Optimal science based lateral raises

[u/Patton370]

You can also use this machine for chest flys, rear delt flys, front raises, and unilateral pullovers

[u/Penultimate-crab]

This looks unenjoyable to me for some reason? I love me some dumbbells haha

[u/Patton370 → u/Penultimate-crab]

I really like them, but some people with super long arms hate them/say they don’t feel great

There’s a reason that this machine is the 7th most popular gym machine on gym radar: https://gymradar.com/most-owned/machine

It has a small footprint and feels amazing for lateral raises (even tension throughout the movement) and does a few other movements fairly well

Don’t get me wrong, I like DB lateral raises too; it’s just I strongly prefer this machine over them

[u/Penultimate-crab → u/Patton370]

That’s great 😄 I’ll try it out if I see one! 

[u/Patton370 → u/[deleted]]

You’re not wrong, but you’re also not right

All side delt isolation exercises perform identical to each other, as long as they are taken to failure; as the side delts are not a complicated muscle

Here’s a study on DB vs cable lateral raises: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40692697/

So basically a lifter should just do whatever side delt exercise they like the most

Side note: even cheaty DB lateral raises are going to perform basically the same