Why the Lateral Raise Is My Go-To Exercise for Shoulder Pain
I generally don’t like using the term “best” when it comes to discussing exercises. Exercises aren’t good or bad, and there isn’t one “best” movement - everything requires context. Exercise selection should be based on the individual person’s goals, current ability, available equipment, comfort, and preferences.
That said, when I’m working with people dealing with shoulder pain, I do have a go-to exercise: the lateral raise. I’m going to call it the “best” exercise for those with shoulder pain for the following reasons, some of which you might not have even considered!
Jack of All Trades
The deltoids are the eye-catching shoulder muscle, but in rehab the rotator cuff often gets most of the attention. The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that provide stability to the highly mobile shoulder joint. The rotator cuff works during every shoulder movement, but certain movements load specific cuff muscles more than others. It turns out the lateral raise hits all of the rotator cuff muscles fairly equally. In cases where it is difficult determining which cuff muscle is irritated, the lateral raise can be a great first exercise to load the entire shoulder.
Easy as ABC
The lateral raise is an easy and straightforward exercise to teach, learn, and execute. Exercises like squats, deadlifts, or bench press may come with various cues and specific techniques, but for the lateral raise, you’re simply raising your straight arm to around shoulder height. This makes it an easy exercise for those who are not familiar or comfortable with resistance training. It’s also easier to remember and actually complete, instead of worrying about five different cues like you might when squatting.
You Can Go Your Own Way
The lateral raise is great because there are many ways you can modify it to suit your needs, both from a rehab and performance standpoint. If someone is having pain with this movement, turning their hands from a palms-down to a thumbs-up position, or moving their arms from straight out to the side to angled slightly forwards (T to V position) might provide relief for this exercise. If someone is getting pain at the top position, we might have them perform it while lying on their side to eliminate gravity in that position. Or we can use a resistance band that has little tension at the start if the bottom of the movement is painful.
Performance-wise, you can opt to use a cable machine (single or double-arm, standing or supine) in order to maintain tension in the bottom position. You can also achieve this by doing a single-arm lateral raise but leaning into a wall so that the weight is across your body, giving you more stretch at the start. Essentially, you have lots of different options to modify the exercise to suit your needs.
Light Weight Baby
The lateral raise is generally an exercise you do not load with very heavy a weight, due to the small muscles of the shoulder and the large moment arm when your arms are fully straight out to your side. This is great for the average person dealing with shoulder pain because you don’t need to go out and buy heavy weights. You may not even need to buy weights at all. You can get creative by using a full water bottle, a can of soup, or loading a grocery bag with household items. This makes the lateral raise an easily accessible exercise for many people to do.
I call the lateral raise my “best” shoulder exercise, not because it’s magic, but because it checks many practical boxes. It strengthens multiple muscles, it’s easy to learn, it’s adaptable when painful, and it doesn’t require much equipment. In real life, those things matter more than perfection. For many people with shoulder pain, it’s not about finding the perfect exercise - it’s finding something they can actually do consistently without flaring things up. The best exercise is the one you understand, feel confident doing, and can actually stick with.
