The Best Shoulder Exercise That No One Does

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[@BaldOmniMan]

That thumbnail is incredible

[@AlexanderBromley]

lol I thought of you when I put it up

[@SamBarrass]

You’re both incredible ❤

[@piyushdwivedi7195]

Reminds me of Vitruvian Physique for some reason.

[@CeroAshura]

@@TheLyingFigure vitruvianClassicPhysique

[@charlescox8476]

Bald Chad dominates comments section of other bald chads video

[@BluegillGreg]

This makes a lot of sense. People warn against doing these to prevent from "overdeveloping" the front delts, since they get plenty of work on OHP and BP. So it does make sense to do these to increase pressing strength. It's been hiding in plain view. Thanks Brom.

[@stephengallagher2209]

No, it does not make sense... are your front delts the modt developed of the three already? Yes? Ok. So train them more? No.

[@dingus1013]

@@stephengallagher2209I think he means that the front raises can build front delts without joint fatigue from pressing?

[@Ascending_Leo816]

Love these exercises. I do side lateral and rears. Always lighter than heavy. Upright rows so true about leaving them behind. So ill put them back into the mix.. thanks forcrhe new flavor of the month

[@StrangeCloudSs]

Im glad I found this channel, loving the content!

[@RingJando]

Brilliantly outlined - making it easy to work the delts indeed! Cheers!

[@harvey7594]

Excellent video, thank you.

[@joeld8465]

I'm a beginner. But I do front and lateral raises as core exercises for my shoulders, and just by the mind-muscle connection I have when doing those exercises, I will continue doing them for the foreseeable future. I Enjoy the content.

[@DANA-lx8cv]

Great video. I always did these with a slow and controlled low weight up and down motion. Going to try these tomorrow with the Nuobells with more of a swing. Love the Nuobells. I have been using them for a few months and they are super high quality and have a great natural feel.

[@christianbolt5761]

Doing it on an adjustable incline bench allows you to change the peak force angle. I also like to use cables for these

[@lefonwastaken3393]

Before even watching the video, I’m sure this is about front raises. Edit: I’ve started doing front raises again since your last video on shoulder training and I love doing them. I feel like my front delts weren’t developed and after I started including them, I’ve noticed them rounding out from the front a little bit. Always disliked when people said that front delt isolation was never needed

[@ericreed2064]

I was just getting ready to throw delt isolation on my shoulder focused push day, and I'm glad to have found this!

[@mastersironmantarmstrong7148]

Wow Bromley I have been following your channel for a few years now pretty closely and I would never think of you as a minimalist.

[@tommcgivern8020]

Yeah man that squeeze or slight hold at the top is an amazing feeling. It reminds me of a ride at an amusement park changing directions up high.

[@anothy7228]

I see people doing raises almost every day and I work at a commercial gym, idk about this being "the best shoulder exercise that no one does" I respect the clickbait grind though, and your technical advice is top tier on this movement so its still worth the watch. I also disagree from personal experience that rowing is enough to grow the rear delt proportionately for most people, you gotta respect hypertrophy and do your best to put in the same effort you would with the other heads of the deltoid with your rear delts if you want them to grow and look good relative to your middle and front delts.

[@slee2695]

Yeah i see noobs doing front raises all the time

[@briccshitthouse]

Facts bro. I have yet to find a youtuber that hasn't sold out and resorted to click baity titles in order to get more views. - Read THIS comment if you want to build the most muscle! -

[@jakk221]

@Alexander Bromley

[@tuts40]

Well said.

[@wigletron2846]

Imo if any raise isn't needed it's front raises. They get pounded on every press.

[@sagebauer1077]

Dumbbells, body english, no weirdly specific "line up the fibers" movement pattern? Man, the "optimal" crowd is gonna hate this one!

[@AlexanderBromley]

Then my job here is done

[@Gonzomedic1]

Thanks Bromley!

[@sagebauer1077]

for my front/lateral raises, I always liked taking a heavier weight and doing partials for 4-6 reps, and superset with a lighter weight with full range of motion for 6-10 reps. Since the bottom half of the movement feels so easy with light weight

[@marc23009]

Wont disagree on that since partiels can be nice.. BUT when you do your 'light' laterals.. dont go all the way down because as you just said.. its easy at the bottom because there is no resistance down there.. Try to dont go all the way down on your lateral raises.. keep the tension in your set and your light weight will feel heavy. no reason at all to go all the way down to your side like many people do.

