- Lateral raises and shoulder presses are excellent exercises for strengthening shoulder muscles and should each be a part of your fitness routine.
- Lateral raises make targeting specific shoulder muscles, such as the medial deltoids, easy and can enhance shoulder width.
- Shoulder presses help improve overall shoulder strength and power and build muscle mass.
Shoulder pain has become an increasingly common condition among Americans. A 2023 Harvard Health Publishing report revealed that about 70% of people in the U.S. will experience it at some point. One effective way to maintain shoulder strength and minimize the chances of dealing with pain is to incorporate exercises like lateral raises and shoulder presses into your workout routine.
There is just one problem: While lateral raises and shoulder presses are both tried-and-true exercises for improving shoulder strength and stability, they have sparked countless lateral raise vs. shoulder press debates over the years. This might leave you wondering, “Which exercise is the superior option for helping me reach my fitness goals?”
To answer this question, you must understand the difference between the shoulder press and lateral raise exercises. You also need to know which parts of the shoulder they target and what benefits they can provide when you perform them. Keep reading to discover what sets these exercises apart.
Understanding Lateral Raises
The lateral raise is an isolation exercise designed to target specific muscles within your shoulders. Whether you perform it with dumbbells, kettlebells, or cables, lateral raises primarily target the medial deltoids on the sides of your shoulders.
Lateral raises also engage other muscles, including the anterior deltoids in the front of your shoulders and the posterior deltoids in the back, but they work your side deltoids the most. This makes lateral raises great for enhancing your shoulders' width, leaving them more sculpted and creating a more pronounced silhouette.
One of the biggest differences between the lateral raise vs. the shoulder press is the amount of weight you will lift for each one. Lateral raises require you to lift lighter weights while focusing on muscle hypertrophy rather than improving sheer power. Trying to do this exercise with too much weight could result in injuries, so you need to start with lower weights before gradually moving to heavier ones.
How to Do Lateral Raises
In addition to being careful about how much weight you lift with lateral raises, you should also use great form to make the most of your medial deltoid workouts. Fortunately, this shouldn’t be too difficult since lateral raises are one of the simpler shoulder exercises.
Here’s our step-by-step guide on how to do lateral raises correctly:
- Stand or sit with your arms at your sides and a dumbbell in each hand. Make sure you have good posture and keep your feet hip-distance apart.
- Slowly raise your arms up and out to each of your sides, keeping your arms straight and breathing in.
- Stop when your hands reach the height of your shoulders and your arms cause your body to form a “T” shape.
- Pause momentarily to target your medial deltoids and engage your core muscles.
- Lower your arms back down slowly, exhaling as your arms return to your sides.
- Repeat the motion focusing on moving slowly while you breathe until you complete your reps.
By performing the lateral raise vs. the shoulder press, you should feel the burn in your side deltoids. Just make sure you don’t swing the weights while doing lateral raises, as this could put undue stress on your shoulder joints and the muscles surrounding them.
Over time, you should start to see the benefits of literal raises. Outside of strengthening your medial deltoids and making them bigger, they will also balance your shoulder muscles. This can improve your muscular symmetry and reduce the risk of shoulder-related injuries.
Understanding Shoulder Presses
The shoulder press, often called the overhead press, is a compound exercise designed to target multiple muscle groups throughout your upper body. When you perform the overhead press vs. the lateral raise, you should feel it in everything from your anterior, medial, and posterior deltoids to your triceps and upper chest.
Shoulder presses are traditionally done with dumbbells or barbells. This exercise focuses mainly on improving the shoulder muscles' overall strength while increasing muscle mass. Unlike lateral raises, which call for you to work out with lighter weights, shoulder presses can be done with heavier weights, allowing you to improve your upper body’s power significantly.
Doing the shoulder press vs. the lateral raise results in more muscles being worked, enhancing the appearance of your shoulders and the rest of your upper body. At the same time, you can use this exercise to improve athletic performance and carry out daily activities that require overhead strength more efficiently.
How to Do Shoulder Presses
Lateral raises aren’t hard to do, but when you compare the difficulty levels of the lateral raise vs. the shoulder press, you should notice that overhead presses are even easier to pull off. As long as you use proper form and take your time while doing shoulder presses, you shouldn’t encounter any problems.
Here’s our step-by-step guide on how to do shoulder presses properly:
- Stand or sit tall with your feet shoulder-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand.
- Lift the dumbbells to shoulder height while keeping your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle.
- Slowly lift the dumbbells above your head until your arms are almost straight.
- Pause when the dumbbells reach their highest point to fully engage the muscles in your shoulders and upper body.
- Slowly lower the dumbbells back to their starting position.
- Repeat the motion focusing on moving slowly while you breathe until you complete your reps.
You should feel the difference between a shoulder press vs. a lateral raise as you lift and lower the dumbbells. Since shoulder presses require compound movement patterns, they should work more muscles, engaging your shoulders, chest, upper back, and core.
As a result, choosing to do the shoulder press vs. the lateral raise should increase your strength and power. This will help you lift more weight while doing shoulder presses and other shoulder and back exercises.
Shoulder Press vs. Lateral Press: Which Is the Better Option?
Like all great debates, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to the lateral raise vs. shoulder press debate. It all depends on your fitness goals. Lateral raises are perfect for anyone looking to achieve well-defined shoulders, while shoulder presses are ideal for those prioritizing strength and functional power.
But here's a thought: Why not perform both exercises in your home gym and reap their respective rewards? There isn’t any reason why you have to choose the shoulder press vs. the lateral press. They each offer unique benefits, allowing fitness enthusiasts to take a more balanced approach to their shoulder routines.