6 Simple Exercises To Strengthen Lateral Shoulders

Simple exercises to strengthen latera shoulders. (Photo via Bastien Plu/Unsplash)

To build strong arms, you must strengthen your lateral shoulders. It’s not wise to ignore the lateral delts or shoulder exercises.

The shoulders are formed of three parts - anterior, lateral, and rear delts. If you want to have well-developed shoulders, you should work on each part with equal intensity and effort. This is the first step towards adding uniformity across the muscle groups.

Furthermore, if you strengthen your lateral shoulders, you will be able to use that strength to focus on power lifts and compound lifts, and use them as secondary muscle groups for assistance.

Simple Exercises to Strengthen Lateral Shoulders

The following are six exercises that can help strengthen your lateral shoulders.

You don't need to do all of them every day, but using them in variations will allow you to activate the bigger and smaller muscle fibers in your arms.

Let's get started:

1) Lateral raise

To do a lateral raise:

Stand straight with a dumbbell in each hand.
Raise the dumbbells laterally (keeping your arms extended to the sides).
Keep your elbow slightly bent, and your forearms and wrists aligned.
Lift from your elbows to maximize the pressure on the lateral delts.
Lower the weight slowly to avoid injuries.
Repeat for at least 10-12 reps.

2) Seated Arnold press

To do a seated Arnold press:

Set an incline bench at 90degrees.
Take a dumbbell in each hand, and place them on your thighs.
Use the thighs momentum to lift the dumbbells to your shoulders.
Hold the dumbbells steady, and push them overhead.
During the motion, rotate your forearms so that your palms face backwards at the top of the motion.
When lowering the dumbbells, rotate your forearms midway again so that you’re back to the starting position.
Repeat for 12-15 reps.

3) Single arm cable lateral raise

To do single arm cable lateral raise:

Set the anchor on the cable pulley machine at the bottom.
Attach the d-grip to it, and grab it with your right palm.
Hold the cable machine with your left arm, and allow your body to lean towards the right.
Using the full range of motion, pull the weight with your right hand across your body.
Keep your lateral delts engaged during the exercise.
Lower the weight steadily before doing the next rep.
Repeat on your left side.

4) Cable Y-raise

You can use this exercise to strengthen your lateral shoulders by using it as a burnout set - pushing each set to failure.

To do a cable Y-raise:

Set anchors of the cable pulley machine to the bottom on both sides.
Attach the d-bars to both, and hold them with opposite hands (left grip with right and vice versa).
Using your lateral delts, pull the cables across your body from both sides.
At the top of the motion, your arms should form a Y-shape with the body.
Repeat till failure.

5) Barbell press

To strengthen the lateral shoulders, you should maintain a strong muscle-mind connection. Otherwise, the triceps can take over.

To do a barbell press:

Set up a barbell on the power rack at shoulder height (will vary depending on if you’re sitting or standing).
Stack the barbell with weight plates.
Hold the barbell with both palms, and unrack it.
Engage your shoulders, and push it overhead.
Steadily lower the barbell till your shoulders before starting the next rep.

6) Upright row

To do an upright row:

Set the barbell on a power rack at hip height.
Stack the barbell with moderate or light weights.
Hold the barbell with a pronated grip, and unrack it.
Hold it in front of you, and use your shoulders to raise the barbell till your chest.
Your elbows will flare, but your wrist needs to be aligned with the barbell or you can hurt your joint.
Slowly lower the barbell to avoid any sudden jerks that can lead to injury.

Bottom Line

Exercises to strengthen the lateral shoulders are a must for your shoulder routine. However, that does not mean you should ignore the other delts.

As mentioned earlier, for overall development, it’s imperative to train all parts of a muscle group with equal intensity and volume.

Moreover, you should give your muscles recovery time as well when you’re trying to strengthen your lateral shoulders. The recovery period will ensure that your muscle fibers repair themselves to become thicker and stronger.