How to do the Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Step by step
- Sit tall on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand, arms at your sides.
- Keep a slight bend in your elbows and your torso upright and still.
- Raise both dumbbells out to the sides until your arms reach shoulder height.
- Lead with your elbows and feel the side of each shoulder doing the work.
- Lower the weights back down slowly to your sides.
The thing people get wrong
Sitting removes the leg drive and bounce you would get standing, so resist the urge to swing. Let the side delts lift the weight.
Coaching cue
Keep your shoulders pressed down and your neck long as the dumbbells rise.
Make it easier or harder
- Harder: Take three seconds to lower the dumbbells on every rep.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Side delts
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.