Dumbbell Lying Rear Lateral Raise
The dumbbell lying rear lateral raise has you lie face down on an incline bench and raise a dumbbell in each hand out to the sides, working both rear deltoids together. The bench pins your chest and stops any rocking or swinging, so the back of your shoulders has to generate the entire lift on its own. It's one of the more supported ways to train this often-neglected muscle, which makes it a good fit for beginners still learning to feel a proper rear-delt contraction.
Why it works
The rear deltoid pulls the arm out and back behind the body, the opposite direction of the pressing and reaching most people do all day and in most of their training. Because your chest and stomach rest fully against the incline bench, there's no torso left to twist or rock to help the dumbbells up the way a standing bent-over version allows. With that shortcut removed, the rear delts have to produce the entire raise, which is exactly what makes this version so effective for actually building the muscle instead of just moving the weight.
Set up
- Set a bench to a steep incline, and lie face down with your chest and stomach against the pad.
- Hold a light dumbbell in each hand, letting both arms hang straight down toward the floor.
- Keep a soft, slight bend in your elbows before starting the first rep.
How to do it
- Raise both dumbbells out to the sides at the same time, keeping the slight bend in your elbows fixed.
- Lift until your arms reach roughly shoulder height, focusing on pulling your shoulder blades toward your spine.
- Pause briefly at the top of the movement.
- Lower the dumbbells back down slowly along the same path, resisting the weight the entire way.
- Keep your chest pressed against the pad for the full set.
Form cues
- Raise out to the sides, not up toward your head.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top.
- Keep a slight, fixed bend in the elbow.
- Keep your chest glued to the pad.
Breathing: Exhale as you raise the dumbbells out to the sides, inhale as you lower them back down.
Common mistakes
Raising the dumbbells up toward the head instead of out to the sides, which shifts work onto the traps.
Fix: Picture your arms tracing a wide arc out to your sides and slightly behind you, not straight up toward your ears.
Using enough weight that the reps turn into small, fast jerks instead of a controlled raise.
Fix: Lighten the dumbbells until you can complete the full range smoothly, pausing briefly at the top of each rep.
Letting the chest lift off the bench to help swing the weight up.
Fix: Keep your chest pressed flat against the pad throughout, and drop the weight if you can't maintain that contact.
Locking the elbows completely straight during the raise.
Fix: Hold a small, constant bend in the elbow through the whole set, similar to hugging a large ball.
How to program it
- This targets a small, frequently underdeveloped muscle, so it recovers fast and handles two or three sessions a week without much soreness.
- 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps with a light dumbbell builds real rear-delt strength without needing heavy loads.
- It works well later in a shoulder or pull session, since the rear delts don't need to be fresh for this move to be effective.
- If you notice your shoulders shrugging before you reach the rep target, drop the weight rather than fight through the last few reps.
Safety notes
- Choose a light dumbbell; the rear delt is a small muscle and responds well to moderate, controlled loading rather than heavy weight.
- Stop the raise before you feel your shoulders hike up toward your ears.
Exercise profile
- Force
- Pull
- Mechanics
- Isolation
- Category
- Strength
Frequently asked questions
How many sets of dumbbell lying rear lateral raises should I do?
3 sets of 12 to 15 reps with a light dumbbell is a solid range. This is accessory work meant to round out your shoulder training, not carry a whole session on its own.
What can I use instead if I don't have an incline bench?
A cable rear delt fly trains the same back-of-the-shoulder pattern with constant tension from a cable station, which is a good stand-in when a bench isn't available.
Dumbbell lying rear lateral raise vs bent-over rear delt raise: which is better?
The lying incline version supports your chest, so the rear delts do more of the work and cheating is harder. The bent-over version needs no bench and demands more core and lower-back stability to hold the position.
Why do I feel this more in my traps than my rear shoulders?
That usually means the weight is too heavy or the raise is drifting up toward your head instead of out to your sides. Lighten the load and focus on pulling your shoulder blades toward your spine rather than lifting your arms high.