Lifting dumbbells in front of you: technique of performing swings alternately and with both hands

The deltoid muscles consist of anterior, middle and posterior bundles. They participate in all pressing movements. Raising your arms forward, pressing away and up - this is their main function. The anterior deltoid works when we open a door, move our arm in front of us, or try to shake a barbell in the gym. This muscle is not large, but its development is important not only for aesthetics, but also for preventing injuries. Front raises are a great isolation exercise for the anterior deltoid.

Benefits and disadvantages of exercise

Pros:

• Swinging dumbbells in front of you is aimed at developing the anterior delta.
• The exercise can be performed with one hand, which allows you to correct asymmetry of the deltoid muscles or facilitate technique.
• This is a great option for home training.
• The exercise is suitable for both women and men.
• Dumbbell swings strengthen not only the shoulder muscles, but also the ligaments.
• Helps improve the quality (relief) of deltoids.

Minuses:

• The disadvantages of the exercise include possible pain and discomfort when performing, as well as working with light weights.
• In principle, dumbbell swings are performed as an additional load on the target muscles, so heavy weight is not as important here as proper technique and concentration.

Weight selection and warm-up

Beginner girls can use a weight of 2 kilograms, men - from 4–5. You will determine the optimal weight for yourself after a couple of sessions. Deltas are small muscles, they get tired quickly, and too much weight simply will not allow you to complete the workout.

As for men, gradually, when you perfect the exercise technique, it will be possible to increase the weight to 16–20 kg. Do not increase the load by more than 2 kilograms at a time. Lifting heavy weights requires excellent technique. In this case, a small number of repetitions are performed.

Based on your level of training and the selected weight, you can perform simultaneous or alternate swings. Keep in mind that lifting two heavy dumbbells forward at the same time is extremely difficult and inconvenient. This threatens that the technique of performing the exercise may be disrupted. Focus on your own feelings. Lifting dumbbells one at a time will not reduce the effectiveness of the exercise, but will allow the muscles to take a break from the intense load.

Option with alternate lifting of dumbbells.

When working with weights, it is recommended to do a preliminary warm-up. Particular attention should be paid to the arm muscles. The best preparation is to swing your arms and rotate your shoulder joints. These simple movements will prepare your body for stress and make the exercise safer.

What muscles work

This is an isolating exercise for training the anterior deltoid; however, the load on the middle part cannot be completely eliminated.

Other muscles are also involved during the exercise. They work as stabilizers . These include: leg muscles, abdominal and lower back muscles, lower trapezius, rhomboids and other deep spinal stabilizer muscles.

Technique for performing dumbbell lifts in front of you while standing alternately

Despite the fact that this option is usually performed after a heavy basic exercise, due to the high load on the ligaments, it is imperative to start performing the exercise with minimal weight, and gradually increase it during the training process.

1. In the starting position, the athlete must keep his back straight. The dumbbells should be positioned in front of your thighs and can touch them. The arms should be almost completely straightened at the elbow joints, but leave a slight bend. You need to fix your hands in this position until the end of the exercise. (The grip can be either from above, when the palms are facing down, or vertical, when the palms are turned towards each other).
2. As you exhale, raise your arm in front of you. Be sure to maintain the position of the elbow joint throughout the entire range of motion. Never bend your arm or straighten it completely.
3. It is very important to control the movement and perform it concentrated, tensing the anterior deltoid muscle.
4. Lifting dumbbells should end at temple level.
5. The distance between the dumbbells should always be constant: equal to shoulder width or slightly less.
6. Having reached the top point of the amplitude, you should hold the sports equipment for a short time, then smoothly lower the dumbbell and inhale.
7. Then repeat the same movement on the other hand.
8. When performing dumbbell swings, do not use inertia. Do not arch your lower back or round your chest. Shoulders should be straightened.

Common mistakes

• Throwing a dumbbell using your legs and body.
• Sharp lowering of hands down.
• Performing the exercise by inertia - throw it up with the help of your legs, throw it down sharply.

