Overhead Press vs Lateral Raises: Do You Need Both?

The Short Answer

Asking “OHP or lateral raises?” is a bit like asking “should I eat steak or vegetables?” — they do completely different things, and you need both. The overhead press builds raw pressing strength and front delt mass. Lateral raises build the side delts that make your shoulders look wide. Skip OHP and you’ll be weak. Skip lateral raises and your shoulders will look narrow from the front. Mystery solved.

Muscles Worked

Muscle Group	Overhead Press	Lateral Raises
Anterior (front) delts	Primary	Low
Lateral (side) delts	Secondary	Primary
Posterior (rear) delts	Low	Low
Triceps	Secondary	None
Upper traps	Moderate	Low to Moderate
Core	High	Low
Serratus anterior	Moderate	Low

The overhead press is a full upper-body effort — your core braces, your triceps lock out the weight, and your traps stabilise overhead. Lateral raises strip all of that away and put almost all the tension on the side delt, which is a small muscle that doesn’t need heavy loads to grow.

Technique

Overhead Press (Standing Barbell)

1. Unrack the bar at collarbone height with a grip just outside shoulder-width
2. Stand with feet hip-width apart, glutes and core braced
3. Press the bar straight up — move your head back slightly as the bar passes your face
4. Lock out overhead with the bar directly over your mid-foot, biceps by your ears
5. Lower under control back to your collarbones
6. Don’t lean back excessively — a slight lean is natural, but this shouldn’t become an incline press
7. Each rep starts and ends at the front rack position

Lateral Raises

1. Stand with dumbbells at your sides, palms facing in
2. Maintain a very slight bend in your elbows — lock this angle for the entire set
3. Raise both arms out to the sides until they’re parallel with the floor (or slightly above)
4. Lead with your elbows, not your hands — imagine pouring water from a jug at the top
5. Lower under control — don’t just drop the weight
6. Keep your traps relaxed; if your shoulders are shrugging up to your ears, the weight is too heavy
7. Use a controlled tempo — 2 seconds up, 1 second hold, 2 seconds down works well

Pros and Cons

Overhead Press

Pros:

• Best compound exercise for building overall shoulder strength
• Heavy progressive overload potential
• Trains the triceps and core as well as the shoulders
• Functional pressing strength that carries over to daily life and sport

Cons:

• Primarily hits the front delts, which already get work from bench pressing
• Can aggravate shoulder impingement in some lifters
• Doesn’t effectively target the side delts (the muscle that creates shoulder width)
• Technically demanding — requires good thoracic and shoulder mobility

Lateral Raises

Pros:

• The most effective isolation exercise for the side delts
• Builds the “capped shoulder” look that creates a wider appearance
• Very low injury risk when performed correctly
• Can be done with light dumbbells, cables, or even resistance bands

Cons:

• Won’t build pressing strength
• Easy to cheat with momentum — ego lifting is rampant on this exercise
• The side delt is a small muscle, so don’t expect to lift heavy
• Doesn’t train the triceps, core, or any secondary muscles

When to Use Each

Use overhead press when:

• Building pressing strength is a priority
• You want a compound that trains shoulders, triceps, and core together
• You’re programming heavy work early in your session
• You’re tracking your estimated 1RM for pressing movements

Use lateral raises when:

• You want wider-looking shoulders (side delt development)
• You’re already pressing (bench + OHP) and need more lateral delt volume
• You want a low-fatigue exercise you can do frequently (even daily)
• You’re doing higher rep work to finish off a shoulder session

Programme both:

• Overhead press as your main shoulder compound (3-5 sets of 5-8 reps)
• Lateral raises as an accessory (3-4 sets of 12-20 reps) — these respond well to higher reps
• You can lateral raise 3-4 times per week; they recover quickly

The Verdict

Asking “overhead press or lateral raises?” is like asking “squats or leg curls?” — they train different muscles for different purposes. The overhead press builds pressing strength and front delt mass. Lateral raises build the side delts that give your shoulders width. Skip the OHP and your pressing strength suffers. Skip lateral raises and your shoulders will look narrow from the front. Do both, and do lateral raises more often than you think you need to.

Track both exercises and swap between them in PT Tracker.