[@sagebauer1077]

@@marc23009 good point

[@apoilgun8342]

can confirm that front raises really do contribute to the pressing strength development. I was wondering how effective do you think using the cables is over using the dumbbells? I started incorporating cable raises into my push rotation and finding them more challenging than the free-weight variation tbh..

[@angusworkman5486]

Id say he prefers dumbbells over cables. In the video he says something like "Dumbbells are good because of the freedom" continued to talk about dumbbell path for how his shoulder was feeling e.g injured, cables wouldn't be as free.

[@brendanthompson2082]

Same here. I get a better workout with cables. AthleanX mentioned it as having a more consistent resistance throughout the exercise. I like them because it lets me get a better stretch. I start with my arm behind my back. And on laterals I start across the midline for more stretch and range of motion. I find that the cable can only lower so fast, which is good because it forces me to focus on the eccentric more.

[@lightningarrow4486]

I think he meant dumbbell opposed to barbells. You still have freedom of moment with cables, no? @angusworkman5486@@angusworkman5486

[@peterdearborn]

I think the reason you don't see these more often in public gym or in general is that many dude bros have been told that if they bench heavy, they are already getting enough front delt work and should not add more there (addendum to the 2:1 pull / push folks basically). I've always been very careful to balance my shoulder based on how I feel, but the last time my front delt hurt was 10 years ago and that's because I was training like a total asshole and just failing every single set. Not sure if I will tweak anything, but you've given me something to think about. Thanks for the video.

[@desilva8158]

Hi Bromley big fan from Sri Lanka! Loving the Bullmastiff.

[@RoidfreeSenior]

I like supersetting laterals to bent laterals, to fr raise, to OH press, with light bells, 8 or 10 reps each movement, non-stop... cant hit heavy OH stuff with my beatup delts

[@mattz.7761]

Marker advice for shapes: create a large area of ink on the whiteboard and then use an eraser to get your shape. If you have a dry erase marker that has dried out completely then you can use that to get even more detail and fine eraser lines. You can get even more nutty and use a ruler to guide your dried marker.

[@ghfjfghjasdfasdf]

Excellent video 🤟

[@KirkEspelandRDN]

ive been grabbing straight curl barls and doing iso metric holds with the front raises. Love em.

[@AlexanderBromley]

Love front raises with a barbell. I would wrap a mini band around the middle and stand on it for low reps. Made for an extremely unique stress in the muscle.

[@KirkEspelandRDN]

@@AlexanderBromley thanks bro!!!

[@K4R3N]

I combine my lateral and front raise in one rep. Front raise to start the rep. At the top, spread the arms out to a lateral raise. Lower the weight to the sides. Then lateral raise, at the top bring the weights in front of me and then lower down to my starting position. That's one rep. I can only work with 10-15lbs and get a real burn after just 7-8 rep. Remember, 1 rep is a full front and lateral raise combined. I do this mainly to save time.

[@brendanthompson2082]

I do this as well, but throw it on at the end cause 15lbs strains my rotator cuff too much. Maybe I'm mistaken but ti feels like a more functional exercise this way, building real world strength.

[@LouisSerieusement]

thank you !

[@papallama]

Hey, I love your videos! They’ve been super helpful and have offered me lots of new information. At some point I’d like to see you do a review of the nSuns program - definitely a bit unusual and not for everyone but I’ve seen people have good luck with it

[@farhanhussain_]

I believe that best candidates for this exercise, and isolation exercises in general, are the late intermediates and advanced lifters. They have paid their dues on major lifts like bench and press, and have squeezed them enough for maximum possible gains and now they need a different type of stimulus to continue the progress. In general, beginners would benefit the most from main lifts, and intermediates would benefit by incorporating close variations of main lifts.

[@colonelquack]

I've hit my lateral raises. Hit my reverse flies. Actually hit a point where front raises will make a difference. Lateral raises alone have given some ummph to the bottom portion of my OHP. Dial in my front raises...

