StrengthIn review

Side-Lying Dumbbell External Rotation

A side-lying shoulder rotation that lifts one light dumbbell with the elbow held at the side.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Shoulder raise
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Unilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Lie on one side on the floor or a stable bench.
Hold one light dumbbell in the top hand. Keep the top elbow bent to 90 degrees and resting against the ribs, with the forearm across the abdomen.

Do the rep

Keep the elbow against the ribs and rotate the forearm upward without rolling the trunk back.
Stop within a comfortable range before the elbow lifts.
Lower the forearm across the abdomen under control. Complete the reps, then change sides.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the forearm rotates upward through a comfortable range and returns across the abdomen with the elbow against the ribs. Count each side.

Breathing

Exhale as you lift; inhale as you lower.

Cues

Keep the elbow at the ribs.
Do not roll backward.
Use a very light dumbbell.

Common mistakes

Rolling the body back
What you seeThe chest turns toward the ceiling as the forearm rises.
FixUse less load and keep the shoulders and hips stacked.
A still body keeps the rotation at the shoulder.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if the shoulder pinches or the elbow cannot stay at the ribs.
End the set when you cannot meet the stated rep standard under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Rotator cuff · moderate confidence

Assisting

Rear deltoids · moderate confidence

Equipment

Dumbbell

Optional: Bench

Lie on one side on the floor or a stable bench. Hold one light dumbbell in the top hand. Keep the top elbow bent to 90 degrees and resting against the ribs, with the forearm across the abdomen.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Manual

How this page was checked

Draft. A editorial reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 9, written from the blueprint CSV row and the owner rules approved 2026-10-12 in #340. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the owner rules; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_face_pull. The copied timed-use state is disallowed; no review evidence is claimed for this draft.
Rule 1 gives home yes because every required picker item is a dumbbell or bench. The CSV says home false. Environment and programming location constraints include gym and home.
Dumbbell load uses kg with load-and-reps and the allowed metrics of ex_dumbbell_shoulder_press (rule 1).
Rule 2 gives this movement secondary_pull + isolation_target.
Failure cost low: a failed rep lowers a light dumbbell, as ex_dumbbell_lateral_raise and the Wave 1 dumbbell curls. This is the approved exception to the general rule 3 dumbbell cost of moderate.
Home yes differs from ex_dumbbell_lateral_raise (home false). The Wave 1 record stays unchanged under the owner ruling.
Skill tier beginner: a new user can perform one clean rep in the first session, as the owner ruled (rule 3).
The CSV says bilateral. This movement uses one dumbbell and counts each side, as ex_one_arm_dumbbell_row (rule 1).
The movement is a rotation drill. It keeps the CSV shoulder-raise pattern because shoulder-rotation has no web glyph. The roles are secondary_pull + isolation_target under the owner ruling.
Anatomy refines the CSV family hints for this movement: primary rotator-cuff; secondary rear-deltoids. The assigned review tier must confirm these draft lists.
The elbow angle and comfortable rotation range are draft choices; specialist review must confirm them.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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