Band Lateral Raise
A lateral raise against a resistance band under your feet: you lift your arms out to the sides to shoulder height, elbows slightly bent, to train the side delts.
- Primary muscles
- Side delts
- Secondary
- Traps
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Band × reps
Loads from YouTube only when you press play. The video is by an independent creator.
Why do it
It's an easy way to add side delt work at home or on the road, and a band takes up almost no space in a bag. Since the tension rises as the band stretches, the bottom of the raise is light and the top is hardest, which pairs well with high reps and a slow lowering. If the band is too strong to reach shoulder height, stand with your feet closer together on it so it starts with more slack.
How to do it
Stand on the middle of a band and hold one end in each hand at your sides, palms facing in and elbows slightly bent.
Raise your arms out to the sides until your hands are at shoulder height.
Lead with your elbows and keep your shoulders down rather than shrugging.
Lower slowly back to your sides. Log the band you used; a stronger band counts as progress.
Common mistakes
Shrugging the band up
When the band gets tight, your traps want to take over. Keep your shoulders down and lead with your elbows, not your hands.
Raising above shoulder height
Going higher mostly brings in the traps. Stop when your hands reach shoulder height, as the steps describe.
Straightening the arms mid-rep
Changing your elbow angle partway through changes the lever and the feel. Keep the slight bend in your elbows fixed for the whole rep.
Letting the band drag your arms down
Dropping fast skips half the work. Lower slowly back to your sides.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