1) When lifting dumbbells, the torso leans back strongly, don’t do this, you throw up the weight by swinging the body and pull with the help of the chest muscles, thus stealing most of the load from the delta;

2) After lowering the weight from the top point, the dumbbells touch the quadriceps, reducing the tension of the delta; the dumbbell springing from the hip facilitates the initial stage of the movement (it is good, it becomes easier, but our task is not easy, but to work the muscle and give it muscle growth).

To avoid making mistakes when performing the exercise, follow these recommendations:

• Do not spread your arms as you lift or bring them together. Throughout the entire set, the dumbbells should be at a fixed distance from each other - at shoulder width or slightly narrower.
• Concentrate on working your shoulder. Do not push your arms out while pushing with your pelvis. Use lighter dumbbell weights.
• Hold the dumbbell as you lower your arms. Avoid sudden release.
• At the very beginning of the exercise, fix the position of your back and hold it. Don't slouch, spread your shoulders and shoulder blades back. The body as a whole must remain motionless.
• Try not to straighten your arm at the elbow. He must also remain motionless until the very end.

To understand and work on the alternate lifting technique, we suggest you watch the following video lesson.

In fact, dumbbell flyes are rarely a cause of injury unless the technique is truly horrendous. Some athletes may throw weights toward their heads, raise their arms too high, swing aggressively, and rotate their arms backward at the shoulders during the movement. They run a serious risk, but not of muscle tears, as is commonly believed, but of sprained ligaments and subsequent inflammatory processes.

The problem with shoulders is that they are loaded not only in sports, but also in everyday life. We sit a lot, raising our shoulders and overstraining our trapezius, we carry bags on one shoulder for a long time, stretching one half of our body and involuntarily shortening the other, and we often do sharp lifts of our arms without warming up. This leads to overload of the joints.

Let's say a person has never trained. He comes to the gym and starts doing bench presses, bench presses, sitting, standing, and a couple more presses, but this time with dumbbells. All of them work the deltoids and involve the joint. It is enough to overwork and make an awkward movement and you can get a tear or sprain.

For beginners, it is not recommended to do more than 2-3 bench press exercises in one workout. If there are too many exercises, it is better to leave abductions or swings for a light session, and not do them when the body has already received sufficient load. Ideally, the workout should include 1 heavy press, 1 assisted press, and 1 bench or standing abduction. Only then will the volume be adequate.

Anatomical features are also of great importance. If the trapezius is overdeveloped, the athlete will not be able to perform the movement using the shoulders alone. This must be taken into account when choosing weights and start literally with 2-3 kg.

Injuries are often accompanied by inflammation, which is not localized, but spreads throughout the muscle bundle. They often affect the nerves, which increases the pain. Shoulder injuries should be diagnosed by a doctor. Home treatment based on guesswork will not lead to anything good.

The list of mistakes made by beginners and professionals is almost the same:

1. The desire to pump up muscles as quickly as possible, and the choice of dumbbells that are too heavy, which will certainly interfere with performing the exercise correctly;
2. Walking on your toes, rolling on your feet, changing the position of your legs;
3. Performing the movement by tilting the body;
4. Starting position with your back tilted back;
5. Changing the trajectory of movement, throwing dumbbells to the head;
6. Uneven rise on the right and left. If you have a curvature of the spine, perform the movement with one arm at a time;
7. Flexion at the hip joint with forward bending;
8. Changes in the angle of the hip joint as you get tired;
9. Turning on extra muscles as you get tired

Shoulder swings are often performed as a drop set to create an extensive pump. This is only permissible if the athlete is experienced and can maintain the starting position throughout the exercise.

For those who work with cheating, we can recommend smooth leads on the lower block of the crossover. This will help eliminate unnecessary pushing and other movements and allow you to improve your technique almost instantly. The exercise must be performed regularly, then mastering it will not be a big problem.

Option for lifting two dumbbells in front of you

The principle of performing the exercise with two dumbbells at the same time is absolutely no different from alternating swings in front of you. The only problem is that the muscles tire quickly, unlike lifting with one hand. While performing the movement, you can connect the dumbbells together for convenience (if the design of sports equipment allows this).