[@reznorweist6267]

used to do something similar with a plate, looking back i was way overemphasizing range of motion (getting the plate straight overhead) and the range at the bottom gets cut short because of the plate. thinking of adding these back in now that I have a better idea of how to make it effective.

[@coachingconfidant2785]

i been doing front raises for a long time now. Their the only exercise that developed my front delts. Overhead presses i was lifting heavy, but didn't get any front delt growth

[@jointdocdc]

+1 for use of cables or bands to maximize tension in the stretched position

[@ThingsYoudontwanttohear]

Say you do not have weights available would tucked back lever raises with supinated grip have similar benefits as db front raises? Or are they not specific and/or recoverable enough? Lever raises instead of front raises seem to work for me at the moment, but this might be placebo or specific to my preferred strength skills. (Loaded push ups on paralettes, deep dips...)

[@JohnBullard]

The first time I did five sets of front raises holding a bumper plate supersetted with OHP, my mid back was crazy sore, a good sign. Now I never miss some form of front raises, no matter how much OHP and dips, incline, etc., because it's great for my core and back. Also front raises leaning forward hits my mid back in a different way. Great channel, by the way.

[@dackhornbold1728]

I've been trying a combo move where I do the concentric part of a heavy front raise but at the top I bring them to the side like a lateral raise and resist for the eccentric. I get extra volume on the anterior delts but little DOMS. My side delts get it though because of slower eccentric portion.

[@farhanhussain_]

I think lateral raises on this style would be great. I would use one dumbbell at a time, and allow the working arm to swing across and touch non lifting arm on the other side. It would allow more stretch than in traditional technique.

[@GreyRock100]

Fluff movements rock! 💪🏻

[@mark80mark80]

Hi, it's a very informative video! I am wondering what happen when you front and lateral raises with your palms facing upwards instead of down? Is this an efffective way also to work the shoulders? Thanks

[@AlexanderBromley]

Very hard on the elbow/bicep and I don't believe it adds anything to the movement. Might not notice the difference as a beginner, but I can't imagine using any real amount of weight with the bicep tendon exposed like that.

[@natepolidoro4565]

What a great channel.

[@jayee172]

As a guy that does ohp bench, dips and tons of shoulder work like laterals, high pulls, rear delt raises, i never did front raises because of the stigma. But iv been doing them recently and my pressing has gone up. Not only that but front raises smoke my entire shoulder girdle and traps like nothing else. I think thats because no other exercise has you lifting a weight infront of you from the furthest point possible. We are always trained to keep the weigjt as close to your centre of gravity and towards your body. Its also gunna hit your core and back pretty hard to stabalisr and keep the weight infront and not round your back. Its a valuable exercise.

[@angusworkman5486]

Do you recommend super-setting these? Do you think that lateral raises are needed to grow shoulders? As that seems to be the popular consensus

[@lucitribal]

I prefer the force curve with cable front raises. It feels like the tension is more uniform, and I can do the movement with stricter form.

[@F-Tier_Physique]

Using an incline seated variation of this with a longer pause in the stretched/bottom position would be great for hypertrophy/assistance work and shoulder health, right?

[@AlexanderBromley]

I think that would be a burner for sure, but you will sacrifice the load/intensity you can generate while standing which I think is important if this is going to be your main builder.

[@epicparade1]

"We're coming to you from the garage today" activated neurons from 2016 like a sleeper phrase

[@tyronesunde8314]

Give these a shot: Do partial lower portion reps with dumbbell shoulder presses. Do a shoulder press and press a bit in front of you rather than directly up. Do a dumbbell farmer walk and push the dumbbells out and directly after do some lateral raises with a little lighter weight but not so light that you can do a full rep.

[@relentlessbeast3]

Have found that front raises specifically broke the glass ceiling on my strict overhead variations

[@mateoedwin4202]

Front delts are def lagging, gonna start adding these in while also spamming facepulls/ already do a lot of lateral work

[@Aaronsolnelson]

Great video. I'm looking forward to a complete guide to Overhead Press from you. I have some bands and weights at home, could I do these on off days without hurting pressing days?

