Muscle Breakdown: Anterior Deltoid
Created on: Sept 19, 2000
1st revision on: Nov 1, 2024
Table of Contents
What Is the Anterior Deltoid
The anterior deltoid is the front shoulder muscle and one of the three heads of the deltoids, with the others being the lateral deltoid and posterior heads. The anterior deltoid raises the arm overhead and is a prime mover in vertical pushing motions while also acting as a strong synergist in horizontal pushing.
Though the anterior deltoid is generally well developed in most gym-goers, it contributes to the desirable “capped” shoulder shape. Strong anterior deltoids are essential for those participating in overhead sports like strongman, Olympic lifting, and CrossFit. If your goal is to achieve a strong overhead press or cannonball-like shoulders, training the anterior deltoid is a must.
In this muscle breakdown, I’ll explain everything you need to know about the anterior deltoid.
Anterior Deltoid Muscle
Anterior Deltoid Origin and Insertion
The anterior deltoid originates from the collarbone and attaches to the upper arm. All three heads of the deltoid converge at a common insertion point, allowing the front deltoid to perform its function of raising the arm overhead.
Anterior Deltoid Origin
Lateral Third of the Clavicle
Anterior Deltoid Insertion
Deltoid Tuberosity
Anterior Deltoid Function
All three heads of the deltoid contribute to overhead movement. The activation of each head depends on the distance between your hands. When your hands are close together, the movement primarily involves shoulder flexion; when your arms are farther apart, the focus shifts to shoulder abduction. If the goal is maximizing anterior deltoid activation, it's best to focus on shoulder flexion.
Flexion
Horizontal Adduction
Internal Rotation
Anterior Deltoid Innervation
The Anterior Deltoid Innervation is the Auxiliary Nerve.
Anterior Deltoid Strain
The anterior deltoid can suffer a strain, usually from overstretching or a tear in the muscle. Symptoms of an anterior deltoid strain may include sudden pain in the muscle, a decrease in range of motion, tenderness, and swelling. Muscle strains vary in severity, ranging from mild strains to severe strains involving muscle tears.
For mild anterior deltoid strains, rest the muscle and apply ice and heat as needed. A physical therapist can also provide treatments, such as ultrasound and electrical stimulation, to promote faster healing and reduce swelling. They may also create a rehabilitation plan with gentle stretches and exercises to help heal the anterior deltoid and prevent further injury.
Anterior Deltoid Tear
If you suspect an anterior deltoid tear, you should visit your doctor. They will confirm the injury and provide an appropriate treatment plan. Signs and symptoms of an anterior deltoid tear include severe pain, swelling, and an inability to use the injured arm. Anterior deltoid tears can take up to 12 weeks to heal, so be sure to follow your treatment plan; otherwise, you risk re-injuring the anterior deltoid, which may prolong recovery!
Anterior Deltoid Injury
Injury to the anterior deltoid can manifest as an anterior deltoid strain or tear, as described above. The anterior deltoid can also experience general soreness and tightness from overuse, which can lead to a muscle strain and is often an early sign of a potential strain. When you feel muscle tightness or soreness, it’s important to give the muscle time to rest and repair itself before resuming activity.
Anterior Deltoid Pain
Injuries to the anterior deltoid itself are rare. However, movements used to train the anterior deltoid can cause injuries to structures deep beneath the muscle. Beneath the anterior deltoid lies the subacromial space, which contains many nerves, tendons, and blood vessels. If an injury occurs in this area, it’s common to experience referred pain in the deltoid along with decreased shoulder functionality.
Shoulder Impingement
The most common and complex shoulder injuries are shoulder impingement. Remember the injury itself is not happening to the anterior deltoid. But as a byproduct of anterior deltoid training or overuse.
What Is Shoulder Impingement?
Shoulder impingement is entrapment or compression to the structures underneath the acromion. Called the subacromial space. The entrapment is caused by swelling, bleeding, and inflammation of any of the structures in this area which decreases the available space. As space is taken up pain and decrease in functionality will increase.
What Causes Shoulder Impingement?
Weakness and overuse are the prime suspects with regard to shoulder impingement. When we lift our arms overhead like flexion via the anterior deltoid. A muscle group called the rotators cuffs to stabilize and pull the humerus with the deltoids to keep our shoulders from dislocating. If we have weak rotator cuffs they will quickly become overworked and damaged. Resulting in swelling, inflammation and bleeding. Reducing the space in our subacromial results in shoulder impingement.
