Shoulders · Dumbbell
Dumbbell Seated Lateral Raise
How to do the dumbbell seated lateral raise, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Dumbbell
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Extension
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Sit upright on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand hanging at your sides, palms facing in. Keeping a slight bend in your elbows, raise the dumbbells out to the sides until your arms are level with your shoulders, then lower under control. Sitting removes leg drive and isolates the side delts.
- 1Feel your side delts burn as you lift your arms to shoulder height
- 2Lead with your elbows, keeping a slight bend throughout
- 3Lower slowly and keep tension on the delts the whole way down
Common mistakes
- Avoid swinging or bouncing the weights up with momentum
- Don't shrug your shoulders toward your ears; keep your traps down
- Don't raise above shoulder height; stop level with your arms
Muscles worked
The dumbbell seated lateral raise mainly works the side delts, with the upper traps assisting.
- Side DeltsPrimary
- Upper TrapsSupport
- ForearmsMinor
- Front DeltsMinor
Kovo programs the dumbbell seated lateral raise for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More shoulders exercises
- How to do the battle rope alternating waves
- How to do the arm circles
- How to do the arnold press
- How to do the resistance band front raise
- How to do the resistance band lateral raise
- How to do the resistance band overhead press
Last reviewed June 2026.