Each of the muscle groups has its own set of exercises, which contributes to the rapid buildup of their volumes and strength indicators. In this article, we will tell you about the exercise on the deltoid muscles, in particular the front and middle bundles - lifting dumbbells in front of you. Technique, recommendations and common mistakes - read all about this below.
Exercise Summary
Lifting dumbbells in front of you is an insulating exercise that perfectly works out the front bunch of deltas, affecting the middle one as well. Along with basic movements, such as an army bench, this exercise must be present in the athlete’s training program at any level of experience.
Execution technique
The right technique is the key to success for a great workout. In order to perform this exercise as efficiently as possible, the starting position of the bodybuilder should take the following:
- straightened torso;
- feet shoulder width apart;
- hands should be straightened and fixed in the elbows until you complete the set;
- dumbbells should be held in front of the hips, but not touch them;
- the grip can be either top or neutral.
After the preparatory stage, it is worth moving on to the exercise itself. So, in order to correctly perform the lifting of dumbbells in front of you, follow this algorithm of actions:
- We take a breath and, holding our breath for a moment, raise our hands in front of us. In no case do not allow false movements in the elbow joint. Until the hands are completely blocked in the elbows, they should not be allowed to bend or straighten. Finally, do not help the deltas with sharp shocks, as the effectiveness of the exercise drops significantly. Standing dumbbell lifting should be fully focused on the shoulders.
- When you perform an exercise, do not lower or raise your arms. The distance between dumbbells is best kept constant.
- Performing the exercise, the dumbbells should be raised to shoulder level or slightly higher. When you reach the end point, exhale and gently lower the dumbbells to their original position.
- After a short 2-second pause, we continue the set.
As you can see, this is an easy exercise. Lifting a dumbbell in front of you does not present any difficulties, however, following the right technique will allow you to get the most out of this movement.
Tips for Athletes
In order to avoid mistakes when performing this exercise, you should listen to the following tips:
- Do not use the force of inertia. This is especially true for back deflection. To maximize the load on the deltas and stimulate their growth, it is better to make slow and measured movements that are completely controlled by your shoulders.
- No need to round your chest or slouch. In order to benefit from movement, you must keep your chest and shoulders straight. As for the blades, they should be lowered and a little forward.
- Take a breath at the very beginning of the movement. And this is very important, because breathing is an important component of bodybuilding.
- Exercise is best performed at the end of a set of movements on the shoulders. At first, it is better to pay more attention to the basic exercises: army bench press, barbell pull to the chin, lifting dumbbells in an incline, and others.
That’s probably all. If you follow the above recommendations, the effectiveness of the exercise will be maximum.
Recommendations regarding exercise difficulty
To load the deltas to the limit, stimulating their growth and increase in strength indicators, it is worth using dumbbells with a sufficiently large weight (which you can completely control), lifting them to shoulder level or slightly higher, as mentioned earlier. If there is a desire to work out the deltoid muscles even harder, then hold the dumbbells with a neutral grip, and then raise your arms 40-45 degrees above the horizontal line.
In the event that the hand begins to deviate from the vertical position by 45 degrees, the front and middle bundles of the deltas of the muscles experience maximum stress, which contributes to their development. When raising the arms higher, the load focus is shifted to the front dentate muscles and trapezium. In addition, the exercise quite heavily loads the upper chest, but only by the time the dumbbells do not rise above the level of your shoulders.
For maximum load focus on the front of the delta, keep dumbbells with a grip on top. Performing the movement slowly, you will definitely feel every cell of the deltoid muscles. As for variations, you can perform this exercise in the following ways: lifting dumbbells while sitting in front of you, simultaneously lifting two arms with dumbbells, or lifting the barbell.
Frequent execution errors
Often, athletes overestimate their strengths by working with excessive weight. As a result, when doing the exercise, they help themselves with the body at the very beginning of the movement, moving the dumbbells from place. At the same time, they deflect the shoulders back and make sharp shocks of the pelvis forward. In this situation, there is a risk of injury, and the effectiveness drops significantly. Thinking that they only load the shoulders, athletes include the muscles of the back, legs and arms. In general, it is better to take dumbbells with less weight.
Do not get hung up on a large number of repetitions. In one training session, 3 sets of 10-12 reps will be sufficient. In other cases, you just "mock" the muscle group in vain.
Variation of lifting dumbbells for biceps
Shoulder workouts go well with a day of legs or biceps. Here, every athlete decides for himself what gives him more benefit. In this section we will talk about training the biceps, and more specifically, about one of the exercises on the biceps muscle - lifting dumbbells to the biceps. It refers to basic exercises, perfectly developing the biceps and brachioradialis muscles.
The exercise itself is a dumbbell lifting followed by rotation of the hands. Due to this, the maximum reduction in biceps occurs, which makes this exercise one of the best for training. Most experienced bodybuilders constantly use the lifting of dumbbells for biceps for an excellent study of the hands, which only confirms the impeccable effectiveness of this movement. In general, any flexion of the elbow, when the palms “look” with the back side out, are extremely effective for the further development of this muscle group.
When lifting the barbell to the biceps, the straight neck somewhat limits the degree of rotation of the hand, which does not load the biceps muscle enough. Exactly in this case, exercises with dumbbells come to the rescue.
Finally
Strong shoulders are a hallmark of men, which is always greatly appreciated by the weaker sex. The development of the deltoid muscles does not take very long, because the bundles are very small. Today, there are many different simulators where you can improve the shape of your deltas. Lifting dumbbells in front of you significantly increases the strength indicators and volumes of this muscle group. Good luck with your workouts!