The front delts typically are not an area most trainers have trouble bringing up. After all, the front delts get hammered on incline presses. But that doesn’t mean you should skip training them altogether. A great mass-building shoulder exercise that hits the front delts — not to mention the middle delts, and even the upper pecs — is the barbell shoulder press performed with the bar in front of your head. This is a great way to build up the delt/pec tie-ins.
ALTERNATIVES
Smith machine shoulder presses, machine shoulder presses.
WHEN TO GO TO THE FRONT
To focus on the front delts and place the greatest overload on them, do barbell shoulder presses at the start of your shoulder workouts.
FORM AND FUNCTION
As the name implies, the front, or anterior, head of the deltoid is found closest to the front of the body, where it attaches to the humerus (upper-arm bone) and to the common tendon that is shared by the other two deltoid heads (the middle, or lateral, deltoid and rear, or posterior, deltoid). The front deltoid head is responsible for flexing the upper arm, which raises the arm in front of the body, as in front raises. It also assists the middle deltoid head in abduction, in which the upper arm raises out to the side and up, as in lateral raises.
