gareth

question 1: do (forward) plate raises have any advantage over forward dumbell raises (a dumbell in each hand)

question 2: in the dumbell lateral raise the arms are raised to the side until the arm makes a 90 degree angle with the body -- but in a makeover a show the trainer intructed his subject to raise his arms so they made something like a 20 degree angle (there abouts) with his body to to 'build up' the shoulders.
(actually I had never seen this exercise before)
is a 1/4 dumbell raise any good for shoulder development?

Thanks for your replies

P-funk

answer 1: The difference is that with the dumbells you are working unilateraly. The benefit of this is that you can focus on one arm at a time, allowing to work on weaker sides. Also, there is a different stimulus with respect to core stabalization as one arm is moving while the other is not. This affects center of gravity (limb displacement in space) so your body uses its senses a bit differenty. the exercise is the same for both however, which is shoulder flexion (sagital plane). just different stimulus.

answer 2: I don't understand the half rep or the quarter rep. In the actuality of it the lateral head of the deltoid is most active after the first 20% range of motion of the movement. Starting from arms at side and moving out, that first 20% recuirts a lot of supraspinatus and even short head of the bicep, the lateral deltoid is working but it is most active towards the end range of motion and then if you go above 90% different things come into play as it relaxes a bit and your scapula is elevated, getting into other muscles. I always full ROM all the time. Strength is relative to the ROM that we train in. If I can do a 1/4 lateral raise with a 50lb dumbell it is absud for me to think that I could do that weight with a full ROM. Be strong through the entire range of motion.

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