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Dumbbell Incline Raise

A chest-supported dumbbell front raise performed prone on an incline bench, isolating the anterior deltoids with all trunk momentum removed.

ShouldersDumbbellFront raise
GoLightWeight mediadumbbell-incline-raise

Demonstration coming soon

Primary

Anterior deltoids

Secondary

Lateral deltoidsSerratus anteriorUpper trapezius

Equipment

Dumbbell

Pattern

Front raise

Setup

  1. 01Set an incline bench to roughly 45 degrees.
  2. 02Lie chest-down on the pad with the head just above the top edge.
  3. 03Let the arms hang straight down holding dumbbells with palms facing back.
  4. 04Plant the feet and press the chest lightly into the pad.

Execution

  1. 01Raise both dumbbells forward and up with a soft elbow bend.
  2. 02Continue until the arms are in line with the torso, roughly parallel to the floor.
  3. 03Pause briefly at the top without lifting the chest off the pad.
  4. 04Lower slowly back to the hang.

Checkpoints

  • -Chest stays glued to the pad through every rep.
  • -Arms rise in front of the body, in line with the shoulders.
  • -Elbow bend stays fixed; the shoulders do the lifting.
  • -No swing at the bottom between reps.

Common mistakes

  • -Pushing off the pad with the chest to heave the bells up.
  • -Using standing front raise loads; the support removes all cheating.
  • -Swinging the bells at the turnaround.
  • -Raising the arms out wide instead of forward.

Programming notes

  • -Use 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps with light load.
  • -A strict option when standing front raises turn into body swings.
  • -Pairs well as a superset partner with incline rear lateral raises on the same bench.

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