[@AlexanderBromley]

Absolutely. I would acclimate to the frequency before hitting the gas but sneaking in extra volume on off days is a great way to bring up weak spots

[@deeyunjay1202]

How would this translate to a seated variation (like on an inclined bench)? Would it be better? Or worse?

[@BuJammy]

Heavy single arm 'Arnold press' (more like an old-timey one arm press) superset w/ banded barbell front raises did more for my delts than anything.

[@AlexanderBromley]

Banded barbell front raises are spectacular

[@andrewmaher8409]

I found that style of “Arnold press”, using a heavy kettlebell, starting low down and kind of externally rotating during the vertical extension was a great shoulder exercise. Never thought about adding a band, but certainly will experiment with that during next cycle. Thank you.

[@Arms.Enthusiast]

Front raises are often neglected, but anybody knows that a bigger muscle is a muscle that has the potential to be stronger than a smaller muscle, so different isolation movements can really be used to feed your pet lifts!

[@brewhanma6805]

Gingercules (Ken Cooper) has done some monstrous lateral raises

[@The3TaeKILLder]

hello, what about doing the front raise on a incline bench, so you can do the same movement with more resistant at the bottom?

[@AlexanderBromley]

Its a viable way to change the stimulus. But the trade off is you can't use as much weight; benefit of standing and light momentum is a LOT more overload in a way the delt never experiences. I think that makes it more suitable if you're using it as a 'main' delt movement. But it's all about where it fits in your program, what you've adapted to and what you think will be the most welcome change.

[@K4R3N]

I'm a decent tennis player and keep my shoulders healthy with front and lateral raises.

[@johanclaesson9901]

How about doing front raises laying on a flat bench? Then the hard segment is in the bottom and i suppose strength in that angle is more useful to bench press. So i wonder if that would have better carry over to bench press.

[@antonylynn7783]

Every time I do laterals my impingements get trapped and then comes the pain. I have no problem pressing though.

[@stefanparkes4675]

Push press and one arm kettlebell z press seem to grow my delts more than anything else

[@chaosdisciple3052]

What's the equivalent to this for rear and side delts?

[@lightningarrow4486]

Traditional lateral and bent over lateral raises, respectively.

[@gtxc4214]

Always stayed with front raised, a true staple.

[@marusaferjan5553]

Bikini competitor shoulders + bench gains 😎 amazing Thanks

[@kirby7475]

Damn never really thought of letting the dumbbells swing back a bit behind you for momentum. Imma give these a go. What worked for me for growing shoulders is something I stayed away from for way too long. It was behind the neck presses. If you have the mobility to do them, they’re an absolute S-tier for getting thicc in my experience.

[@absw6129]

Dunno if this is a stupid claim, but does dumbell work cause less fatigue per set than barbells? I've been really working on my push pressing lately, and I can only manage two heavy barbell pressing workouts per week, but I seem to have no trouble doing additional dumbell work to build out my base. I even tried doing the dumbell stuff 5 days in a row, and it didn't beat me up too much, even though I went to technique failure on each set.

[@lightningarrow4486]

I am a so I might be wrong. But from what I've gathered so far, you are correct. Since you can lift heavier weight with the barbell, the fatigue will be higher.

[@sky4im193]

I can't do those and bench press because of my posterior shoulder instability :(

[@Mbstr1]

What is currently working great for my delt development is really heavy rucking. With really heavy I mean 40 or more kg for atleast 90 minutes or more. Also a really good way to build mental toughness.

[@namanjoshi5796]

1ST LOVE FROM INDIA COACH

[@DiaBolicGainz]

Nearly every lifter, serious taken or Not, kinda "overtrains" Front shoulder. Barbell, dumbbell, Benchpress, shoulderpress etc hitting them hard. When i Take a Look at those people the front shoulder Looks kinda good but the Side and reardelts Like they re Not existing 😜😅 so what do U think of that? Just Ur opinion on this?

[@wdadwawdadawdwdwa4133]

aren't front raises kind of obsolete wehn you do incline and flat benching?

[@AlexanderBromley]

Ton of big benchers with sorry delts

[@wdadwawdadawdwdwa4133]

@@AlexanderBromley thanks for your reply

[@Shabanezloth]

Yeah, for some reason, some influencers like to crap on the front raise. Personally I use them as the second exercise of a superset, and it feels amazing.

