Front Raise (On Stability Ball)

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. 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 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 lesser.

In this variation, the front raises are performed with dumbbells while seated on a stability ball. This requires the core muscles and shoulders to perform more stabilizing work.

Dumbbell front raise on stability ball execution

Sit on a stability ball. Keep your arms at your sides and your thumbs pointing forward (palms facing inward, 'neutral grip').*

Keep your arms slightly bent at your sides.

Raise your arms straight forward and upward. Maintain the same slight bend in your arms. Keep your palms facing inward*. 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 back to the starting position in a controlled manner over 2–3 counts.

Repeat.

Dumbbell front raise on stability ball

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 muscle)
Obliquus internus abdominis (internal oblique muscle)
Transversus abdominis (transverse abdominal muscle, 'corset muscle')

(Lower) back and spine:

Erector spinae
Lumbar multifidus
Quadratus lumborum

Dumbbell front raise on stability ball 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 with them. 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 anterior shoulders the most.
Rotating the hands, and therefore the shoulders, inward activates the anterior 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 reasonably sparse EMG data, the bench press itself also demands more from 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 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.

This is also an advantage of using dumbbells instead of a barbell, which forces a pronated grip. Another advantage of dumbbells, when performed alternately with each arm, is that the lower back and glutes have to work less to keep your back upright.

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 with a slightly heavier weight and bent arms. Normally, the idea is to make it harder 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 moves upward. The endpoint of the exercise is therefore the hardest. Unfortunately, this point is often neglected.

A common mistake with front raises (but also lateral raises) is performing the exercise ballistically. The arms are thrown forward with a swinging movement, and the momentum then helps bring the arm farther upward. The weight is barely held at the top, and is simply allowed to fall back down. Sometimes you even see the legs being used to build momentum, and, with the dumbbell version, people begin 'with a run-up' by first moving the dumbbell slightly backward.

This is not a way to make the shoulder muscles work. It is a way to bring a weight upward with as little effort as possible. The shoulders then only have to work at the top of the movement, while the downward path (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