How to swing dumbbells to the sides. Dumbbell swings to the sides: exercise technique

If you want to pump up big and broad shoulders, then you can’t do without this classic exercise, How: swing dumbbells to the sides. This exercise is great for developing medium bun delts, which is responsible for the width of the shoulders (what immediately catches your eye and emphasizes your athletic body shape).

Swinging dumbbells to the sides, standing or sitting, is basic exercise, which is intended to work out the average deltoid muscle. It also includes the trapezius and supraspinatus muscle (a triangular-shaped muscle located on the shoulder blade).

The correct technique for the exercise “Standing dumbbell swings to the sides”:

Let me remind you that shoulders are one of the weakest parts of the body. The shoulder joint is very complex, as there are many ligaments and various joints. Therefore, in order to avoid injury, you must do a good warm-up and warm up your shoulders.

1. Take dumbbells in your hands.
2. Straighten your shoulders, keep your back straight, lean your body forward a little.
3. Take a deep breath through your nose, tighten your deltoid muscles and smoothly spread your arms with dumbbells to the sides (your arms should be slightly bent at the elbows).

The correct technique for the exercise “Dumbbell swings to the sides while sitting”:

The technique for performing dumbbell swings while sitting is practically no different from dumbbell swings while standing, with the exception that in this position the help of the back and legs (cheating) is eliminated, which makes it possible to better emphasize the load on the deltoid muscles.

1. Sit on a bench, straighten your shoulders, keep your back straight.
2. Take a deep breath through your nose, tighten your deltoid muscles and smoothly raise your arms with dumbbells to the sides (your arms should be slightly bent at the elbows).
3. Raise your arms until they are parallel to the floor (no higher is necessary, as the trapezoid will come into play).
4. Lower the dumbbells smoothly, exhaling through your mouth.
5. The exercise should be performed without sudden jerks or jolts.
6. Do the planned number of repetitions per set.
7. Rest 1 - 2 minutes and proceed to the next approach.

Tips for doing the exercise:

• Don't chase the weights (the main thing in this exercise is technique). Select the weight so that you can do the planned number of reps with perfect technique.
• When performing the dumbbell swing exercise to the sides, standing or sitting, rotate your hands inward (raising your little finger up and thumb hands down). Imagine that you are holding two cups of water in your hands, and with each swing, turn your hands in such a way as to pour water onto the floor.
• When swinging dumbbells to the side, the elbows should not fall down or lag behind the hands. The hands, forearm, elbow and shoulder should always be in the same plane.
• Do not raise your arms above shoulder level. If you raise your arms above the shoulder line, the trapezoid comes into play.
• When performing this exercise, you can resort to cheating in the last repetitions, helping to push the dumbbells out with your feet.
• Swinging dumbbells to the sides while sitting will allow you to emphasize the load on the working muscle, eliminating cheating. Also, using a bench with a backrest, you can stabilize the spine.

The deltas and trapezius are responsible for the shape of the shoulders. To make the figure resemble a triangle, you need to increase the volume and give the muscles a defined relief. Due to anatomical features shoulder girdle develops slowly. There is no technique that evenly loads all 3 deltoid bundles. Basic practices include 1-2 heads, trapezoids, and isolating ones are focused on local load.

To build correctly training program In addition to the basic exercises, we include targeted exercises with alternating tension shifts from the bundles. For beginners, 2 techniques are enough, for athletes - 2 basic and 3 isolating.

The best basic practice is chest thrust. wide grip. After this, we move on to swings, which help strengthen and stabilize the joints and develop the middle and rear heads.

Execution technique

Accent: medium bun. The trapezius and rhomboid muscles are involved.

1. IP - feet in line with the hips. We hold the spinal column strictly vertical, hands with clamped projectiles are lowered to the sides. Bent elbows remain in this position until the end of the set. The gaze is focused on a point in front. The abs and back are tense.
2. As you inhale, gently spread your arms to the sides. We make movements in one plane.
3. To thoroughly upgrade target muscles, raise the shells 45 degrees above the shoulders (to the line of the ears).
4. As you exhale, return the limbs to the IP.

We work with light weight. It is impossible to master the technique with heavy projectiles.

Isolated practice on pumping the rear head. All lifts behind the back load the deltoids, but the posterior bundle usually does not receive a concentrated load and lags behind in development. Athletes purposefully work it out on the horizontal bar or with bent over swings.

