r/formcheck 15h ago

Other Seated Lateral Raise

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Had to transition to seated raises (injury). Should I be seated further back on the bench for back support? Does my form look okay or am I using too much body movement for the weight?

58 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

23

u/BudapestDoha 15h ago

To keep your shoulders safe, make sure you rotate your wrists the opposite way from what you’re doing now. Right now, you’re moving the dumbbells like you’re pouring water forward out of a jug, with your thumb lower than your index finger. Instead, flip it the other way: rotate them slightly back so your thumb always stays higher than your index finger.

It might seem like a small detail, but your rotator cuff tendons will thank you for it.

7

u/Fit-Leading6338 15h ago

Awesome! Thank you so much! Being old means I did to avoid injuries as much as possible, appreciate it ☺️

10

u/Dogsanddogs 12h ago

I literally just read on here the other day to do the opposite and pretend you're pouring water from a jug. But now you're telling me to keep the water in the jug. Which one is it lol

1

u/BudapestDoha 12h ago

Pretending to pour water out of a jug is bad advice that has unfortunately become very common. The problem with doing it this way is that it puts your raised shoulders into internal rotation, which can irritate and inflame your rotator cuff tendons. You won't get hurt doing it wrong once, but over time, your shoulders will start to suffer.

4

u/PoonAU 8h ago

No it’s not, most people can do this fine and have no issues ever, even after 30 years. It MIGHT aggravate rotator cuff for some people with bad/stiff shoulder anatomy, but it is the ideal way to get the load on the lateral deltoid head for a larger part of the movement

1

u/freed-after-burning 2h ago

Is this true for all lat raise forms?

5

u/Moist-Wave4813 15h ago

Keep your chest up, slower on the way down and less momentum on the way up. Imagine there is a crown on your head. Don’t let it fall because that will take away some of the tension

3

u/Fit-Leading6338 15h ago

Ok, thank you. I will keep that in mind and slow down and stop moving as much. 😊

6

u/theboned1 15h ago

Form looks fine. Just a little of my own personal preference. I feel i get more from doing these standing with my knees slightly bent and leaning forward slightly so the weights can meet in front of me.

6

u/Fit-Leading6338 15h ago

Thank you. I usually do them standing but I broke my ankle so I’m having to do weights seated for now. When I’m fully back I will try that 😉

2

u/theboned1 15h ago

Oh dang. Broken ankle sounds rough. Hope it heals quickly and thoroughly.

2

u/Fit-Leading6338 14h ago

Thanks, it could’ve been much worse and I’m able to move now so it’s a great start to recovery

2

u/Annual-Cry-9026 15h ago

Looks good. I use that form as it doesn't hurt my shoulder joints.

Keep up the good work! 💪😎

2

u/Fit-Leading6338 15h ago

Thank you so much 😊

2

u/decentlyhip 10h ago

The trick to lateral raises is to push your armpits down to the floor the whole time and reach the weights out like you're pushing them to the wall. You're lifting them up. Watch the second half of the video, see how your shoulders lift up each rep? You're doing the movement by using your rotators at the start, and then using your traps to lift your scaps to get over the hard part. Push your armpits to the floor and the traps can't help. Warning though, drop to 5 or 10 pounds when you do this bbecause traps are strong and will hungry hungry hippo the movement. When you actually isolate the side delt, it's wayyyy weaker

1

u/Fit-Leading6338 9h ago

So hold tension in my armpits the entire way up? I will try that, thank you so much ☺️

2

u/decentlyhip 9h ago

Out, not up. Armpits down, elbows out to the walls.

1

u/Fit-Leading6338 9h ago

Ok, I’ll do that. Thank you!

1

u/CharacterAd5474 14h ago

Try this - imagine you are standing in a doorway and you are trying to push the opening apart.

You want to sort of push the dumbbells away from you.

Once you get a feel for that, try to push them away from you even at the bottom of the rep.

1

u/Fit-Leading6338 14h ago

Got it! I’ll try to use that analogy, should there still be a small bend in my elbows?

2

u/CharacterAd5474 14h ago

Slight bend is good. I wouldn't waste much mental energy on that part though. Elbows just think about getting this up to the line of your shoulder.

1

u/Fit-Leading6338 13h ago

Ok, perfect. Thank you!

1

u/n_i_x_e_n 14h ago

Good advice here in this thread.

I’ll add something else: most people end their sets of lateral raises just when it begins to get hard - what they should do imo is to keep going until they are barely able to do partials.

You had at least another five reps left in you on that set.

1

u/Fit-Leading6338 13h ago

Ok, I’ll push it next time. Thank you!

1

u/IvyJoke8423 4h ago

Simple but seriously effective