StrengthIn review

Dumbbell Cuban Press

A light dumbbell shoulder drill that links an elbow raise, external rotation and an overhead press.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Shoulder raise
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Intermediate
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Stand tall or sit upright on a stable bench with two very light dumbbells.
Hold the weights in front of the thighs with the palms facing back.

Do the rep

Raise the elbows out to the sides to about shoulder height, with the elbows bent to 90 degrees and the forearms pointing down.
Keep the upper arms steady and rotate the forearms upward until the hands are above the elbows.
Press overhead through a comfortable range, then lower to the rotated position.
Reverse the rotation and lower the elbows and dumbbells to the start under control.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when both arms complete the elbow raise, external rotation and overhead press, then reverse all three phases to the start under control.

Breathing

Breathe steadily through the raise and rotation; exhale as you press and inhale as you return.

Cues

Use very light weights.
Keep the rotation slow.
Control each phase separately.

Common mistakes

Forcing the rotation
What you seeThe wrists bend or the shoulders pinch to bring the hands above the elbows.
FixUse less load and stop within a comfortable shoulder range.
The linked drill needs controlled rotation before the press.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if the shoulder pinches or you cannot control any of the three phases.
End the set when you cannot meet the stated rep standard under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Rotator cuff · moderate confidence
Rear deltoids · moderate confidence

Assisting

Front deltoids · moderate confidence
Side deltoids · moderate confidence
Trapezius · moderate confidence
Triceps · moderate confidence

Equipment

Dumbbell

Optional: Bench

Stand tall or sit upright on a stable bench with two very light dumbbells. Hold the weights in front of the thighs with the palms facing back.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Manual

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 9, written from the blueprint CSV row and the owner rules approved 2026-10-12 in #340. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the owner rules; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_face_pull. The copied timed-use state is disallowed; no review evidence is claimed for this draft.
Rule 1 gives home yes because every required picker item is a dumbbell or bench. The CSV says home false. Environment and programming location constraints include gym and home.
Dumbbell load uses kg with load-and-reps and the allowed metrics of ex_dumbbell_shoulder_press (rule 1).
Rule 2 gives this movement secondary_pull + isolation_target.
Failure cost low: a failed rep lowers a light dumbbell, as ex_dumbbell_lateral_raise and the Wave 1 dumbbell curls. This is the approved exception to the general rule 3 dumbbell cost of moderate.
Home yes differs from ex_dumbbell_lateral_raise (home false). The Wave 1 record stays unchanged under the owner ruling.
Skill tier intermediate: three linked phases at the shoulder. The CSV says beginner (rule 3).
Two dumbbells move together and count as bilateral_rep, as ex_dumbbell_shoulder_press (rule 1).
The movement is a rotation drill. It keeps the CSV shoulder-raise pattern because shoulder-rotation has no web glyph. The roles are secondary_pull + isolation_target under the owner ruling.
Anatomy refines the CSV family hints for this movement: primary rotator-cuff, rear-deltoids; secondary front-deltoids, side-deltoids, traps, triceps. The assigned review tier must confirm these draft lists.
The three-phase sequence and shoulder-height elbow position are draft technique choices; specialist review must confirm them.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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