Active muscles: average delta, rhomboid, trapezius, infraspinatus, teres minor. The technique is performed with both hands or one while standing and sitting. In the second case, you won’t be able to bend down to a clear parallel with the floor, so the load will shift to the middle head.

1. IP - basic (previous). Bend at the waist, tilt top part body to horizontal level with the floor. If the joints are flexible enough, we bend lower. Low start“turns off” the trapezius, shifting all the tension to the deltoids.
2. Keep your back slightly rounded. It is in this position that the rear head fully works.
3. With elbows bent, we pull the shells up and to the sides, trying to get them further behind our back. At the end point they should not be higher than the deltoids.
4. We linger in the top position for a couple of seconds, feel an intense muscle contraction, and return to the starting position.

Swing dumbbells to the sides while sitting

Accent: middle, partially rear heads.

1. We sit on a support, bend over, and rest our chests on our hips.
2. Using a parallel grip, we grab the dumbbells and pull them from the floor with half-bent arms.
3. Without bringing the shoulder blades together, we spread our arms to the sides, raising them to the shoulder line. If you bring them higher, the trapezoids will come into play.
4. We return to the IP.

For guys - 15 repetitions in 3 sets, for girls - 12 times in 3 sets.

Beginners work with 5 kg equipment (men), ladies with 2 kg. As we master the technique, we increase the weight. Working weight is not important, the number of takes is important. As the load increases, we reduce the repetitions to 6. To make the shoulders wider, we perform cheating with moderately heavy dumbbells.

• movements are reproduced by the muscles of the shoulders;
• in order to feel the contraction of the posterior bundle, we adjust the technique in the process;
• we avoid jerky movements, swings by inertia;
• We perform straight lifts to the sides, without leaning back and forth.

An alternative is crossover raises in a crossover, reverse swings in a peck-deck simulator. We include exercises in the main complex 2 times a week and after a month we admire the chiseled forms.

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Today's article will again focus on an exercise to develop the deltoid muscles - standing dumbbell swings.

In the exercise, the middle deltoid bundle mainly bears the load. Thanks to isolation and targeted load on one muscle bundle, standing dumbbell swings will help you create developed, ball-shaped shoulders.

Feature of the exercise

As you already know from previous articles, all shoulder exercises are divided into pressing exercises - on the front part of the shoulder (, ) and traction exercises - on the middle and back shoulder().

Developed middle and back buns create a spherical shoulder shape and attract the eye with their aesthetics, showing off broad shoulders under a shirt or T-shirt.

In fact, it is not uncommon to find this exercise in modern gyms. It's too popular. But there are only a few owners of spherical shoulders. What is this connected with?

Even though the exercise looks simple, it is technically very difficult. It is important to be able to clearly coordinate the work of your body, to be able to feel that it is the target muscles that are contracting and the auxiliary ones are turned off, to be able to turn off your ego (You are growing muscles, not squeezing weights - these are two big differences).

Due to the fixation of the arm in the elbow joint, all movement occurs exclusively in the shoulders. It's isolated. Those. if you master the exercise technically correctly and are able to work the right muscle(and she is alone here) - then your average delta will grow, it has no other choice.

What are the main mistakes gym goers make in this exercise?

• They cheat like hell. Using a lot of weight makes it impossible to work exclusively in shoulder joint. Rocking, throwing weights, jerking, etc. help. All movements by inertia do not lead to muscle hypertrophy. Lead to muscle hypertrophy muscle contractions under load within a certain time range.
• Raising your elbows above shoulder level. This causes the trapezius muscle to lift the shoulders. It is much more massive and stronger than the small middle deltoid bundle and will “gobble up” the entire load. You will be training the trapezius muscle, not the middle deltoids. Therefore, always keep your shoulders as low as possible, at any point in the amplitude.

In order to better focus on contracting the middle beam of deltas, imagine as if in starting position You are not holding dumbbells in your hands, but jugs of water. Your task, while spreading your arms to the sides, is to pour water from the jug, raising your elbow up. In this case, the shoulder will drop. Build the entire movement through your elbows. Pull the dumbbells with your elbows up and to the sides.

Standing dumbbell swings: execution technique

In the starting position, the dumbbells are located in front of you. Palms facing each other. The body is slightly tilted forward, there is a deflection in the lower back, the knees are slightly bent.

The arms are bent at the elbows and rigidly fixed throughout the entire set of the exercise at an angle of approximately 120°. Shoulders slumped.

From the bottom point, as you exhale, begin to raise the dumbbells. Move your elbows to the sides and up, and as you move, also turn your little finger up. As soon as your elbow reaches shoulder level, pause a little, and while inhaling, begin to slowly lower the dumbbells down in front of you.

