dumbbell chest flye

The dumbbell chest flye is a great exercise to add to your routine if you want to firm up your chest muscles and give ‘the twins’ a little extra boost.

Ultimately, you can do this exercise on an incline and on a decline for targeting different parts of the chest. To begin with, let’s master the flat bench version.

How to perform a dumbbell chest flye

Before you get started, set up a flat bench and grab a set of dumbbells to work with.

Start by lying back onto the bench and pressing your upper back firmly into the bench for stability. Next, raise the dumbbells up directly over your chest. Your arms should be fully extended and your wrists facing each other.

From here, brace yourself before slowly opening your arms out from the shoulder. Your arms should move out to the sides while slightly bending your elbows. As a result, you should start to feel this stretch through your chest. (Think of this as opening your arms to hug a big tree).

At the point that your upper arm reaches parallel with the floor, you should, bring the dumbbells back up through the same controlled movement until they finally meet again at the top.

Remember that above all else, this is a chest exercise, therefore, you should feel the tension in your chest and upper arms (as pictured above).

Dumbbell chest flye: Common mistakes to avoid

As always, it should be noted that sloppy form on any exercise is never recommended. If you are performing your dumbbell chest flyes with incorrect form, you don’t just risk injury. Poor performance may also recruit other muscle groups during the exercise, or poorly engage the intended muscle groups, this will most certainly impact your results.

Last but not least; you should keep the muscles you intend to work in mind. This is the ideal way to ensure targeted results. See the image above as a guide.

Reps and sets

As with all exercises, your dumbbell chest flye needs to be worked into your overall bigger picture. How many reps and sets you perform with each exercise depends entirely on where you are physically and your desired outcomes.

As a rule of thumb; beginners should keep it simple; 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps is an ideal starting point. For the purpose of laying a solid foundation to build upon; don’t over complicate things. The most important thing at this stage is to get started, the rest will come with experience.

On the other hand, more advanced lifters should consider their current strength and goals.