10 Best Lever Lateral Raise Alternatives for Delt Width
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.
Original Exercise: Lever Lateral Raise
How to Perform Lever Lateral Raise
- Adjust the seat height and position yourself on the machine with your back against the pad.
- Grasp the handles with an overhand grip and keep your arms straight.
- Exhale and raise your arms out to the sides until they are parallel to the floor.
- Pause for a moment at the top, then inhale and slowly lower your arms back to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Ranked Lever Lateral Raise Alternatives
1. Smith Upright Row
89.1% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, facing the smith machine.
- Grasp the barbell with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your back straight and your core engaged.
- Pull the barbell up towards your chin, leading with your elbows.
- Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower the barbell back down to the starting position.
2. Shoulder Raise
87.9% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Relax your arms to your sides and raise your shoulders up toward your ears, then back down.
3. Side Lateral Raise
87.9% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Pick a couple of dumbbells and stand with a straight torso and the dumbbells by your side at arms length with the palms of the hand facing you. This will be your starting position.
- While maintaining the torso in a stationary position (no swinging), lift the dumbbells to your side with a slight bend on the elbow and the hands slightly tilted forward as if pouring water in a glass. Continue to go up until you arms are parallel to the floor. Exhale as you execute this movement and pause for a second at the top.
- Lower the dumbbells back down slowly to the starting position as you inhale.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
4. Side Laterals To Front Raise
87.3% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- In a standing position, hold a pair of dumbbells at your side. This will be your starting position.
- Keeping your elbows slightly bent, raise the weights directly in front of you to shoulder height, avoiding any swinging or cheating.
- At the top of the exercise move the weights out in front of you, keeping your arms extended.
- Lower the weights with a controlled motion.
- On the next repetition, raise the weights in front of you to shoulder height before moving the weights laterally to your sides.
5. Dumbbell Scaption
86.6% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- This corrective exercise strengthens the muscles that stabilize your shoulder blade. Hold a light weight in each hand, hanging at your sides. Your thumbs should pointing up.
- Begin the movement raising your arms out in front of you, about 30 degrees off center. Your arms should be fully extended as you perform the movement.
- Continue until your arms are parallel to the ground, and then return to the starting position.
6. Dumbbell Standing Around World
86% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand.
- Extend your arms straight out to the sides at shoulder height, palms facing down.
- Keeping your arms straight, slowly rotate your arms in a circular motion, bringing the dumbbells in front of your body and then overhead.
- Continue the circular motion, bringing the dumbbells back down to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
7. Front Cable Raise
85.4% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Now as you inhale lower the arm back down slowly to the starting position.
- Once all of the recommended amount of repetitions have been performed for this arm, switch arms and perform the exercise with the right one.
8. Band Front Lateral Raise
83.9% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold the band in front of your thighs with your palms facing down.
- Keep your arms straight and lift the band up in front of you until your arms are parallel to the ground.
- Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower the band back down to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
9. Front Dumbbell Raise
83.9% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- Pick a couple of dumbbells and stand with a straight torso and the dumbbells on front of your thighs at arms length with the palms of the hand facing your thighs. This will be your starting position.
- While maintaining the torso stationary (no swinging), lift the left dumbbell to the front with a slight bend on the elbow and the palms of the hands always facing 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. Inhale after the second pause.
- Now lower the dumbbell back down slowly to the starting position as you simultaneously lift the right dumbbell.
- Continue alternating in this fashion until all of the recommended amount of repetitions have been performed for each arm.
10. Front Plate Raise
83.9% MatchHow to perform this exercise
- While standing straight, hold a barbell plate in both hands at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Your palms should be facing each other and your arms should be extended and locked with a slight bend at the elbows and the plate should be down near your waist in front of you as far as you can go. Tip: The arms will remain in this position throughout the exercise. This will be your starting position.
- Slowly raise the plate as you exhale until it is a little above shoulder level. Hold the contraction for a second. Tip: make sure that you do not swing the weight or bend at the elbows. Your torso should remain stationary throughout the movement as well.
- As you inhale, slowly lower the plate back down to the starting position.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
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 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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