How to Do Dumbbell Lateral Raises
A dumbbell lateral raise is a side delt isolation exercise. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides and raise your arms out to shoulder height with your elbows slightly bent. It trains the side delts, helped by the front delts, supraspinatus and upper traps. Most lifters do 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 20 reps.
- 1Start. Stand tall with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing in and a slight bend in your elbows.
- 2Top. Raise your arms out to the sides until your hands reach shoulder height, then lower over 2 to 3 seconds.
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How to do a dumbbell lateral raise
- Pick dumbbells you can raise for at least 10 strict reps. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand at your sides, palms facing in.
- Set a slight bend in your elbows and keep it for the whole set. Brace your abs so your torso stays still.
- Raise your arms out to the sides, leading with your elbows. Your palms end up facing the floor, thumbs forward.
- Stop when your hands reach shoulder height, arms straight out to the side or up to 30 degrees forward. Keep your shoulders down, away from your ears.
- Lower over 2 to 3 seconds until your arms are back at your sides.
How high should you raise the dumbbells?
To shoulder height. A dumbbell pulls straight down, so it loads your side delt only as far as your arm sticks out to the side. The rep has no load with your arms at your sides, is hardest at shoulder height and gets easier again above it. The curves are modelled for straight arms and for elbows bent 90 degrees with the forearms pointing forward, both scaled to the straight arm at shoulder height.
Stop with your hands at shoulder height. Going higher adds range but not load, and your upper traps do more as your shoulder blade rotates up. Raise straight out to the side or up to 30 degrees forward, whichever feels better: straight out drew slightly more side delt activity (5% of maximum), with the same muscle pattern (Reed 2016). For load at the bottom, where a dumbbell has none, use the cable lateral raise.
Average dumbbell lateral raise weight
On Gravitus, the median man lifts 25 lb (11 kg) per dumbbell for 10 reps on the dumbbell lateral raise, and the median woman 17.5 lb (8 kg).
- Most lift
- 20 to 32.5 lb
- Top 10% lift
- 40 lb or more
- Starting out
- under 20 lb
- Most lift
- 17.5 to 22.5 lb
- Top 10% lift
- 30 lb or more
- Starting out
- under 17.5 lb
- Most lift
- 9 to 15 kg
- Top 10% lift
- 18 kg or more
- Starting out
- under 9 kg
- Most lift
- 7 to 10 kg
- Top 10% lift
- 14 kg or more
- Starting out
- under 7 kg
Muscles worked
Pour the water, the shoulder height line and other myths
Four claims that most lateral raise guides repeat, including our old one:
- Tip your pinky up to pour the water. Turning the thumb down raised upper trap and rear delt activity, not side delt. The side delt was most active with the arm in neutral rotation, palm facing the floor (Coratella 2020).
- Going above shoulder height causes impingement. In a fluoroscopy study of 40 people raising their arms, the space for the rotator cuff tendons was smallest below 70 degrees of elevation, a range every rep passes through (Lawrence 2019). Stop at shoulder height because the load falls above it, not because it is an injury line.
- Straight out to the side shifts the work to your front delts. It is the other way round. Raising straight out drew slightly more side delt activity than raising 30 degrees forward, in the scapular plane (Reed 2016). Both work.
- Dumbbells miss the stretch, so they build less. A dumbbell has no load at the bottom, where the side delt is longest. Over 8 weeks, dumbbell and cable raises still grew the side delt by the same 3 to 5% (Larsen 2025).
Dumbbell vs cable vs machine lateral raise
| Attribute | Dumbbell | Cable | Machine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardest point | Shoulder height | You choose, by pulley height | Set by the cam |
| Load at the bottom | None | True | Depends on the machine |
| Weight jumps | 2.5 to 5 lb per dumbbell | 5 to 10 lb per pin | 5 to 10 lb per pin |
| Best for | Training anywhere, both arms at once | Loading the bottom, one arm at a time | Stable sets to failure |
A tie for growth. Over 8 weeks, dumbbell and cable raises grew the side delt by the same amount (Larsen 2025). Use dumbbells when that is what you have, and the cable lateral raise when you want load at the bottom of the rep.
Sets, reps and progression
Do lateral raises after your presses, or on their own day. Stop each set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Sets taken close to failure build muscle across a wide range of reps (Schoenfeld 2021), so the best rep range is one you can keep strict, usually 10 to 20. In the dumbbell vs cable trial, lifters did 5 sets of 12 to 16 reps to failure, twice a week (Larsen 2025).
Dumbbell jumps are big for the side delt: going from 15 to 20 lb (7.5 to 10 kg) is a third more weight. Add reps first. When every set reaches the top of your range, move up one dumbbell and drop back to the bottom of the range.
Common mistakes
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Swinging the dumbbells upYour hips and back lift the weight. Go lighter and keep your torso still.
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ShruggingYour upper traps take over. Keep your shoulders down, away from your ears.
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Bending the elbows as you liftA 90 degree bend halves the leverage, so the set feels easier while your side delts do less. Set a slight bend and hold it.
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Tipping the thumbs downMore trap and rear delt, not more side delt (Coratella 2020). Keep your palms facing the floor at the top.
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Raising far above shoulder heightThe dumbbell gets easier past shoulder height, so the extra range adds little. Stop with your hands level with your shoulders.
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Dropping the weightLower over 2 to 3 seconds until your arms are back at your sides.
Dumbbell lateral raise variations
Questions people ask
How high should you go on lateral raises?
To shoulder height, with your hands level with your shoulders. That is where a dumbbell is hardest. Above it the load falls, to 87% at 30 degrees higher, so the extra range adds little. Going higher is not proven to hurt your shoulder.
Should I raise the dumbbells straight out or slightly forward?
Either. Straight out to the side drew slightly more side delt activity (5% of maximum) than raising 30 degrees forward, in the scapular plane, and the rest of the shoulder worked the same (Reed 2016). Use the angle that feels better on your shoulder.
Are bent elbows better for performing lateral raises?
No. A slight bend is fine, but a 90 degree bend halves the leverage of the dumbbell, and a bent-elbow raise drew less side delt activity than a straight-arm raise (Coratella 2020). Set a slight bend and hold it.
Is dumbbell lateral raise compound or isolation?
Isolation. Only the shoulder joint moves, raising the arm out to the side. Presses are the compound shoulder lifts.
How many reps for lateral raises?
10 to 20 per set for most lifters, over 3 to 4 sets, stopping 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Muscle grows across a wide range of reps when sets are hard (Schoenfeld 2021), so pick dumbbells you can raise strictly at least 10 times.
What muscles do lateral raises work?
The side delts, with the front delts, rear delts, supraspinatus and upper traps helping. Your core and forearms hold you still.
What is the average lateral raise weight?
For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 25 lb (11 kg) per dumbbell for men and 17.5 lb (8 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 32.5 lb (15 kg) and 22.5 lb (10 kg) or more.
Log every set and see your percentile on every lift, dumbbell lateral raise included.
Get GravitusRelated exercises
- Larsen et al. 2025. Front Physiol 16:1611468.
- Reed et al. 2016. Man Ther 21:63-68.
- Coratella et al. 2020. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17(17):6015.
- Lawrence, Braman and Ludewig 2019. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 49(3):180-191.
- Campos et al. 2020. J Hum Kinet 75:5-14.
- Schoenfeld et al. 2021. Sports 9(2):32.