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You must be aware of the best side delt exercises or lateral exercises if you want to grow rounded shoulders.
The shoulders are made of three parts - lateral, anterior, and rear delts. It’s important to work on each delt to develop and tone the muscles in the best way possible. Additionally, all parts of a muscle group require equal attention to avoid strength imbalance.
If you have any muscle imbalance, it’s a great idea to incorporate unilateral exercises into your routine i.e., working on one shoulder at a time, to fix the same.
Best Side Delt Exercises
Here are six best side delt exercises you should incorporate in your workout routine for better shoulder muscles with improved endurance and strength:
1) Lateral Raise
One of the first delt exercises are lateral raises. You should focus on getting the form right and engaging the correct muscles when doing this exercise.
This workout usually focuses on the lateral delts, but it also has some effect on the anterior delt too. You can find the guide for using a lateral raise machine here.
2) Incline W Raise
You can do the incline W raise with dumbbells or cables. The anterior and lateral delts are engaged during this exercise.
To do this exercise, set the bench to an incline position, and use it as a chest support. Take a pair of dumbbells, and raise your arms laterally to create a W. When you raise the dumbbells, ensure that you’re lifting with your shoulders from the elbows and not the triceps or forearms.
3) Dumbbell Overhead Press
Another top side delt exercise is the dumbbell press. It helps with toning the delts and allowing better muscle endurance.
The dumbbell press is a compound movement. More than side delts are worked in this exercise, as it activates the smaller muscles around the shoulder and engages the triceps too.
You can find the guide to doing overhead dumbbell press here.
4) Behind-the-back Cable Raise
This exercise is a variation of the cable lateral raise. You can do this exercise one shoulder at a time or both at the same time.
To set up for this exercise, attach the grip to the anchor, and adjust it to the bottom. If you want to keep facing outwards during the exercise, you need to attach grips on both sides.
To do the exercise, hold the right grip with your left hand, and pull the cable between your legs, across your body, and extend it towards your left. Repeat the same on your right shoulder.
5) Arnold Press
The Arnold press is a good choice to add volume to your shoulder routine. It’s named after bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger and is often used by bodybuilders to intensify their shoulder workout.
To do this exercise, sit on a bench with dumbbells in each hand. Lift the dumbbells overhead, but while pressing the weight upwards, twist your forearms so that at the top of the motion, your palm is facing outwards.
Bring the weight back towards your shoulders, but twist your forearms so that your palms face your shoulders when you’re at the starting position. Make sure to twist your forearm and not your wrist during this exercise.
6) Side Plank Lateral Raise
A side plank lateral raise is one of the best side delt exercises. However, it should be done only when your shoulders have developed considerable strength.
You can start doing this exercise with a light weight. To do this pose, set the incline bench, and place yourself on the incline bench on one side, preferably in a side plank position.
Do side raises with the other hand while keeping your core engaged for better balance and stability. It’s better to focus on intensity over volume in this exercise.
Bottom Line
If you’re focusing on the best side delt exercises, you shouldn’t ignore the other two delts - anterior and rear.
While some lateral delt exercises help with anterior delts, the rear delts need additional attention. It’s important to activate the muscles all around the shoulders to force the fibers to grow thicker and stronger with variations, volume, and intensity.
