Shoulders · Bodyweight
Weighted Bar Standing Lateral Raise
How to do the weighted bar standing lateral raise, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- VerticalPush
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Stand tall holding a light weighted bar across the front of your thighs with both hands. Keeping a slight bend in your elbows, raise the bar out and up in front of you until your arms reach about shoulder height, then lower under control. Lead with your elbows and keep your shoulders down so your delts do the work.
- 1Feel your shoulders lift the bar to about chest height
- 2Keep a soft, fixed bend in your elbows the whole way
- 3Stay tall and avoid swinging through your hips
Common mistakes
- Don't swing or use momentum to raise the bar
- Don't shrug your shoulders toward your ears
- Don't raise the bar much above shoulder height
Muscles worked
The weighted bar standing lateral raise mainly works the front delts, with the forearms, upper traps, and side delts assisting.
- Front DeltsPrimary
- ForearmsSupport
- Upper TrapsSupport
- Side DeltsSupport
- Upper AbsMinor
Kovo programs the weighted bar 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.