ExRx.net

Hello all.

I was just wondering if anyone can confirm or rubbish a proprioceptive hunch I've had for a while.

Whenever performing lying, as opposed to standing, lateral dumbell raises (flies), I've noticed more of a 'burn' at the top (origin) of my lateral deltoid head.

The differing angles at which gravity creates the most resistance (start vs. end of abduction) lead me to assume that contraction moves 'down' the deltoid muscle (origin>insertion) as the arm is abducted.

So, to build more 'top heavy' delts, exercises targeting these angles (lying raises, low cable pulls, etc.) would be more efficient.

Am I barking up the wrong tree?

If not, would this also apply to the other heads of the deltoids?

(I am aware that the delts are very susceptible to shape changes from bones, posture, relative proportion of the 3 heads, and other arm muscles)


I have a had a good search on the boards, exrx.net, and many other sites, with no luck. Apologies if this has come up before.


Best,

Brendan

The problem with that kind of thinking and going by the way it feels, is this. Each head has 1 motor neural connection and all the fibers run the length of the muscle. So you contract the whole head. The difference is probably how much upper trap activation there is depending on the angle you are at while doing the shoulder elevation.