---
title: "Front delt exercises without equipment"
description: "With no weight, the front delt only gets loaded once your torso is over your hands. Pike push-ups and the road to a handstand."
locale: en
url: "https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/front-delts/bodyweight"
count: 44
type: combo
muscle: FRONT_DELT
equipment: BODYWEIGHT
---

# Front delt exercises without equipment

The bodyweight list for front delts is long, but very uneven. Most of it is arm circles, swings,
arm pulses, boxing punches and stretching: movements that take the joint through its full range
and warm it up before you train, but never put real resistance on the shoulder.

The exercises that actually load this muscle are few, and they all work the same way. They put
your torso over your hands so your bodyweight travels through your arms. From the pike push-up to
the handstand, what changes is mostly how much of your mass goes through there.

## What on this list actually loads the shoulder?

Arm circles, swings and pulses do exactly what they are for: they run the joint through its range
and raise the temperature before you train. Boxing punches work the same way. The shoulder moves
fast and often, but the resistance is close to zero. Good warm-up, poor strength work.

Real load starts where you stand on your hands. In an inverted V part of your bodyweight rests on
your arms, and the more vertical your torso, the more of it does. That is the only weight the front
delt can get without equipment, so the whole progression is about shifting that proportion, not
about adding sets.

Worth knowing before you plan your shoulder training entirely off this list. The mobility and
warm-up work here is complete. The exercises that will actually tire the shoulder out are few.

## Where do you start when the pike is too hard?

A pike push-up asks for a fair amount of strength right away, because plenty of weight already hangs
on your shoulders in the start position. If you are not descending at all, the sensible step back is
to walk your hips back so your torso sits more horizontal. The closer you get to a plain push-up,
the less mass on your arms, and the easier it is to do a full rep instead of a faked one.

The other route is a military press with no load, including the version against a wall. It will not
tire the shoulder, but it teaches the path: your arms finish straight overhead, not out in front,
and that same position will serve you later under any weight. It makes sense as a warm-up or a first
week, not as the destination.

And if you have anything at home that weighs something, a resistance band, a backpack, a pair of
dumbbells, it will do more for your front delts than the rest of this list put together. This muscle
is simply hard to load with your body alone, and it is better to say so straight out.

## Common mistakes

- **A push-up instead of a pike** - When your hips drop, your torso comes toward horizontal and it turns into a plain push-up. Your chest takes the work. Hips stay high, legs stay straight.
- **Head in front of your shoulders** - At the bottom your head goes between your hands, not in front of them. Pushed forward it loads your neck and shortens the work the shoulder has left to do.
- **A slippery floor** - In that inverted V your hands are heavily loaded and set at an angle they can easily slide out of. Train on a mat, or on a floor your hand will not skate on.

## Progress the movement

1. **Walk your feet closer to your hands** - In a pike push-up the angle of your torso sets the load. The more vertical your hips, the more of your mass goes through your shoulders, without changing anything else.
2. **Get your feet up** - Feet on a bench or a chair tip you further over your hands. The diamond version stacks a narrower hand position on top of that.
3. **Take it to the wall** - Handstand push-ups with your feet on a chair are the point where nearly all your bodyweight goes through your shoulders. A chair is easier to control than kicking up into a full handstand.

## All Front delt exercises without equipment

- [Pike Push Up](https://hi.fitness/exercises/pike-push-up) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Shoulder Extension](https://hi.fitness/exercises/shoulder-extension) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Standing Y Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/standing-y-raise) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Standing Swimmer](https://hi.fitness/exercises/standing-swimmer) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Full Planche Push Up](https://hi.fitness/exercises/full-planche-push-up) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Military Press Bodyweight](https://hi.fitness/exercises/military-press-bodyweight) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Body-up](https://hi.fitness/exercises/body-up) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Shadow Boxing](https://hi.fitness/exercises/shadow-boxing) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Boxing Jab](https://hi.fitness/exercises/boxing-jab) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Boxing Right Cross](https://hi.fitness/exercises/boxing-right-cross) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Boxing Left Hook](https://hi.fitness/exercises/boxing-left-hook) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Boxing Right Hook](https://hi.fitness/exercises/boxing-right-hook) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Boxing Left Uppercut](https://hi.fitness/exercises/boxing-left-uppercut) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Boxing Right Uppercut](https://hi.fitness/exercises/boxing-right-uppercut) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Alternate Punching](https://hi.fitness/exercises/alternate-punching) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Side to Side Punch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/side-to-side-punch) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Double Punch Front Leg Lift](https://hi.fitness/exercises/double-punch-front-leg-lift) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Clap Jack](https://hi.fitness/exercises/clap-jack) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Overhand Clap](https://hi.fitness/exercises/overhand-clap) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arm Circle](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arm-circle) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arm Circles Backward](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arm-circles-backward) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arm Swing Side to Side](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arm-swing-side-to-side) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arm Crossover](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arm-crossover) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arms Up and Down](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arms-up-and-down) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arm Pulses](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arm-pulses) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arm Pulses Cross](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arm-pulses-cross) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arm Pulses Palms Downwards](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arm-pulses-palms-downwards) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arm Pulses Palms Upwards](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arm-pulses-palms-upwards) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Backhand Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/backhand-raise) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Circle Elbow Arm](https://hi.fitness/exercises/circle-elbow-arm) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Criss Cross Arms Lift](https://hi.fitness/exercises/criss-cross-arms-lift) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Chest Raise and Rotate](https://hi.fitness/exercises/chest-raise-and-rotate) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Upward Rotation Bent Arms](https://hi.fitness/exercises/upward-rotation-bent-arms) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Palm Up Palm Down Rotation](https://hi.fitness/exercises/palm-up-palm-down-rotation) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arm Tuck Side Bend](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arm-tuck-side-bend) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Across Chest Shoulder Stretch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/across-chest-shoulder-stretch) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Cross Over Shoulder Stretch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/cross-over-shoulder-stretch) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Standing Reverse Shoulder Stretch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/standing-reverse-shoulder-stretch) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Standing Overhand Shoulder Stretch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/standing-overhand-shoulder-stretch) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Reaching Up Shoulder Stretch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/reaching-up-shoulder-stretch) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Arms Behind Back Shoulder Flexor Stretch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/arms-behind-back-shoulder-flexor-stretch) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Seated Shoulder Flexor Depressor Retractor Stretch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/seated-shoulder-flexor-depressor-retractor-stretch) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [Extension of Arms in Vertical Stretch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/extension-of-arms-in-vertical-stretch) - Front delts · Bodyweight
- [5 Sec Fist Against Chin](https://hi.fitness/exercises/5-sec-fist-against-chin) - Front delts · Bodyweight