Barbell Front Raise
Holding a single bar with both hands lets you move more total weight and keeps the arms working together, which some lifters find easier to control than independent dumbbells. It builds the front delt and carries over to the bottom of overhead pressing. Keep the reps strict, because a barbell makes it tempting to swing.
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Body part
- Shoulder
- Type
- Strength
- Browse by muscle
- Deltoid Anterior
- Browse by movement
- Shoulder Raise
- Target
- Deltoid Anterior
- Secondary
- Deltoid Middle, Pectoralis Major Clavicular
- Tertiary
- Trapezius Upper
How to do it
- 1
Hold a barbell with a shoulder-width overhand grip, arms hanging in front of your thighs.
- 2
Stand tall, brace your core, and keep a slight bend in the elbows.
- 3
Raise the bar forward and up until it reaches shoulder height.
- 4
Keep the arms roughly parallel to the floor at the top.
- 5
Lower the bar under control back to your thighs.
- 6
Repeat without letting your torso rock.
Tips
- Use a light bar or fixed barbell at first; this is harder than it looks.
- Do not lean back to heave the bar up.
- Control the descent rather than dropping the bar into your legs.
Variations
Common mistakes
- The bar tilts to one side as one shoulder fatigues faster than the other, since a fixed bar forces both arms to match a single arc whether they are equally strong or not.
- Gripping much wider than shoulder width changes the angle at the wrist and shifts some of the load away from the front delt and onto the forearms.
- The wrists cock back under the bar's weight because a barbell cannot rotate the way a dumbbell can, which strains the wrist instead of the shoulder.
- Once the bar passes shoulder height, the torso rocks back to keep it moving, since a barbell gives no easy way to stop the rep partway through like a dumbbell does.
Frequently asked
- How many sets and reps of the barbell front raise should a beginner do?
- Two to three sets of 8 to 10 reps with an empty bar or a light fixed barbell is enough to start, since this movement is harder to control than it looks. Add small plates only after you can complete every rep without the torso rocking to help the bar up.
- What can you do instead of the barbell front raise without a barbell?
- A dumbbell front raise lets each arm move independently and is generally easier on the wrists; a plate or band front raise also covers the same anterior-delt pattern if a barbell is not free.
- What is the barbell front raise good for, and when is it a poor pick?
- Moving both arms together on one bar lets you handle more total weight than a pair of matched dumbbells would feel comfortable with, and it carries over to the bottom portion of an overhead press. Because the bar cannot rotate and forces both shoulders to move in exact unison, it is a poor choice if one shoulder is weaker or less mobile than the other, since a dumbbell or single-arm version would let that side move through its own comfortable range.
Related exercises
Other movements among FitRay's 2,000+ exercises that load the same target muscle — same equipment and level first.