• Lie with back on incline bench with dumbbells at upper chest
• Without arching back, drive dumbbells toward the ceiling until arms are straight
• Lower dumbbells with control to start position; repeat

Sets/Reps: 3x6-10
Pay off: Improved blocking and releases
Gates: When I was playing basketball, we did a lot of lower-body work—running, jumping and squatting. We didn’t do any Bench Press or Incline Bench, though. My legs were pretty developed and strong, but my upper body wasn’t. A lift that I have learned to enjoy and appreciate is the Incline. I was using the straight bar for this exercise until I looked at tape of me playing football. I never once saw myself bench press someone off me. I always had one hand on them, wrestling them. In football, when you are competing, you don’t have the luxury of getting your hands where you want them. So I started doing the Incline with dumbbells to really isolate each arm, so each side can build stamina and strength by itself, rather than together.