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 raising the arms. This particularly involves 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. These include smaller stabilizing muscles such as the four muscles of the rotator cuff, as well as the larger trapezius, which elevates the shoulder joint.
In the arms, the biceps and triceps help stabilize the position of the forearm relative to the upper arm. 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, front raises are performed on an incline bench with dumbbells.
Dumbbell incline front raise
Muscles involved:
Shoulder joint:
Chest:
Arms
Abdomen:
Lower back and spine:
Dumbbell incline front raise execution
- Lie on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Keep your arms alongside your body and your thumbs pointing forward (palms facing inward, “neutral grip”)*.
- Keep your arms slightly bent alongside 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.
- Your arm ends at an angle of approximately 90 degrees relative to your torso (shoulder height if you were standing).
- Hold the weight here for 1–2 counts.
- Lower the arm back to the starting position in a controlled manner over 2–3 counts.
- Repeat on the other side.
Dumbbell incline front raise preparation
“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 with them. The exercise often begins with the thumbs pointing forward (neutral grip), and the arm is internally rotated to finish in the pronated grip (thumbs pointing inward). Two important points can be made here:
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 appears to place more demand on the anterior head of the shoulders than front raises.
*This 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 more emphasis toward the lateral head of the shoulder muscle.
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 continued quite as far upward. Going too high means that the weight begins to rest on the upper arm and tension is lost from the muscles.
The incline bench also prevents possible cheating by moving your upper body forward and backward to create momentum.
Arms bent or straight
The more straight your arms are, the farther your hands are from you, and the heavier the weight they hold becomes. Front raises with straight arms can therefore be harder than using a slightly heavier weight with bent arms. Normally, you want to make the exercise harder through proper execution, which would mean extending the arms as much as possible.
However, the more you extend your 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.
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