Seated Dumbbell Front 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 pulls the shoulder joint upward.

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, front raises are performed seated with dumbbells.

Seated dumbbell front raise execution

Sit on a bench with the dumbbells in your hands, allowing your arms to hang freely at your sides. Keep your arms beside your body and your thumbs pointing forward (palms facing inward, 'neutral grip').*

Keep your arms slightly bent at your sides.

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.

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 the arm back to the starting position in a controlled manner over 2–3 counts.

Repeat on the other side.

Seated dumbbell 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
External oblique
Internal oblique
Transversus abdominis (transverse abdominal muscle, 'corset muscle')

Lower back and spine:

Erector spinae
Lumbar multifidus
Quadratus lumborum

Seated dumbbell 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 with them. Often, the exercise is started 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.
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 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 therefore 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 therefore an advantage of using dumbbells over a barbell, which forces 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.

Arms bent or straight

The straighter the arms are, 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, 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 a little more can make it easier to focus fully on the upper arms.

Raise, don't swing

Because you primarily move the weight forward during the first part of the exercise, the muscles do not have to work as hard yet. Gravity starts pulling harder as the weight rises. The endpoint of the exercise is therefore the hardest. 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 the momentum then helps bring the arm farther upward. At the top, the weight is barely held before simply being allowed to fall back down. Sometimes you even see the legs being used to generate momentum, and with the dumbbell version, people begin 'with a run-up' by first bringing the dumbbell slightly backward.

This is not a way to work the shoulder muscles. It is a way to lift 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 in a controlled manner over about 3 counts. Keep the rest of your body as still as possible to prevent 'cheating'.

The advantage of the seated execution (with back support) is that it limits possible cheating. Swinging the upper body is made less possible because the back cannot be swung farther backward.

Alternatives