The Plate Front Raise is a beginner-friendly specialty-equipment strength exercise that targets the shoulders, with the abdominals working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesShoulders
Secondary musclesAbs
EquipmentOther
LevelBeginner
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Plate Front Raise
Pick up a weight plate and hold it at the three and nine o'clock positions with your palms facing each other.
Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your shoulders pulled back.
Let the plate hang a few inches in front of your thighs without touching them.
Brace your abs and keep a slight bend in your elbows.
Raise the plate in front of you until it is just above parallel with the floor, then pause.
Lower it slowly back to the start without letting it rest against your body.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
One plate is all the equipment needed, which suits crowded or minimally kitted gyms.
The neutral two-handed grip keeps the wrists in a comfortable position.
Strict single-joint work makes front deltoid volume easy to count in a program.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Swinging the plate up with a hip drive, which removes the front of the deltoid from the lift.
Letting the plate touch the thighs between reps, which unloads the shoulder at the bottom.
Gripping too low on the plate, so it tips away from the wrists and the set ends on grip.
Programming it only alongside heavy pressing, which piles more volume on an already busy anterior deltoid.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Plate Front Raise, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