All movement occurs in the plane of the shoulders. No forward or backward deviations are allowed. At the bottom point, do not bring the dumbbells close to each other and do not pause, stop the movement in the hip area and immediately begin lifting - this way you will not allow the target muscles to rest.

Throughout the exercise, feel the contraction of the middle bundle at the top and its stretching at the bottom. This small muscle will simply burn from swelling with blood if you do everything correctly.

For the greatest effect of isolation and concentration, perform dumbbell swings with one hand. It really works and allows you to train more effectively.

Standing dumbbell swings: video

In order to better understand how to correctly perform dumbbell swings while standing, the video below will tell and clearly show all the main features of the technique of this exercise.

To develop a middle bun deltoids, athletes include in their training program standing dumbbell swings performed from a standing position. This muscle group is the main one in this exercise. In addition, there is a load on both the trapezius and rear delts. The degree of difficulty of this exercise is average, but quite a lot of mistakes can be made in the technique of performing it.

Lifting dumbbells while standing sideways is considered one of the the best ways working out the middle part of the delta, but requires a clear understanding of the correct technique. The absence of mistakes when performing this exercise allows you to ensure that your shoulders become as wide as possible. The development of deltoid muscles is one of the highest priority areas in which athletes work when visiting gym. Powerful shoulders make the athlete’s figure as wide as possible from the side, emphasize the upper part of the arms, and allow others to tell others how serious the attitude of a bodybuilder with such powerful and developed shoulders is.

Some athletes prefer a basic exercise like the overhead press to the swing. It certainly brings certain benefits, since it is intended for training the shoulder girdle, but, being the main one, it does not have the same effect on the middle deltoids. The latter are worked out in the process of swinging dumbbells to the sides from a standing position, since this exercise works this part of the shoulders in isolation.

Knowing these important points will allow you to master the correct technique and work the middle deltoid muscles in isolation.

This is a fairly common mistake, which can be avoided if you create a small angle in the elbow joint in advance. It should be approximately 10-15 degrees. It must be saved until the end of the set being performed. At the point of maximum contraction, the angle is kept in the same way as at the very beginning.

Contraction and activation of the elbows balances the triceps. This deprives standing arm swings with dumbbells of their status. isolated exercise. It ceases to serve the purpose for which it was included in the training process.

The dumbbells should not move in a completely straight line, but go in an arc. If the exercise is not done in front of a mirror, you can ask a partner or gym mate to check the correct execution technique.

To develop the middle deltoid muscles to the maximum, tension must be maintained throughout the entire approach. When the dumbbell in its extreme position is lowered to its maximum, being in front of the hips, the tension exerted on the deltoids drops to zero. To solve this problem, the range of motion is reduced by keeping weights at a distance of 10-20 cm from the body.

ABOUT making the right choice“distance” is evidenced by a more difficult process of lifting dumbbells, when the load falls on the middle bundles. The main thing is to choose the right weight. If it is too heavy, the likelihood of injury increases many times over.

All attention should be focused on technique. When it is fully mastered, increasing the weight lifted will take place without any problems.

Disorderly and chaotic dumping is the most common mistake, which is allowed by novice athletes. The elbows in the swing are a kind of pointers, always located higher.

Missing the moment of correct movement of the deltas significantly slows down the process of development of the middle fascicles. To prevent this from happening, progress is rapid and of high quality, elbows should always play the role of pointers.

Most athletes limit themselves to raising their arms to shoulder height when performing swings. This position is not maximum, since the middle fascicles of the deltoid muscle can go higher. Increasing the height by another 45 degrees allows you to achieve maximum tension, which has a significant impact on the growth of the shoulder girdle. In addition, this movement gives impetus to the development of the upper trapezius.

There are some important points, which should be taken into account. Athletes experiencing painful sensations Those who have injuries or problems with the shoulder should first consult a doctor, and only then make a decision as to whether it is permissible to do this exercise with maximum load or not.

IN gym Quite often you can see how some athletes perform this exercise in such a way that in the upper position a semblance of the letter “T” is formed. This method results in maximum load on elbow joints because it negatively affects health.

This is a misconception that many bodybuilders hold. The smaller the bend, the higher the weight lifted. However, given the main goal that the athlete pursues when performing swings, one should think about what is more important - technique or an illusory sense of one’s own strength. As the angle decreases, it certainly becomes easier to lift weights, including maximum weights.

