Side swings with dumbbells are an isolating exercise for working out the deltas and the rotator of the shoulder, which is necessary to perform to work out the muscles of the shoulder girdle. Swinging dumbbells to the sides cannot be performed with a lot of weight, since the range of motion involves stretching the joints, which is fraught with injuries if the athlete breaks the technique. It is most appropriate to perform this exercise at the beginning of a workout to warm up the ligaments, joints and muscles, or at the end of a workout for a quality study of target muscle groups. The exercise is quite simple, but it is not recommended for novice athletes to perform it, as they will make a lot of mistakes, which will result in injuries to the shoulder rotator.

Side swings with dumbbells can be used not only as a separate exercise, but also as an integral part of a complex set. For example, you can perform dumbbell flyes, and then, without rest, immediately perform swings. Why Complex Sets? Yes, because the exercise is too isolating for supersets, but it will be the very thing to “finish off” the muscle! When performing basic exercises, the athlete will load strong muscle segments, and only then, with swings to the sides, will “hook” those areas that are usually underdeveloped.

Work of muscles and joints

The main working groups when swinging dumbbells to the sides are the middle bundle of the deltoid muscle and the shoulder rotator. The biceps and forearm receive a small load, and the rear bundles of the deltas are also slightly loaded. But the main advantage of this exercise is its ability to load the stabilizer muscles, which are usually the least developed. The bottom line is that the exercise is performed in a very unusual and long amplitude, as a result of which the body has to coordinate the work of both hands by stabilizing the shoulder joint. Since the main muscles of the shoulders are directly loaded by the concept of weight, there is nothing left but to load the free muscles. That is why in this exercise, those muscle segments that usually remain unused also receive a load!

The exercise is insulating, so only one joint works, and it should be noted that this is the shoulder joint! The shoulder is the most flexible and mobile joint in the human body, and you have to pay for it with fragility, which is why the shoulders are so often injured. Helps avoid injury high-quality warm-up and moderate working weight during swings with dumbbells to the sides. It is also recommended to keep your elbows very slightly bent so as not to load them once again. The spine is completely safe, but the athlete must still maintain lordosis, and this is also important from the point of view of load distribution.
1) Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, take dumbbells, straighten your shoulders and bend your back in the lower back, while bending your knees and elbows quite a bit.
2) Keep your head straight, the center of gravity passes through the heels and you need to distribute it between the heels and the outside of the foot, but you can’t take your socks off the floor either.
3) Raise the dumbbells to the sides on outstretched arms to shoulder level, while palms should look down, then, turning your palms forward, raise your arms above your head so that in the end the palms look at each other.
4) Turning the hands in reverse order, lower your hands to their original position.
5) Without relaxing the shoulders at the bottom point, as if remaining inside the amplitude, repeat the movement as many times as necessary.

Mahi dumbbells to the sides – notes

1) you need to lower and raise the dumbbell slowly, but lower it twice as long as you raise it, that is, the negative phase should be controlled.
2) Inhale through the nose while lowering the arms down, exhale through the mouth while raising the arms up.
3) Mahi does not involve cheating or partial repetitions, ideally, muscle failure should not even occur.
4) Hands can not be withdrawn, neither forward nor backward, they must be raised and lowered down according to a given amplitude.
5) Do not drop your head down as this will shift the load from the deltas to the lats, just as do not turn your elbows ahead of time, as this will cause the same effect.

Anatomy

The shoulders are not a large muscle group, but they are made up of a large number of different muscles that are separated from each other by fascia and perform different tasks. The muscles of the shoulder girdle vary in size and strength, so stronger muscles usually steal the load from weaker ones, which can cause disproportionate development of the shoulder girdle. Exercises such as swinging dumbbells to the sides can level the lag of certain segments of the shoulders, so they should definitely be added to your training program at an advanced level. stage.

Dumbbell swings will be useful for both powerlifters and bodybuilders, this exercise also makes sense for girls. The bottom line is that bodybuilders will use it to form the most proportional and wide shoulders, powerlifters will achieve maximum development of strength indicators and ensure the safety of the shoulder joint in the bench press, and girls will be able to tighten their shoulder muscles by performing the exercise in a large number of repetitions and with a small working weight. Summing up, we can say that swinging dumbbells to the sides is a very effective isolating exercise for the development of the shoulder girdle, which will definitely benefit you!