[@aaronlatif52]

My front delta are already proportionally big, strong, and look the part. Sides can never be proportionally too big and who has rear delta that are proportionally the largest. So yea to manage fatigue, I I really can’t add these without taking a press out. I have a pretty minimalist plan and front delta get destroyed by pressing - military, bench, dips… front delts will be okay…

[@coughhy]

Cool, I think I'll add front raises to my OHP day and lateral raises to my bench day on the next Bull Mastiff base phase

[@stoempert]

As an addition or instead of another exercise? I'm liking the base phase but damn those workouts take a lot of time in the later parts of wave two and three. Can't imagine adding other exercises.

[@coughhy]

​@@stoempertFor me it was mainly lower body days that took me longer (up to 1h45 in week 3), because I had a hard time catching my breath in between sets. Upper body days were a breeze by comparison (up to 1h15). I already added an extra exercise on upper body days after the first wave the first time I did the progam. I'll probably just replace that one with front/lateral raises next time.

[@stoempert]

@@coughhy I'm definitely looking at 2 hours+ for lower and 1:30~1:45 hour for upper day. Might throw some front raises in after the rear delt flys.

[@coughhy]

@@stoempert I wasn't being entirely fair, because I excluded my 15 min warmup from the times I mentioned. We're probably not that far apart. I don't really mind some 2h workouts, but at least they're the exception. Not the rule.

[@king8321]

What weight do you use with these?

[@emmanuelmacias6959]

Whatever weight you are able to do

[@emmanuelmacias6959]

I literally did it with the bar today and it felt good on my delts, definitely something I want to include in my tool box

[@MattFlyFisher]

Yup i love my duobells. Only regret is not buying the 80s. I thiught the adpater add on kit was available in the US but unfortunately its not. Still tho these things are great

[@semme01]

actually the best front delt exercise that no one does is using the calf raise machine that has a wide range of motion with the yoke. instead of raising it with your calfs and the yoke on your neck, you set it very low and press it up with your hands. but not in a way where the triceps does all the work but you angle your arms 90 degree, depress your shoulders and lean back quite a bit so that the isolated front delt can do exactly the motion that Alexander here wants the delt to do. why is it better? cause u got the full load already at the streched position with no changing of the load until full contraction. where as with the dumbell u got zero loae at the streched position. absolute banger exercise. prove me wrong Alex.

[@leinekenugelvondoofenfocke1002]

You know alot of people say your front delts don't need any extra work because of pressing. I use to agree, but now I don't. You don't know how much of any press is front delts. You also don't know if other muscles are holding you back from actually hitting the front delts hard enough. Then there is sequencing. If my whole body is messed up, and Shakey I'm not gonna be able to do very well on the OHP, but I can damn sure do this. If I can't hit the movement I might still wanna hit the prime movers. If you aren't battling front delt dominance, I don't see any reason not to.

[@ytsux9259]

I usually only do behind-the-neck presses and it works. My delts are much better than my avatar pic suggests (old pic).

[@MuscularMontel]

There's a rhetoric that front raises contribute to shoulder injuries because they make the front delt (already strong from ohp. And bench press) too strong compared to the rear delts, throwing the shoulder out of position. That's why I stopped doing front raises early on in training. With what I know now, that's absolute BS. I'm gonna throw them in soon.

[@slee2695]

I think 95% of gym goers have overdeveloped front delts compared to the other two heads

[@donbrown2391]

Everybody does front dbell raises.

[@2jmajjic]

Bigger/stronger delts 🙇🏾‍♂️

[@boostbaa2882]

I’m tryna grow them DeathStar Delts

[@TheMTHSYoshi]

Nobody does them because everyone says something along the lines of "your front delts get enough work from all your pressing you don't need to train it" bullshit. Make your strong points stronger

[@AlexanderBromley]

Preach! If that were true everyone would have giant capped effing delts

[@MrAmadeus1998]

Bro got Alex Ross to do the thumbnail

[@wompastompa3692]

Wait, people skip front and side raises? Is that even legal?

