Front Plate Raise

Front raises primarily emphasize the anterior head of the deltoid (shoulder muscle).

The pectoralis major assists in raising the arms. In particular, 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 engaged 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 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 plate.

Core muscles such as the abdominal muscles and the 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 with a single plate.

Front plate raise execution

Grip the plate on both sides as if holding a steering wheel.

Hold your arms slightly bent and slightly in front of you, with the plate resting against your legs.

Raise your arms forward and upward. Maintain the same slight bend in your arms. Keep the rest of your body as still as possible.

Finish at the height just before your shoulders feel pinched. Slightly above shoulder height should be a safe height for most people.

Hold the weight here for 1–2 counts.

Lower your arms in a controlled manner over 2–3 counts until the plate nearly touches your legs.

Repeat.

Front plate 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 (straight abdominal muscle)
Obliquus externus abdominis (external oblique abdominal muscle)
Obliquus internus abdominis (internal oblique abdominal muscle)
Transversus abdominis (transverse abdominal muscle, 'corset muscle')

Lower back and spine:

Erector spinae
Lumbar multifidus
Quadratus lumborum

Front plate raise technique

"For the front of the shoulder"

The deltoid muscle 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 is often started with the thumbs pointing forward (neutral grip), with the arm rotating inward to finish in a pronated grip (thumbs pointing inward). Two important points should be noted here:

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

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

Why use a plate?

The comparison above with, among others, the barbell shoulder press already assumes that the hands are kept in a neutral position throughout the exercise. The palms remain facing inward. Performing the exercise with a pronated grip (palms facing backward, thumbs pointing inward) shifts the emphasis more toward the lateral head of the deltoid.

Using the plate forces the more effective neutral hand position for the front of the shoulder.

Using the plate also prevents the hands from being brought too far backward. This means you can generate less momentum during the part of the movement where there is still little resistance, making the exercise more challenging.

Arms bent or straight

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

However, the more you straighten 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.

Raise, don't swing

Because you move the weight mainly forward during the first part of the exercise, the muscles do not yet have to work as hard. Gravity starts pulling harder as the weight rises. The endpoint of the exercise is therefore the hardest part. Unfortunately, this point is often neglected.

A common mistake with front raises (and lateral raises as well) is performing the exercise ballistically. The arms are thrown forward with a swinging motion, and momentum then helps raise the arms further. At the top, the weight is barely held and is simply allowed to fall back down. Sometimes the legs are even used to generate momentum, and with the dumbbell version, people begin 'with a running start' by first moving the dumbbell slightly backward. This is not possible with the plate.

This is not a way to make the shoulder muscles work. It is a way to raise a weight with as little effort as possible. The shoulders then only have to work at the top of the movement, while the way down (the eccentric phase) is almost completely neglected.

Instead, raise the weight in a controlled manner. You should be able to hold the weight still for a few counts at every point in the movement; if not, you are training with too much weight. At the top of the movement, actually hold the weight for 1 to 2 counts. Then lower it back down in a controlled manner over about 3 counts. Keep the rest of your body as still as possible to prevent 'cheating'.

At a glance