Quick question on lateral raises...

[YuMadThough]

Doing some sitting front/side lateral raises at the moment with some dumbells but was wondering if you should keep your shoulder blades squeezed together throughout the movement?

Reps given

[3MGS6]

I don't.
For lateral raises make sure that elbow is higher than wrist,to make sure that medial delts are stimulated more.OP at the top of the movement make sure your pinky is higher than thumb,like pouring water from a jug.

[hessunit]

I don't.
For lateral raises make sure that elbow is higher than wrist,to make sure that medial delts are stimulated more.OP at the top of the movement make sure your pinky is higher than thumb,like pouring water from a jug.

This.^^^ But as with many other exercises I would still focus on keeping your shoulders back and chest high. Good posture helps make good clean lifts and minimizes potential for injury.

[DJAuto]

I maintain proper posture. Scapular retraction is not necessary.

Also - there is no such thing as a front lateral raise.

[Corsaire]

I'll add another question to the topic. Should you do them slowly (3 secs up, 3 secs down) or fast?
I know when I do them fast I can lift more weight but it's easier to cheat.

[FAO]

I'll add another question to the topic. Should you do them slowly (3 secs up, 3 secs down) or fast?
I know when I do them fast I can lift more weight but it's easier to cheat.

kinda answered your own question there...pushing weight is cool, doing same weight in controlled movement is much better. Allowing a pause at the top of the motion to squeeze the muscle is kick @ZZ...might need to drop down in weight a little, do it right...

[Tyrbolift]

I'll add another question to the topic. Should you do them slowly (3 secs up, 3 secs down) or fast?
I know when I do them fast I can lift more weight but it's easier to cheat.

I know it sounds wishy washy, but a little of both. Power it up with a slight acceleration, then do the negative slower. You get the most bang for the buck (optimal benefits)this way.

[imasavage]

I say no. I believe it is better for delt isolation to not only push up but out on the side laterals.

[YuMadThough]

I gotta do em for physio at the moment for a muscle imbalance around my shoulder blade, by front/later raises i mean out to the side and front about 2 o'clock from facing forwards.

After reviewing some anatomy it seems to make sense to keep your shoulder blades together, i mean the function of the delts is to raise the arm or elbow up to shoulder height right so i would of thought any higher would activate the traps.

By keeping your back loose and just raising your arm upwards and outwards the upper/middle traps get recruited alot whereas if you keep your shoulder blades together then you constantly keep your traps tight which would minimise their involvement and make the deltoids work harder.

surely?

[YuMadThough]

Bump

[Bentride]

I know it sounds wishy washy, but a little of both. Power it up with a slight acceleration, then do the negative slower. You get the most bang for the buck (optimal benefits)this way.

^^^This. And yes, whenever i squeez my shoulder blades together i feel it work my delts twice as much.

[hulkinout]

I've noticed that keeping your shoulders back (essentially keeping goos posture), helps hit my medials better than if I assume my normal, slightly slouched, shoulders rounded forward position. I have to use slightly lower weight when doing this, but the payoff is worth it.

[TulsaCoker]

Do them slow with proper form, pause at the side for two seconds then lower at the same rate.

[-Lucifer]

Doing some sitting front/side lateral raises at the moment with some dumbells but was wondering if you should keep your shoulder blades squeezed together throughout the movement?

Nope, no point in squeezing your shoulder blades together.

Like Hulkinout said, keeping your shoulders pushed backwards (good posture, chest out) hits the medial delts harder.

[YuMadThough]

Example:-



Imagin what would be happening if you just let your shoulder blades be nice and loose when doing lat raises...whenever you raise your arms it'll mostly be the traps that will be contracting & relaxing which would seem to take most of the strain off the delts.




Whereas if you keep your shoulder blades together so your traps are constantly contracted n nice and tight then it should make sense that more stress would be on the delts because your back is tigher and more stable..your arms n shoulders get minimal assistance from the back muscles.

[theapexxxx]

Keeping your shoulders back and chest out does contract the traps to a degree. It sounds like your saying flex your traps as hard as you can. Which would be pointless because its taking away the concentration from the delts. Just keep shoulders back, chest out (proper form) is enough trap contraction without it being a distraction.

[-Lucifer]

OP
If you want to minimize your trap involvement, do them one-handed.

[nolimitlifting]

Thats exactly what i do, as previously i used to do lateral raises with both arms simultaneously, now however i focus on one deltoid at a time and its worked better for me as now my middle deltoid especially is sore for days later. So id recommend to doing lateral raises with one arm at a time like doing bent over dumbell rows.

[YuMadThough]

Example...




Imagin what would be happening now if you let your shoulder blades move freely and loosly when doing lat raises...the traps would contract n relax everytime you raise your arms and most likely be aiding the movement which would probably take some stress off the delts.



Whereas if you keep your traps nice and tight through out the movement with your shoulder blades contracted then it makes your back more rigid n stable which i imagin would place more stress onto the deltoids by making them have to work harder because the other muscles in the back aren't moving or assisting in any way.

[YuMadThough]

bump