good amount of tension from the start.
However, Cavaliere believes the way to get “the best of all worlds” is to perform the bent-arm variation of the cable lateral raise, as it allows you to maintain that right-angled tension throughout your range of motion. “Not only can I pull it through my body to stretch more at first, but now when I get to the top, it’s even more perpendicular because the lever arm now exists in this plane that was not there when we were straight,” he explains. . This variation also allows you to load the lift harder and slow down the negatives on each rep to maximize time under tension and eccentric contraction.
Philip Ellis is a UK freelance writer and journalist who covers pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller, and MTV.
