It wasn’t that long ago that all things “Bro” AKA Bodybuilding or hypertrophy or as it’s often put, non-functional hypertrophy related were shunned..

Dumbbell flys, Bicep Curls, Lateral Raises and the like, all persona non grada.

They were “small” single joint exercises that didn’t deliver much “bang for your buck”.

And truth be told, as someone who preaches this, that philosophy is pretty much on point.

Especially for the person who only has 2-3, 30-45 minute blocks to spend in the gym each week.

If that’s you, you’re gonna get a LOT more outta “BIG” multi-joint lifts like Squats, Pushups, Bench Presses, and Deadlifts.

But what if you’ve got more time?

And train often?

Or have for a long time and have a nagging/ lagging body part?

Then, those “small”, single joint exercises can be the bee’s knee’s.

So like all things fitness…

Which is better: Single vs Multi Joint Exercises?

It Depends.

So lets say you want/ need some boulder shoulders, or just need to bring balance to your shoulders?

Press More?

Lets face it, you can only press so much before your shoulders say “no more”.

Plus with pressing you’re going to be hitting more anterior delt than the lateral or rear delt.

So if you’re worried about aesthetics (shoulder width and muscular balance) or performance (shoulder stability/ health) eventually you’re feeding into the lack of balance by only pressing more for shoulder development.

If you want to look and be wider you’re gonna need some lateral delt and the Dumbbell Lateral Raise is probably one of the best exercises at targeting this area.

*Here’s a GREAT video from Jeff Nippard on the Side Delts

The only problem is that most people do lateral raises wrong and end up getting more trap and anterior delt development than lateral delt development.