4 Anterior Delt Exercises To Build Boulders For Shoulders
The make or break body part for any good physique in my eyes are the shoulders. Wide, round shoulders give the illusion of a smaller waist, creating what is known as the ‘V taper’.
Some guys are born with genetically broad shoulders, I personally were not one of the winners of this genetic lottery… although over time I have been able to sculpt my shoulders into by far my strongest and most dominant muscle group (as of right now I’ve had to reduce the volume of shoulder work I do as they are beginning to overpower my chest/arms in terms of proportion).
Regardless of your genetics I want you to know that you can build broad, round shoulders.
You just need to know how to train them correctly.
Before you can train your shoulders effectively you need to understand the different heads of the deltoid (shoulder).
Your shoulder is not just made up of one muscle, the shoulder is comprised of 3 ‘heads’, these are known as:
- The anterior deltoid (the front of your shoulder)
- The medial deltoid (the side of your shoulder)
- The posterior deltoid (the rear of your shoulder)
If you are not training all 3 heads you will not get round, full shoulders.
In this article we're going to cover 4 great exercises build the anterior (front of the deltoid).
1 -Dumbbell Arnold Press
The Arnold Press is an excellent exercise for hitting the anterior, medial and posterior heads of the deltoid (shoulder) in one exercise!
This Arnold Press is best described as your regular dumbbell shoulder press with a twist.
Movement: Isolation
Targets: Shoulders
Required: Dumbbells + Bench
Dumbbell Arnold Press Form...
Sit on a bench and grasp two dumbbells in front of your torso at upper chest level, your palms should be facing your face and your elbows should be bent (picture the contracted top position of a seated dumbbell biceps curl).
Begin to raise the dumbbells while rotating your palms until facing forward.
Continue lifting the dumbbells until your arms are extended above you as if it were a regular dumbbell shoulder press.
Contract at the top for one second.
Reutrn the dumbbells to the starting position by lowering them while rotating at the same time so your palms are once again facing towards your torso at upper chest level.
2 - Plate Front Raise
The plate front raise and all of its variations are fantastic for building up the anterior (front) of the deltoid.
Movement: Isolation
Targets: Shoulders
Required: 45lb Plate
Plate Front Raise Form
Grasping a weight plate with both hands and stand straight with palms facing towards your body with a slight bend in your knees.
Maintaining your straight position proceed to raise the plate in front of you with a slight bend in your elbows.
Raise the plate until it's at head height before holding for one second at the top of the repetition.
In a slow and controlled manner lower theplate back down to your side and proceed for the desired number of repetitions.
3 - Cable Front Raise
The cable front raise maintains tension on the anterior deltoid for the duration of your set (unlike plate and dumbbell front raise variations).
Movement: Isolation
Targets: Shoulders
Required: Cable Machine + Straight Bar Attachment
Cable Front Raise Form...
Grasping a straight bar on your cable machine and stand straight with palms facing towards your body with a slight bend in your knees.
Maintaining your straight position proceed to raise the straight bar in front of you with a slight bend in your elbows.
Raise the straight bar until it's at head height before holding for one second at the top of the repetition.
In a slow and controlled manner lower the straight bar back down in front of your waist and proceed for the desired number of repetitions.
4 - Seated Dumbbell Front Raise
The seated dumbbell front raise is a bread and butter mass builder for the anterior deltoids.
Opt to perform your dumbbell front raises seated as pictured above as when you're standing there always ends up being some momentum and swinging brought into the equation.
Movement: Isolation
Targets: Shoulders
Required: Dumbbells + Bench
Seated Dumbbell Front Raise Form...
Grasping a pair of dumbbell and sit upright on a bench. Your arms should be straight with palms facing towards your body.
Maintaining your straight position proceed to raise the dumbbells one at a time infront of you with a slight bend in your elbows.
Raise the dumbbell until it's at head height before holding for one second at the top of the repetition.
In a slow and controlled manner lower the dumbbell back down to your side and proceed to raise the alternate dumbbell.