Lu Raise
A lateral raise that keeps going: with light dumbbells, you raise your arms out to the sides and on up until the weights meet overhead, training the side delts with help from the traps.
- Primary muscles
- Side delts
- Secondary
- Traps, Front delts
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weight × reps
Loads from YouTube only when you press play. The video is by an independent creator.
Why do it
Named after the Chinese weightlifter Lu Xiaojun, it trains the side delts through a much longer arc than a standard lateral raise, and the traps join in as your arms pass shoulder height. That makes it a good fit for lifters who press or snatch and want their shoulders working through the full overhead range. Expect to be humbled: the top half is hard, so you'll use far lighter dumbbells than for regular raises. If you can't get your arms overhead without arching your back, stick to standard raises for now.
How to do it
Stand tall with a light dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing in.
Raise your arms out to the sides like a lateral raise, but keep going until the dumbbells meet overhead.
Let your shoulders shrug up naturally at the top.
Lower slowly along the same path. Use about half the weight of your normal lateral raise; the top half of the movement is unforgiving.
Common mistakes
Using your lateral raise weight
The top half of the arc is far harder than the bottom, so your usual dumbbells will stall around shoulder height. Start with about half and add weight slowly.
Fighting the shrug at the top
Unlike a regular lateral raise, your shoulders should rise as your arms go overhead. Let the shrug happen; pinning them down blocks the top of the movement.
Arching your back to get overhead
If your ribs flare and your lower back arches as the dumbbells meet, you're borrowing range from your spine. Brace your core and stop where your shoulders run out of room.
Dropping the weights from overhead
Letting the dumbbells fall from the top to your sides throws away the lowering half. Bring them down along the same wide arc, slowly.
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.
