The bench press and its variations still remain the go-to exercises to build size and strength in the chest. But don’t discount the dumbbell chest flye and all its pec-pumping versions. The beauty of this exercise is that it takes much the triceps out of the move so you can focus on the chest just as long as you keep away from some of the common dumbbell chest flye mistakes.
Many lifters can’t “feel” their chest working with some press variations, and the dumbbell chest flye solves this problem. When performed with good form, the dumbbell chest fly will encourage an excellent mind-muscle connection for better gains.
But a one of the most common dumbbell chest flye mistakes is that some think more is better and let ego get in the way of their gains. Here we’ll briefly explain how to do the dumbbell chest flye and four common chest flye mistakes that’s stopping you from getting a massive chest pump.
How to Do The Dumbbell Chest Flye
- Lie face up on a flat bench with dumbbells held with a neutral grip near your chest.
- Press the weights to the lockout position with the dumbbells touching.
- Lower the weights laterally, slightly bending your elbows to avoid elbow strain.
- When the dumbbells are at shoulder level, squeeze your chest muscles, and bring the weights back to the lockout position.
- Reset and repeat.
What’s Needed For Good Form
The dumbbell chest flye is not a technical exercise like a deadlift or bench press and will benefit anyone from beginner to advanced lifters. But like most exercises, there are better ways to do it to get the most out of it. Here is what’s needed for good chest fly form.
- Decent shoulder mobility and health: If you have problems with either, this may not not the exercise for you.
- Healthy elbows: Even though the triceps are not involved, flyes put stress on the elbows, and if you have pain there, again, this is not the exercise for you.
- Grip strength: if you cannot grip it, you cannot rip it, and the dumbbell chest flye requires you to hold on tight to keep your wrist neutral. When the wrist hyperextends, good things will NOT happen.
- Shoulders externally rotated: If you have a caveman posture, you will find this exercise difficult to do with good form. Externally rotating the shoulders engages the upper back and helps open the chest for the best results.
4 Common Chest Flye Mistakes
It is a simple exercise requiring no special knowledge or insider secrets. But that doesn’t mean you cannot make mistakes. You should avoid these four common mistakes to get the best out of this chest isolation exercise.