Smith Incline Shoulder Raise

How to perform

1. 01Place an incline bench underneath the smith machine. Place the barbell at a height that you can reach when lying down and your arms are almost fully extended. Once the weight you need is selected, lie down on the incline bench and make sure your shoulders are aligned right under the barbell.
2. 02Using a shoulder width pronated (palms forward) grip, lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with a slight bend at the elbows. This will be your starting position.
3. 03As you breathe out, lift the bar up until your arms are fully extended. Note: The contraction should be felt around the shoulders.
4. 04After a second pause, bring the bar back down to the starting position as you breathe in.
5. 05Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
6. 06When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.

Form cues

• —Drive through the full range — do not cut the lockout short.
• —Set the bar path over mid-foot and keep it there.
• —Control the lowering phase — that is where most of the growth stimulus lives.

Common mistakes

• —Using momentum instead of the target muscle.
• —Cutting the range of motion short to add load.