Learn · Hypertrophy

Your traps aren't stealing your lateral raise

By Levi Hurst · 2026-10-10

One of the most common things I hear about lateral raises: “I feel it in my traps, so I've dropped the weight.” If that's you, you're probably leaving side delt growth on the table for a problem that doesn't really exist.

What each muscle actually does

• Your side delts abduct the arm, lifting it out to the side. That's the movement in a lateral raise.
• Your upper traps elevate and upwardly rotate the shoulder blade. They help position the shoulder blade so the arm can move, but they can't raise the arm themselves.

So when your arm rises out to the side, the delts are doing the lifting. There's no version of the movement where your traps take that job over.

Feeling it isn't the same as it working

Your traps can be working and you can feel them, especially late in a set when fatigue builds and you start to shrug. But feeling a muscle is not a measure of how much mechanical tension your delts are under. Your delts are still the prime mover on every rep.

What to do instead

• Stop dropping the weight just because you feel your traps. Load the movement properly.
• Lead with the elbow and think about moving the arm out, not up.
• Take your sets close to failure. Delts grow from tension, and they need load and effort to get it.
• If shrugging gets out of hand, use a cable or a chest-supported variation to make the movement more stable.

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