Smith Incline Shoulder Raise

What it is

This isolation exercise, performed with an incline bench on a Smith machine, effectively targets your shoulders. You will primarily engage your anterior deltoids, the front part of your shoulder muscles. It also provides secondary activation for your chest.

Technique tips

• Ensure your shoulders are directly beneath the bar.
• Use a pronated, shoulder-width grip with palms facing forward.
• Maintain a slight bend in your elbows at the starting position.
• Breathe out as you press the bar upward to full extension.
• Focus on contracting your shoulders at the top of the movement.
• Control the bar's descent back to the starting point.

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.