One-Arm Side Laterals — start position
Start
One-Arm Side Laterals — end position
End

Shoulders / Beginner / Isolation (single joint)

One-Arm Side Laterals

A dumbbell isolation exercise for the side delts.

At a glance

Primary
Side delts
Equipment
Dumbbells
Movement pattern
Lateral raise (abduction)
Level
Beginner
Type
Shoulders, Isolation (single joint), One side at a time

How to do it

  1. Pick a dumbbell and place it in one of your hands. Your non lifting hand should be used to grab something steady such as an incline bench press. Lean towards your lifting arm and away from the hand that is gripping the incline bench as this will allow you to keep your balance.
  2. Stand with a straight torso and have the dumbbell by your side at arm's length with the palm of the hand facing you. This will be your starting position.
  3. While maintaining the torso stationary (no swinging), lift the dumbbell to your side with a slight bend on the elbow and your hand slightly tilted forward as if pouring water in a glass. Continue to go up until you arm is parallel to the floor. Exhale as you execute this movement and pause for a second at the top.
  4. Lower the dumbbell back down slowly to the starting position as you inhale.
  5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
  6. Switch arms and repeat the exercise.

Open in the appGet started

Muscles worked

Neck (Front)Upper traps (Front)Front delts (Front)Side delts — primary (Front)Chest (Front)Serratus anterior (Front)Biceps (Front)Forearms & grip (Front)Abs (Front)Obliques (Front)Hip flexors (Front)Quads (Front)Adductors (Front)Shins (tibialis) (Front)Calves (Front)Outer shins (peroneals) (Front)Feet (arch & toes) (Front)Neck (Back)Upper traps (Back)Upper back (rhomboids, mid/lower traps) (Back)Rear delts (Back)Side delts — primary (Back)Rotator cuff (Back)Lats (Back)Lower back (erectors) (Back)Triceps (Back)Forearms & grip (Back)Hip abductors (glute med) (Back)Glutes (Back)Hamstrings (Back)Adductors (Back)Calves (Back)
FrontBack
  • Primary: Side delts

Best for

How specific this exercise is to each movement.

Similar exercises

Photos and instructions: free-exercise-db (github.com/yuhonas/free-exercise-db), public domain.