Shoulders · Dumbbell
Dumbbell Standing Lateral Raise
How to do the dumbbell standing 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
Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing in. Keeping a slight bend in your elbows, raise your arms out to the sides until they reach shoulder height, then lower under control.
- 1Feel your side delts burn as you lift the dumbbells to shoulder height
- 2Lead with your elbows and keep a slight bend in the arms
- 3Lower slowly to keep tension on the delts the whole way down
Common mistakes
- Do not swing your body or use momentum to throw the weights up
- Avoid shrugging your shoulders toward your ears
- Do not raise above shoulder height; stop when arms are parallel to the floor
Muscles worked
The dumbbell standing lateral raise mainly works the side delts, with the upper traps assisting.
- Side DeltsPrimary
- Upper TrapsSupport
- ForearmsMinor
- Front DeltsMinor
Kovo programs the dumbbell standing 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.