Dumbbell Front Raise

1. Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, palms facing your body.
2. Set your feet hip width apart, brace your core, and pin your shoulder blades gently down.
3. Keeping a slight bend in the elbow, raise one or both dumbbells straight in front of you.
4. Stop when the weight reaches shoulder height, arm roughly parallel to the floor, and breathe out.
5. Pause for a moment without leaning back.
6. Lower the dumbbell slowly back to your thighs over about two seconds.
7. Alternate arms or lift both together, keeping the torso still either way.

Common Mistakes

• Rocking the torso: leaning back to heave the weight up shifts stress to the lower back; keep the ribs stacked over the hips.
• Lifting too high: raising far above shoulder height brings the traps in and adds little for the front delts; stop at parallel.
• Using heavy dumbbells: the front delt is a small muscle and this is an isolation lift; most lifters need only 4 to 10 kg done strictly.
• Dropping the weight down: letting the dumbbell free-fall wastes half of every rep; control the lowering phase deliberately.