Front Incline Dumbbell Raise

What it is

This isolation exercise targets your shoulder muscles, particularly the anterior deltoids. You perform it seated on an incline bench, raising dumbbells directly in front of you. It is an effective push movement for developing the front of your shoulders. Varying the bench angle can subtly shift the focus within your deltoids.

Technique tips

• Keep your elbows locked during the entire upward raise.
• Maintain a firm squeeze at the top of the movement.
• Exhale as you lift the dumbbells, inhale as you lower them.
• Rest your head on the bench and keep your feet grounded.
• Experiment with different incline angles to vary the muscle stimulus.

How to track your progress

Log the weight and reps of each set. Straddly turns every set into an estimated one-rep max, so a heavier single and a strong set of eight both count as progress, and it flags a personal record the moment you beat your best.