Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise

Pure side-delt isolation - no momentum cheats possible.

Complexity · Lowhypertrophybeginner+DumbbellsBench

Side delts

PrimarySecondary

What it hits

Parts of the target muscle.

Side delts
Hit
Lifts arm out to the side.

The movement

Get it right, not roughly right.

Optimal form

0:41· Jesse James West

Jeff Nippard's Method For Perfect Lateral Raises

Arms down

Parallel

Seated on a bench, dumbbells at the sides. Without rocking the torso, raise the arms out to the sides. Stop at parallel. Lower over 2–3s.

Common mistakes

Rocking forward and back to use the body.
Going heavy enough to engage the upper traps.

Where you should feel it

Pure side-delt isolation - no momentum cheats possible.

Injury risk · 1/10

Variations

Same movement, moved emphasis.

Ranked by how directly each variation still trains side delts. 80%+ means the target barely changes. Below 60%, the emphasis has meaningfully shifted — useful for variety, but less precise for the specific part. The label calls it at a glance.

Seated lean-forward lateral
Slightly forward torso angle.
95% on target
On target
More side-delt isolation, less front-delt.

Compare with another exercise

Cool-down

Worked it. Walk it back down.

A couple of minutes here pays back in soreness avoided tomorrow. Browse the full library.

Cross-body Shoulder Stretch
Pull one arm across the body with the opposite hand at the elbow. Shoulder stays down - don't let it shrug. 30s per side.
Rear deltsSide delts

Side delts