Exercise library

How to do the Front Incline Dumbbell Raise

A beginner isolation exercise using dumbbell, working the shoulders.

Primary musclesShoulders
Secondary musclesNone recorded
EquipmentDumbbell
LevelBeginner
TypeIsolation
ForcePush

Steps

  1. Sit down on an incline bench with the incline set anywhere between 30 to 60 degrees while holding a dumbbell on each hand. Tip: You can change the angle to hit the muscle a little differently each time.
  2. Extend your arms straight in front of you and have your palms facing down with the dumbbells raised about 1 inch above your thighs. This will be your starting position.
  3. Slowly raise the dumbbells straight up until they are slightly above your shoulders, while keeping your elbows locked. Squeeze at the top for a second and make sure you breathe out during this portion of the movement. Tip: Keep your head resting down against the bench and your legs on the floor at all times.
  4. Lower the arms back to the starting position as you inhale.
  5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Tracking it in OneRep

Add the front incline dumbbell raise to a routine and your previous weight and reps sit beside every set, so the decision to add load is made by what is already on the screen rather than by memory. Exercise history and volume trends are one tap away, and logging works offline for the gyms where signal does not reach.

Because OneRep tracks food on the same timeline, a stall on this lift can be read against what you were actually eating that month — which is the difference between a programming problem and an eating one. More on that in tracking progressive overload without a spreadsheet.

Where the instructions come from

The steps above come from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. They are general guidance, not coaching for your body: if a movement hurts, stop and get someone qualified to look at it.