Peculiarities

Raising your arms with dumbbells in front of you works the deltoid muscles. The maximum load is placed precisely on their front bundle. The middle delta is also involved. When performing the exercises, the following are pumped up:

• upper parts of the pectoral muscles;
• biceps;
• abdominal Press;
• trapezius and serratus muscles.

Due to the fact that stabilization of the core is required during training, the legs and back are also strained. The exercises are great for both beginners and professional athletes. Only those who have injured their shoulders during the year should refuse the training.

Lifting sports equipment in front of you brings great benefits to the body. By regularly performing such exercises, the following results can be achieved:

• strength indicators improve;
• the muscle tissue of the shoulders is strengthened, the risk of injury in this area is reduced;
• several groups of muscle tissue develop;
• shoulders become broad;
• the body takes on a sporty look.

Lifting heavy weights can cause injury. If dizziness or general weakness are observed, training should be stopped immediately.

Option for raising your arms in front of you with a weight plate

This option is done by grasping the edges of a weighting disk. Technically, the exercise is no different from other options. The only difference is the ability to change the distance of the arms and the position of the hands. You can also note an increased load on the muscles of the forearms.

Raising your arms in front of you in a crossover

An effective option for developing the anterior delta.

• Firstly, this option allows you to select the weight due to the small weight of the weighting blocks.
• Secondly, thanks to the handle-bar, the movement is more fixed, which reduces the load on secondary muscles.

The exercise is performed in the lower block.

Technical points

Raising dumbbells in front of you, despite its apparent simplicity, is a technically complex athletic movement. When performing it, you need to pay attention to many details and follow a wide range of recommendations. Depending on the grip and quantity involved in the exercise of the upper limbs, the following types of swing movements with dumbbells on the anterior delta are distinguished.

Dumbbell grip

There are 3 main types of grip that are widely used:

Movement amplitude

Depending on the amplitude of movement, there are 3 main types of lifting dumbbells in front of you:

Recommendations for performing front swings with dumbbells

1. Lifting dumbbells in front of you can be used as an additional, so-called “finishing” exercise after the basic ones, such as: vertical bench press of dumbbells, barbells, in a Smith machine or Arnold press.
2. Front dumbbell swings can also be used in supersets.
3. To build muscle mass, 3-4 sets and 8-12 repetitions are enough.
4. The exercise can be added to workouts aimed at weight loss and cutting, but in this case it is important to use a scheme with a large number of repetitions (15-20 for 3-4 approaches) and perform supersets or drop sets.
5. For girls, this exercise can be included in circuit training or performed in supersets.

Basic Rules

Lifting dumbbells while sitting and standing in front of you should be done with optimal weight. To determine it, you should initially take the lightest shells. If you managed to do about ten repetitions as easily as possible, you still have the strength to continue training, you need to add about another kilogram. According to this principle, the mass continues to be increased until, after ten repetitions, a burning sensation appears in the area of ​​the anterior deltas.

Lifting dumbbells is carried out only after warming up. The body must be prepared for training. This way it will be as safe as possible and injuries will be prevented.

Before any physical activity on the shoulders and chest, you need to do a joint and general warm-up.

You simply cannot swing dumbbells chaotically. Training is carried out in compliance with the following rules:

1. When releasing projectiles, you need to tense the target muscle groups. You can’t just lose weight and move forward by inertia.
2. Movements are made strictly in the forward direction. It is unacceptable to lift in an arc through the sides.
3. It is extremely important to monitor the position of the body. The back should remain straight, the shoulders should not rise up.
4. Nodding your head is unacceptable, and bending your neck is also prohibited.
5. It is forbidden to bring the dumbbells together at the top point.
6. The projectiles should be lowered smoothly, without jerking.

Raising dumbbells in front of you is necessary after performing bench presses or exercises that directly affect the shoulders. There should be 3–4 approaches. During training, it is also allowed to use a barbell periodically.

Lifting dumbbells should only be started after a preliminary warm-up.

Movements are made strictly in the forward direction

The back should remain straight

The dumbbells should be lowered smoothly, without jerking