Exercise of the week: Cable Front Raises

This week we will look at the front raise which is a shoulder exercise. “Strong shoulders make most arm movements easier, whether you’re throwing a ball, passing food across the table, or lifting a suitcase that’s a little too heavy. ”

By raising your straight arm directly in front of you, you target the anterior head of your deltoids. Front raises can be performed with a barbell, dumbbell or various cable handles as in the video. 

You can also perform it single arm, where you would work each side independently, which can help you not only spot strength imbalances but also correct them. These also call in more stabilizing activity, so your core has to work that much harder.
1. Select the weight on a low pulley machine and grasp the straight bar attachment with pronated grip. 

2. Face away from the pulley and put your arms straight down with the hand cable attachment in front of your thighs at arms’ length with the palms of the hand facing your thighs. This will be your starting position.

3. While maintaining the torso stationary, lift arms to the front (with a slight bend on the elbows) until you arm is slightly above parallel to the floor and pause for a second at the top.

4. Slowly lower the arms back down with full control to the starting position.