To a bodybuilder it may seem like lifting heavy weight makes him stronger, but this is not entirely true. The more time you spend building muscle, the better the training. Therefore, you should always remember that technique is much more important than just a feeling of your own strength without a significant increase in the volume and width of the middle delta beam.

This exercise should not be called a dumbbell lift rather than a swing.

Some people call the swings “flying” or “lifting”, and the middle beams “external deltas”, which is absolutely incorrect. This, of course, does not have any effect on the performance technique, but it hurts the ear experienced athletes, indicates ignorance or a frivolous attitude towards bodybuilding. You should not distort or call the exercise in your own way.

Every athlete knows that one day a week should be devoted to shoulder training. Like others muscle groups, it requires performing basic and isolation exercises. One of the most popular pumping options is dumbbell swings to the sides. Exercise when correct execution allows you to isolate the middle deltoid group, result– increase in the width of the shoulder girdle.

When performing arm abductions with dumbbells to the side, the shoulder girdle expands, and at the same time the ligaments and tendons are strengthened. The emphasis is on the middle deltoid bundle, which allows you to form an aesthetic and anatomically correct shape of the shoulders.

Dumbbell swings belong to the category isolation exercises, but if performed incorrectly, the work includes the triceps, trapezius, anterior and. Therefore, during training on the shoulders this exercise You should pay maximum attention if you want to achieve a certain result.

Execution technique

The exercise is a priority in shoulder training, preferably performed immediately after the base -.

Only when correct technique execution, swings with dumbbells will give results.

The correct starting position is 50% of the work done.

1. Taking the equipment in your hands, stand up: feet shoulder-width apart, weight should be transferred to the toes, back straight, arms along the body.
2. The grip is neutral - point your palms towards your hips.
3. Keep your head straight, swing dumbbells while standing best done in front of a mirror, then you can see all the inaccuracies and errors.
4. Breathing is standard: when raising your arms, exhale, while lowering your arms, inhale.
5. Inhale, and as you exhale, raise your arms with the dumbbells up. Try to get above shoulder level.
6. Having brought your hands to the top point, you can lower them down. You should not hold your hands at the top; such a delay will not in any way affect the quality of the swings from the sides.

The exercise is quite simple to perform, taking into account compliance with all technical rules.

Types of execution

Stagnation is destructive, so after some time the body needs to give a little shake-up. Some simple ways will help diversify the exercise.

First option

Perform arm abductions with dumbbells alternately. The advantage is a greater effect, as well as the ability to control the correct execution. The same muscle group is trained, but it is easier to perform the exercise, since you can rest your free hand on your side or put it behind your back.

Second option

Perform swings while sitting, on a bench or stool. The body must be brought as close as possible to the knees and the exercise must be performed from this position. When moving up, your arms should be slightly bent at the elbows. With this tilt, not only the middle, but also the rear beam is included in the work. For complete isolation You can straighten your back, but the risk of injury increases.

Some athletes do abdominal swings, but then it works not only the rear and middle deltoids, but also pectoral muscles. Isolation cannot be achieved.

Number of approaches and repetitions

The number of repetitions of swings, as for any isolation, should be from 8 to 12 times in 3 sets. When performing twelve repetitions freely with a comfortable weight, you can gradually increase the load. Important to remember that only if the exercise is performed correctly will there be a result. Often, beginner athletes try to reach their goal in order to quickly increase weight, while completely forgetting about technique. When doing dumbbell abductions to the side, this should not happen. Ignoring technique can even lead to injury.

Side swings with dumbbells It is better to perform the second exercise in order, after the base.

Dumbbell lateral abductions have some performance features, therefore, before starting the exercise you should know What mistakes should you not make:

• Don't bend your elbows. This is the main mistake of swinging dumbbells to the sides, both while sitting and standing. Elbow bending engages the triceps and deprives the exercise of its isolating status. There is one simple way to avoid this. During execution, the dumbbells should be held along a tangent line upward, and not in a straight line.
• Select the appropriate weight of equipment. First of all, this applies to girls, since the characteristics of the female body imply the implementation of this type of swing solely for quantity. But you won’t be able to perform the exercise with a lot of weight and without bending your elbows - this is where physics comes into play.
• Raise your arms above shoulder level. When performing abductions with dumbbells while standing, many athletes try to prevent further raising of their arms, bringing them only to shoulder level. This is not correct, since the maximum upward movement will create high load on the middle bundle of deltas, and accordingly on the shoulder girdle.

Swings with dumbbells in video format

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