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Poliquin Raise exercise can develop shoulder and deltoid muscles

WRAPPING A STEM Body training with a few sets of lateral raises is a common tactic for men aiming to develop strong shoulders. But there’s another underrated exercise you should consider the next time you want to build your delts that will give you an even better shoulder session: the Poliquin raise.

This variation, created by the late scientist Charles Poliquin, allows you to use heavier weight than with a standard lateral raise to achieve greater gains. How you execute the moment will also increase the time spent under tension – another key to muscle growth.

The key, according to Men’s health Fitness Director Ebenezer Samuel, CSCS, and Editor-in-Chief Brett Williams, NASM, should pay attention to the intricacies of exercise.

How to do the Poliquin recovery

  • Start standing holding a pair of dumbbells in a neutral grip. Lift the dumbbells so that your elbows are at a 90-degree angle, with the weights in front of your torso.
  • Raise your arms to just below shoulder height, keeping your elbows bent. Keep your arms in the scapular plane (just in front of your torso rather than directly at your sides).
  • Pause, then straighten your arms (this is the same position as a standard lateral raise).
  • Hold your arms straight for a second, then slowly lower your arms to your sides, taking three to four seconds.

Poliquin elevation vs. lateral elevation

The lateral raise has long been a standard for shoulder shaping, helping to maximize the size of your deltoids. Performing the exercise is relatively routine: raise your arms in your scapular plane, hold for a brief pause, lower back down with control.

Twisting with the Poliquin increase, according to Samuel, adds more time under tension while focusing on the eccentric part of the movement (or reducing weight) and combating the resistance of gravity. “That’s the whole point of relaunching Poliquin,” explains Samuel. “And by doing that, we’re going to be able to move even heavier weights than normal.” Reducing the increase dramatically changes your efforts – but it allows you to focus your attention elsewhere.

The key is in the starting position. By starting with your elbows at a 90-degree angle, you make the initial movement – ​​the rise itself – more manageable. “Instantly, we reduced our shoulder levers,” Samuel continues, “which puts a lot less stress and strain on the shoulders.”

Once you straighten your elbows at the top of the movement, the lever becomes much longer. That’s when the real work begins: you resist gravity to keep you from dropping your hands to your sides.

Muscles trained by the Poliquin raise

You’ll train your lateral (or lateral) deltoids with the Poliquin raise, making it a key shoulder exercise.

Common Poliquin Relaunch Errors

The biggest mistakes you can make with the Poliquin raise are rushing the eccentric part of the movement and using more load than you can control. You should be working with heavier weights than a standard lateral raise, but if you’re not able to hold this eccentric contraction for three to four seconds, you’re not getting the most out of the movement. Make sure you drop at this rate to get maximum gains.

How to Add Poliquin Boost to Your Workouts

Since the Poliquin raise will not be the most intense exercise in your shoulder workout, it is good to incorporate the exercise toward the end of your routine, or even the last exercise to complete. “You’ve done heavy shoulder presses, you’ve done lateral raises, maybe you’ve done windmills, your shoulders are now tired,” Samuel says. “This move helps get a few extra eccentric contractions in at the end of your set.”

Start with three sets of six to eight repetitions. Just focus on maintaining that time under tension for three to four seconds, which can add up to 30 seconds of additional work per set.