If you’ve ever finished a workout feeling like your shoulders still had a little more to give – or you simply want to give your delts some extra attention – this simple, slightly sadistic finisher from strength coach Josh Bryant of Jailhouse Strong might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Bryant’s protocol is designed to drive up shoulder volume in minimal time. The setup couldn’t be simpler: grab a single dumbbell – roughly the weight you’d normally use for lateral raises – set a timer for five minutes and start raising.

The catch? You never put the weight down.

How the Drill Works

Perform single-arm lateral raises, switching the dumbbell to the other hand whenever fatigue causes you to start missing reps. As soon as one shoulder begins to burn out, pass the weight across and keep going.

The clock keeps running, and the goal is simple: accumulate as many reps as possible over the full five minutes.

Bryant describes the drill as ‘not conventional and not orthodox’, but that’s part of the appeal. By continuously switching arms instead of resting, you dramatically increase time under tension while pushing each shoulder close to failure multiple times in a short window. The result is a fast-and-furious dose of delt volume that slots neatly onto the end of almost any session.

Why it Works

High-rep lateral raises have long been a staple of physique athletes for good reason. The deltoids respond well to extended sets and metabolic stress, and higher rep ranges help maintain constant tension on the middle delt: the portion of the shoulder responsible for that broad, capped look.

To perform the movement, stand tall with a dumbbell in one hand just in front of your body, keeping a slight bend in the elbow. Raise the weight out to the side until your arm reaches roughly shoulder height, keeping your torso still and your palm facing down. Lower under control and repeat until fatigue forces you to switch sides.

Five minutes later, your delts will know about it.

With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.    

As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.   

Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.   

 You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.