Dumbbell Incline Front Raise

Front raises are primarily performed to place more emphasis on the anterior head of the deltoid (shoulder muscle).

The pectoralis major assists in lifting the arms. Especially the fibers that run from the clavicle to the upper arm, also known as the “upper chest.”

In addition to the deltoid itself, various muscles around the shoulder joint are recruited to stabilize it. Smaller stabilizing muscles such as the four rotator cuff muscles, as well as the larger trapezius, which elevates the shoulder joint.

In the arms, the biceps and triceps have a stabilizing role in keeping the position of the forearm relative to the upper arm constant. The muscles in the forearms then stabilize the wrist joint to control the dumbbells or barbell.

Core muscles such as the abdominal muscles and muscles along the spine keep the torso upright. Depending on the execution (standing, seated with or without back support), their involvement may be greater or smaller.

In this variation, the front raises are performed on an incline bench with dumbbells.

Dumbbell incline front raise execution

Lie on an incline bench with the dumbbells in your hands. Your arms are beside your body and your thumbs point forward (palms facing inward, “neutral grip”)*.

Keep your arms slightly bent beside your torso.

Raise one arm straight forward and upward. Maintain the same slight bend in the arm. Keep your palms facing inward*. Keep the rest of your body as still as possible.

The arms finish at an angle of approximately 90 degrees relative to the torso (at shoulder height if you were standing).

Hold the weight here for 1–2 seconds.

Lower the arm in a controlled manner over 2–3 seconds to the starting position.

Repeat on the other side.

Dumbbell incline front raise

Muscles involved:

Shoulder joint:

Deltoid (especially anterior head)
Rotator cuff (subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and teres minor)
Trapezius
Levator scapulae

Chest:

Pectoralis major (especially upper portion)

Arms

Triceps
Biceps
Forearm muscles

Abdomen:

Rectus abdominis (rectus abdominis muscle)
External oblique (external oblique muscle)
Internal oblique (internal oblique muscle)
Transversus abdominis (transverse abdominal muscle, “corset muscle”)

Lower back and spine:

Erector spinae
Lumbar multifidus
Quadratus lumborum

Dumbbell incline front raise technique

“For the front of the shoulder”

The deltoid pulls on the upper arms from three directions. Front raises are usually performed by people who want to train the front of the shoulder. The exercise often begins with the thumbs pointing forward (neutral grip), and the arm is rotated inward, ending in a pronated grip (thumbs pointing inward). Two important points can be made here:

Front raises are not the exercise that activates the front of the shoulders the most.
By rotating the hands and therefore the shoulders inward, the front of the shoulder is activated even less.

The barbell shoulder press (and even the barbell behind-neck press) would activate the anterior head of the shoulder more. According to reasonably limited EMG data, the bench press itself also demands more from the anterior head of the shoulders than front raises.

*This already assumes that the hands are kept in a neutral position throughout the exercise. The palms then remain facing inward. Performing the exercise with a pronated grip (palms facing backward, thumbs pointing inward) shifts the emphasis more toward the outer head of the deltoid.

This is also an advantage of using dumbbells over a barbell, which enforces a pronated grip. Another advantage of dumbbells, provided you alternate arms, is that the lower back and glutes do not have to work as hard to keep your back straight.

Why use an incline bench?

Performing the exercise on an incline bench makes it considerably more demanding for the shoulder muscles. Because you are lying at an incline, gravity provides substantial resistance directly. When standing, this only happens halfway through the movement. This does mean that the movement should not be carried as far upward. Going too high means that the weight begins to rest on the upper arm and the tension on the muscles is lost.

The incline bench also prevents any cheating by moving your upper body forward and backward to create momentum.

Arms bent or straight

The straighter the arms, the farther the hands are from you, and the heavier the weight they are holding becomes. Front raises with straight arms can therefore be heavier than using a slightly heavier weight with bent arms. Normally, you want to make the exercise harder through correct execution, which would mean straightening the arms as much as possible.

However, the more you straighten the arms, the greater the stress on the elbow joint and the muscles that stabilize it. Bending the arms slightly more can make it easier to focus fully on the upper arms.

At a glance