[@maxaffe3195]

i never understood this exercise. isnt pressing just better for the front delts

[@ajithsidhu7183]

How can I do this with font delt pain

[@Kyle111]

The same way. Try different variations, ranges of motion and go lighter

[@AlexanderBromley]

Experiment with grip (thumbs up or palms down), how high you go, how wide you go. When you find a range you can tolerate, build up slowly to let yourself acclimate. If its a chronic issue, you might be better off using light bands for a lot of reps until the pain subsides.

[@ajithsidhu7183]

@@AlexanderBromley thanks

[@chrisbarney1609]

Came here because I'm sick of my left arm front delt aching the rest of the day whenever I push the intensity in benching or dipping. Time to take my front delt direct training seriously

[@hooskerdoo3130]

Alex unless something is wrong with my phone there is no audio

[@lebrongames8511]

There’s volume g

[@markbaker4425]

Its ur phone

[@hooskerdoo3130]

Thanks it doesn't surprise me my phone sucks

[@serotoninless2565]

i don't feel these with dumbbells, i do it with 15-20kg plate

[@AlexanderBromley]

You don't need to feel them. Push them hard, add weight and watch your shirts shrink

[@mikefoster732]

The strain is zero at the bottom because you aren’t fighting gravity, not because it is close to the body.

[@AlexanderBromley]

Gravity shuts off at the bottom of the movement??

[@mikefoster732]

@@AlexanderBromley Yes. Gravity works vertically, and most of the early part of the movement is horizontal so you are moving a small weight without fighting gravity until you are at 45 degrees when the predominant direction is upwards and you are then fighting gravity up to 90 degrees. Beyond 90 degrees up to 180 you are again diminishing the force against gravity as the motion has a horizontal force.

[@mikefoster732]

@@AlexanderBromley look up force vectors

[@mikefoster732]

@@AlexanderBromley cable version offers a more constant force through the full range of motion as the weight stack is going straight up and down

[@AlexanderBromley]

Umm how about you look up moment arms.

[@thoughttrail9567]

Love the video. Suggest you set the camera down. The Blair witch motion is making me sick.

[@DAatDA]

Why not take the weight all the way overhead to put the front delt in a fully shortened position?

[@evankalis]

Because the torque is zero when the weight is right above the muscle. Torque is highest at 90 deg. Anything more is just applying trap stabilization

[@DAatDA]

@@evankalis you could say the same thing about OHP

[@ProphetFear]

@@evankalis Actually the traps only elevate a tiny part of the ROM, the rest is side delts, way above 90 degrees.

[@beszamelowykapucyn3814]

the groj

[@TITANAS84]

Ιf i bench and press at same day , front raises for me are not feeling good. Thumbnail is Virtuvian Physique on steroids.

[@oscar.esteves]

That thumbnail made me click so hard 🤣

[@fasterhigherlonger8389]

You dont see ppl doing front and lateral raises in commercial gyms? How long since you were in a commercial gym? Way more ppl in gyms do front and lateral raises than do barbel presses. Why? Because they are easier than barbel shoulder presses.

[@anagramconfirmed1717]

Ive always done front raises. I look like ive always done them. The guys who don't do them in my gym look exactly like they don't do front raises.

[@briccshitthouse]

Wes watson says never take advice from someone who doesnt have what you wish to have

[@thesonofzeus6145]

This one exercise is KILLING your shoulders (and how to fix it) -Athlean X, probably

[@gabrielalbertogomez9562]

80lbs, shietttttt I just use 20s on this.

[@InvisibleHotdog]

Plenty of people do front raises, like novices trying "bodybuilding." Not really that useful when front delts get plenty of work from presses.

[@AlexanderBromley]

Which is why everyone who bench presses has massive delts

[@InvisibleHotdog]

@@AlexanderBromley and everyone doing front raises has massive delts too? We both know that's not an honest argument. Front and rear delts get plenty of volume from pressing and pulling, it's almost always mid delts that are the deciding factor.

[@stoempert]

@@InvisibleHotdog Depends a lot on the lifter. On average i would say only benching for front delts leads to poor results. Just like most won't get impressive, well rounded triceps from benching only.

[@InvisibleHotdog]

@@stoempert I didn't say benching, I said pressing. So benching, incline, overhead pressing, dips, pushups, etc.

[@tricia3114]

Did he just say 80lbs?.. yikes, I’m so weak…