10 Best Lever Lateral Raise Alternatives for Delt Width

The Lever Lateral Raise is done standing with a lever machine. Ranked closest by our scoring: the Smith Upright Row, the Shoulder Raise and the Side Lateral Raise.

The Lever Lateral Raise sits you against a pad and has you raise straight arms out to your sides until they reach shoulder height. With a Smith machine, the Smith Upright Row pulls a barbell up towards your chin on a fixed track, leading with your elbows instead of raising your arms sideways, while a pair of dumbbells and the Side Lateral Raise repeat the raise itself. With no equipment at all, the Shoulder Raise lifts your shoulders toward your ears and back down.

Lever Lateral RaiseWatch the Lever Lateral Raise

Each substitute is scored on movement pattern, muscles worked, equipment and body position. Read how we rank alternatives

How to Do the Lever Lateral Raise

The steps for the Lever Lateral Raise itself, so you can judge how close each substitute below really is.

Delts, with traps, upper back · Lever · Beginner · Isolation

  1. Adjust the seat height and position yourself on the machine with your back against the pad.
  2. Grasp the handles with an overhand grip and keep your arms straight.
  3. Exhale and raise your arms out to the sides until they are parallel to the floor.
  4. Pause for a moment at the top, then inhale and slowly lower your arms back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

The 10 Best Lever Lateral Raise Alternatives

10 substitutes, ranked by how closely each one matches the Lever Lateral Raise on movement pattern, muscles worked, equipment and body position. The higher the score, the less you change. Cards with a "How to perform it" link open to show the steps; every card title links to that exercise's own alternatives page.

Each link re-ranks the list below for the kit it names. Pick one to hide the substitutes you cannot set up.

  1. Smith Upright RowPlay demonstration

    1. Smith Upright Row

    89% match

    Delts · Intermediate · Compound

    A good swap when you have a Smith machine to work with, and it still works the delts.

    • Smith-machine
    How to perform it
    1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, facing the smith machine.
    2. Grasp the barbell with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
    3. Keep your back straight and your core engaged.
    4. Pull the barbell up towards your chin, leading with your elbows.
    5. Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower the barbell back down to the starting position.
    6. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

    Sets and reps: 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Primary muscle: delts, the same as the Lever Lateral Raise
    • Equipment: a machine, the same as the Lever Lateral Raise
    • Body position: standing, the same as the Lever Lateral Raise
  2. Shoulder Raise

    2. Shoulder Raise

    88% match

    Delts · Beginner · Isolation

    A good swap when you have dumbbells to work with, and it still works the delts.

    • Dumbbell
    How to perform it
    1. Relax your arms to your sides and raise your shoulders up toward your ears, then back down.

    Sets and reps: 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Movement: raise, the same as the Lever Lateral Raise
    • Primary muscle: delts, the same as the Lever Lateral Raise
    • Equipment: free weights, not a machine
    • Body position: standing, the same as the Lever Lateral Raise
    • Balance: harder to stay steady on than the Lever Lateral Raise
  7. Front Cable Raise

    7. Front Cable Raise

    85% match

    Delts · Beginner · Isolation

    A good swap when you have a cable machine to work with, and it still works the delts.

    • Cable
    How to perform it
    1. Select the weight on a low pulley machine and grasp the single hand cable attachment that is attached to the low pulley with your left hand.
    2. Face away from the pulley and put your arm straight down with the hand cable attachment in front of your thighs at arms' length with the palms of the hand facing your thighs. This will be your starting position.
    3. While maintaining the torso stationary (no swinging), lift the left arm to the front with a slight bend on the elbow and the palms of the hand always faces down. Continue to go up until you arm is slightly above parallel to the floor. Exhale as you execute this portion of the movement and pause for a second at the top.
    4. Now as you inhale lower the arm back down slowly to the starting position.
    5. Once all of the recommended amount of repetitions have been performed for this arm, switch arms and perform the exercise with the right one.

    Sets and reps: 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

    Why this matches
    • Movement: raise, the same as the Lever Lateral Raise
    • Primary muscle: delts, the same as the Lever Lateral Raise
    • Equipment: a cable, not a machine
    • Body position: standing, the same as the Lever Lateral Raise

Why You Might Need a Lever Lateral Raise Alternative

A Lever Lateral Raise needs a seat, a pad and handles built into one machine, so it disappears the moment that machine is taken or your gym never bought one. The alternatives trade that fixed seat for a bar, dumbbells, a plate, a cable, a band or nothing at all. A Smith machine guides a bar on a track, but the Smith Upright Row pulls it towards your chin rather than out to the sides, reaching the same delts from a different path. Dumbbells and cables raise the arms through open space instead, and the Front Plate Raise lifts a single plate held in both hands to a little above shoulder level. Pick the version that matches what you can reach today.

How to Choose the Right Lever Lateral Raise Substitute

A free Smith machine means the Smith Upright Row, pulling a bar to your chin with elbows leading. Own dumbbells instead, and the Side Lateral Raise repeats the same out-to-the-sides path with both arms at once, while the Front Dumbbell Raise alternates one arm at a time to the front. On a cable station, the Front Cable Raise faces you away from a low pulley to lift one arm to the front until just past parallel, and the Band Front Lateral Raise does the same with both arms on a band held in front of your thighs, turning the sideways raise into a forward one. With nothing in your hands, the Shoulder Raise is the gentlest way in, and a spare plate gives you the Front Plate Raise.

Lever Lateral Raise FAQ

Which swap needs no equipment at all?

The Shoulder Raise. You relax your arms at your sides and raise your shoulders up toward your ears, then lower them, so it needs nothing at all. It suits a session where you have no dumbbells, bar or bench nearby.

What should I use if I only have a Smith machine?

The Smith Upright Row. It swaps the sideways raise for a bar that pulls up towards your chin on a fixed vertical track, so the path stays guided and there is no seat to line up. Pulling the bar up rather than raising your arms out changes where the effort lands, so expect it to feel different from the pad.

How do I make a bodyweight swap harder?

Pick up a pair of dumbbells and do the Side Lateral Raise, the same out-to-the-sides path the machine guides, with a slight elbow bend. If you only have a plate, the Front Plate Raise lifts it in both hands to a little above shoulder level and holds it there for a second.

Can I do the Lever Lateral Raise at home?

Not on the machine itself, but the delts still get worked. The Side Lateral Raise repeats the same out-to-the-sides path with a pair of dumbbells, Dumbbell Scaption raises a light pair out at an angle in front of you rather than straight to the side, and the Dumbbell Standing Around World moves them in a slow circle from your sides up overhead.

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