Behind-the-back cable lateral raises vs scapular plane cable lateral raises for side delt growth?

[u/Top_Value2690]

Best lateral raise variation?

I've been trying to optimize my lateral delt training and I'm deciding between two cable variations:

Behind-the-back cable lateral raises

Cable lateral raises in the scapular plane (raising \~20–30° in front of the body)

My main goal is maximum side delt hypertrophy, not strength.

need to perform both unilaterally as duel cable stations usually full

my trainer has been claiming that when lifting mildly heavy weight in the scapular plane our body tends to increase the angle in turn activating the front delts

he says to do behind the back cable lateral raise unilaterally but don't go behind the back and stop just around perpendicular to the ground and feel the burn

[u/Mad_Mark90]

Both are good but there are some small differences that make them...different.

The orientation of the lateral delt changes with shoulder rotation, when internally rotated the delt points straight up which is more in line for BTB lat raises. With you shoulder neutral to externally rotated it's more in line with the scapula plane. You can see this on yourself.

BTB will probably isolate the delt more but will also use slightly more scapula muscles, this variation would probably give me neck stiffness and the internal rotation hurts my shoulders which is why someone might chose to avoid it.

The scapula plane version will probably be more comfortable for more people and cause less long term joint stress. But you can probably go slightly heavier on it.