How Does Shoulder Impingement Apply to Anterior Deltoids?
If you are training your anterior deltoids you have to consider all the muscle groups involved. Before shoulder training always include some form of rotator cuff strengthening exercises. Make sure you’re performing an external rotation exercise in particular. The rotator cuff muscles that perform external rotations are the weakest and most susceptible to injury. Have a 1:1 ratio of overhead pressing to external rotation to help prevent shoulder impingement. For example, match the total amounts of shoulder press sets with cable external rotation.
Scapulohumeral Rhythm
Before you start overhead pressing you want to make sure you have a healthy scapulohumeral rhythm. A relationship between your scapula and shoulders that allow for fluid overhead motion. If you have a dysfunctional scapulohumeral rhythm you run the risk of injury. Preventing you from training your anterior deltoid.
Scapular Plane
What Is the Scapular Plane?
The Scapular plane is the position where the scapula provides the most support for the humerus while were pressing. Our scapula is naturally angled at 30 to 45 degrees against our posterior ribcage. As we widen out our arms past that 30-45 degree angle. We decrease the available space for the subacromial while reducing the mechanical support from our scapula.
How Does the Scapular Plane Apply the Anterior Deltoid?
When performing your anterior deltoid exercises you want to ensure your exercises are happening within the scapular plane. When we leave the scapular plane, we run the risk of increasing subacromial impingement. Since we are reproducing the mechanism of injury. Behind the neck exercises, are the most notorious for taking you out of the scapular plane and should be avoided. The exception to this rule is if you're an athlete that must press behind the neck. Like an Olympic lifter or a strongman. Otherwise, you are better off performing your exercises within the scapular plane.
Overdeveloped Anterior Deltoids
I mentioned earlier that the anterior deltoids are overly developed. This is simply due to the fact that the anterior deltoids are getting trained more than the other deltoid heads. Creating a muscular imbalance that is undesirable for aesthetics. There is an upside from a training and hypertrophy component. We only need to do minimal amounts of direct anterior deltoid training to maximize hypertrophy. So as long as you are doing some form of a horizontal and vertical push there is very little need for specific anterior deltoid exercises.
Anterior Deltoid Exercises
When selecting exercises for the anterior deltoid, choose movements where flexion is the primary action. This will elicit the most activation from the anterior deltoids, ultimately resulting in better gains.
Overhead Press Barbell or Dumbbell
The king of growing the anterior deltoids is the overhead press. The overhead press requires most of the anterior deltoids functions to be executed properly. The OHP is also easy to progressively overload since you can lift much more weight when compared to other shoulder exercises. It also simultaneously strengthens the lateral deltoid and triceps brachii making the overhead press very time effective.
Seated or Standing?
There are varying ways to perform an overhead press, deciding whether to be seated or standing will depend on your goals. When standing it requires you to recruit your core muscles to stabilize your body. When seated you reduce the need for core activation allowing you to press more weight. If you’re limited on time, performing your overhead press standing will be more beneficial since you’re recruiting more muscle mass. If your goal is to maximize your anterior deltoid hypertrophy. I’d recommend performing them seated since the heavier load provides a stronger stimulus for hypertrophy.
Push Press
The push press is my go-to exercise for athletes who need to generate power from the ground up. The push press is similar to the overhead press but with added assistance from the legs during the concentric portion of the exercise. In addition, it's an accessible way to get the benefits of the technically demanding Olympic lifts. Without the need to spend countless hours mastering the snatch and the clean and jerk. If you’re an athlete, the push-press should be added to your training routine. To help strengthen the anterior deltoids while developing power transfer through muscular coordination.
Front Raise
Front raises are actually not an exercise I would recommend. I mentioned earlier if you’re performing some form of a horizontal and vertical push. You have likely maxed out your hypertrophic gains for the anterior deltoid. But, if you do struggle to grow your anterior deltoids you can include a front raise for additional isolation volume.
Other exercises that target the anterior deloid:
Anterior Deltoid Workout
When structuring your anterior deltoid workout, you want to make sure you’re training them 2 or more times throughout the week. Post-exercise our muscles undergo muscle protein synthesis, this a metabolic process of growing our muscle cells we call hypertrophy. Training your anterior deltoid two or more times throughout the week will provide a constant signal for muscle protein synthesis. Maximizing your anterior deltoid hypertrophy.
