Dumbbell flys can be a great addition to a chest workout. Dumbbell flys are more of an isolation exercise compared to the bench press and are often referred to as an exercise that defines and shapes the pec muscles. Dumbbell flys are more commonly used near the end of a workout following main compound movements such as the bench press. Lets take a look at how to perform dumbbell flys with proper form:
How To Perform Dumbbell Flys
Get Yourself a Bench. Find yourself a bench and position it in the flat bench position.
Grab a Pair of Dumbbells. You will need to start off light with this exercise and practice on perfecting the form before moving up in weight. Flys will not allow you to lift anywhere near the kind of weight you use for other chest exercises such as the bench press so choose your weight carefully to begin with.
Getting Dumbbells in Position. Once you have your bench set up and dumbbells in hand, sit down on the bench with dumbbells in an upright position resting on your thighs. The starting position for dumbbell flys is actually up above your head with arms extended. Since flys call for a lighter weight to be used, you should not have any problems getting the dumbbells up into position to begin the movement. To get them in position you have a couple of options.
First method is to lay down flat on the bench with the dumbbells resting near your chest. Once you are laying down on the bench with the dumbbells, rotate your hands and move dumbbells out to the side of your chest slightly. Palms should now be facing away from you. Push the dumbbells up like you would during a flat dumbbell bench press.
The other method involves bringing your legs up when laying down on the bench and maneuvering the dumbbells above your chest with arms extended. This involves positioning dumbbells on lower thigh/quad area nearer the knee and using your toes to kick your legs up so that dumbbells are elevated up in the air. Which ever method you use to get the dumbbells in position, once they are raised up above your chest, palms need to be facing each other.
Lowering Dumbbells. Once you are lying flat on the bench with dumbbells above your chest and palms facing each other, it’s time to lower the dumbbells. Before you begin to lower the dumbbells ensure your arms are not locked or straight. There needs to be a slight bend in the elbow throughout the movement. Also ensure dumbbells are not touching before lowering them. They can be close to touching but should not physically be touching each other.
Lower the dumbbells out to your sides in a semi circle motion. Similar motion as if you were about to hug someone. Keep your upper back and shoulder blades pinned down against the bench while lowering the dumbbells and puff your chest out in the bottom position. When lowering the dumbbells you need to maintain a slight bend in the elbow.
The best way to do this is to focus on lowering the dumbbells by leading with your elbows. Also try and focus on maintaining tension on the chest and squeezing the dumbbells hard when lowering. Dumbbells only need to be lowered to chest height and no lower. Slightly above chest area is also acceptable.
Raising Dumbbells. Push dumbbells back up in the same motion you lowered them. Keep your upper back pinned down against the bench, puff your chest out, grip dumbbells hard and focus on contracting your chest muscle to lift the weight back up in the same semi circle motion. Stop the dumbbells slightly short of touching each other at the top of the movement to help keep tension on the pecs. Repeat the movement for the desired number of reps.
Dumbbell Flys – Things To Think About
Tension on Chest. Throughout the dumbbell fly you want to try and keep tension on the chest muscle at all times. To do this lower dumbbells by focusing on using your pecs only. This can be done by keeping elbows slightly bent throughout the movement and leading with your elbows on the way down. Also do not lock out or touch dumbbells at the top of the movement. Also try and maintain a big chest at the bottom of the movement once you have lowered the dumbbells. Do not lower the dumbbells too low. Squeeze the pec muscles to return the weight.
Start Light. Start this exercise using light weight so you can perfect your form and really focus on maintaining tension on the chest throughout the whole movement. Once you’ve got the form down move up in weight.
Controlled Movement. The dumbbell fly is one of those movements that is more effective when using a slow and controlled movement rather than an explosive one. Keep the movement under complete control and will really feel those pec muscles working.
Palms Facing Each Other. Palms need to face each other throughout the whole movement. This is different from the bench press where your palms are facing away from you during the lift. With the dumbbell fly dumbbells and palms should both be facing each other throughout the lift.
Variations. Variations of the dumbbell fly include incline flys and decline flys. All the above instructions still apply, the only difference is that you will be in either an incline or decline position on the bench, placing greater emphasis on the upper or lower chest area.
