Front Barbell Raises
To execute front barbell raises, start by grabbing a barbell with the hands placed about shoulder-width apart. While standing upright and keeping your back straight, lift the barbell by raising your arms upwards. Avoid bending your arms as you lift the barbell to better isolate the shoulders.
Lift your arms until they are about parallel to the floor or slightly higher (see variations below), then return to the starting position slowly while resisting the pull of gravity.
Tips
* This exercise develops the anterior deltoid and the clavicular head of the pectoralis major. The biceps also somewhat contribute to the movement however you can decrease their involvement by focusing on keeping your arms straight throughout the range of motion.
* There are a couple of different ways to perform this exercise. You can either concentrate on working with heavier weights and lifting the arms to parallel, or you can lower the weight and raise the arms much higher until the barbell is above your head. In the second case, the range of motion will be increased, allowing you to work more fibers of the anterior deltoid. For the best overall results you should vary the way in which you perform this exercise occasionally.
* The advantage to this movement over
alternate front dumbbell raises
is that the use of a barbell forces both shoulders to travel through a fixed plane and maintaining proper form becomes less difficult. When using dumbbells and lifting one arm at a time, it can sometimes be hard not to shift your balance to make the lifts easier. At the same time, using dumbbells will allow you to work each shoulder equally, ensuring that your stronger side is not always overcompensating for your weaker side (only if you are performing the movement with proper form and not shifting your balance, however).
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