Train your anterior deltoid along with your other pushing muscles. Anterior deltoid training is maximized through a combination of vertical and horizontal push. There is no legitimate need to dedicate an entire day to training your anterior deltoids. I’d recommend training them during your full body, upper body, or push day.
Before you train your anterior deltoids, do your rotator cuff exercises first. This will help warm up your shoulders while strengthening this weak muscle group. Your movements will also become more fluid and pain-free. As the rotators, cuffs are now preactivated and ready for overhead motion.
Prioritize your compound exercises first during your training routine. Since you’re at your freshest, you should maximize this time and recruit the most muscle mass. A heavy compound exercise like the push press or overhead is the press is what I would recommend. I would focus on lower rep ranges and use more sets. A rep range of 3-8 is what I would recommend and 3-5 sets are more than enough training volume. To maintain repetition quality, I wouldn’t push to failure, RPE 6-8 provides sufficient amounts of stimulus for hypertrophy without limiting the quality of your training.
After the vertical push, you can subsequently perform a compound horizontal push exercise like a push-up or a bench press. This will strengthen the anterior deltoids along with the other pushing muscles like the pectoralis major and triceps brachii. I would, however, keep the rep range low and sets high. Rep ranges of 3-8 are ideal with sets of 3-5. The RPE recommendation also stays the same at RPE 6-8.
You can reverse the orders of how you structure your pushing exercise. If you want overall muscle mass recruitment. But if your goal is maximizing your anterior deltoid hypertrophy I’d recommend placing your vertical push first.
Lastly, if you’re struggling to grow your anterior deltoid, add in the front raise to finish off the anterior deltoids. This is optional and you would be better off adding in an isolation exercise for another muscle group. Use higher rep sets like 12+, with 2-3 sets. At this point, you can push to failure if you want to, but I’d recommend an RPE of 7-9.
Sample 2 Day Anterior Deltoid Workout
Day 1
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions | RPE/1RM | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cable External Rotation | 3 | 20 | 7 | 2-3 min |
| Barbell Overhead Press | 4 | 6 | 7 | 2-3 min |
| Bench Press | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2-3 min |
| Incline Dumbbell Press | 3 | 8 | 7 | 2-3 min |
| Front Raise | 3 | 8 | 7 | 2 min |
Day 2
| Exercise | Sets | Repetitions | RPE/1RM | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cable External Rotation | 3 | 20 | 7 | 2-3 min |
| Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press | 4 | 6 | 7 | 2-3 min |
| Floor Press | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2-3 min |
| Dips | 3 | 8 | 7 | 2-3 min |
| Front Raise | 2 | 15 | 8 | 2 min |
Anterior Deltoid Stretches
There are many effective ways to stretch the anterior deltoids, but it's important not to exceed your range of motion to avoid injury. This often happens to those who are unaware of their body's limits. One of my preferred stretches for the anterior delts involves a variation of tricep dips. Simply lean your body forward with your feet on the ground to create a stretch. Additionally, I'll share a universally used stretch for the front of the shoulders.
Door Frame/Wall Stretch
Place your hands on the door or wall, ensuring your arms are extended or flexed. Lean forward until you feel a stretch in your shoulders.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Anterior Deltoid
Are You Overcomplicating Your Workout and Recovery Routine?
The biggest mistake is overcomplication. Most decent programs that include horizontal and vertical pressing movements already provide sufficient stimulus for the anterior deltoids. Overthinking muscle subdivisions can lead to confusion and inefficient workouts.
The most important techniques for recovery are time, sleep, nutrition, and proper programming. Poor programming that progresses too fast will leave you with a bucket-load of recovery you'll need to get over, with no benefit. Techniques like foam rolling, stretching, and massage won't speed up recovery but can provide temporary symptom relief. As with anything, these can also be overdone, at which point they too can prolong your recovery.
For beginners, there's no need for special focus on the anterior deltoids if they're already doing pressing exercises. You can increase bias on the anterior delts by making sure they're facing upwards, making them the primary muscle resisting gravity. For example, perform lateral raises with a slight external rotation (thumbs-up position) or bench press with a small incline.
Piotr Lewandowski, Physiotherapist & Exercise Scientist, Sports Physio Online