Dumbbell Fly

Directions:

Preperation/body position

1. Find dumbbells that are of a suitable weight for you to execute the exercise.
2. Sit on end of bench with dumbbells resting on thighs.
3. Lay back to lay on bench, whilst bring thighs up so that they manoeuvre the dumbbells above you. Lay flat on the bench with dumbbells in starting position above upper chest area.
4. Alternatively, have someone pass the dumbbells into position if easier.

Excution/Movement

1. Keeping good body posture, bring the dumbbells down, keeping a slight bend in the elbow joint. The reverse action of if you were hugging a tree.
2. Once your upper arms are just below parallel to the ground, contract chest and bring dumbbells to the start position via the same hugging motion.
3. Arms should remain perpendicular to your body at all times during the execution of the movement.
4. Repeat for desired amount repetitions.

Comments

The dumbbell fly is a commonly used exercise to stimulate the pectoral muscles. The dumbbell fly has been around for decades, a proven exercise to directly stimulate the pectoral muscles.

The dumbbell fly has its drawbacks however compared to the cable version of the movement. The benefit of using a cable for a fly exercise is that it will provide continuous tension to the muscle throughout the movement, something that the dumbbell fly fails to do. The dumbbell fly is most effective at stimulating the chest during the lower phrase of the lift, where the chest is contracting to move the dumbbell upwards through transverse flexion of the shoulder. Once the dumbbell moves higher up the arc, stress is transferred from the chest to the arms as they are resisting the dumbbells falling downwards.
Therefore, to make the dumbbell fly most effective, only bring the dumbbells through the first 30-40° of the movement, then begin the eccentric phrase. This will keep better tension on the chest compared to bring the dumbbells higher through the movement.

The dumbbell fly can work well if incorporated as a pre-exhausting exercise at the beginning of a chest workout. The fly will exhaust the chest fibres effectively, before moving onto the pressing exercises that recruit more muscle groups to execute the lift. The desired outcome is that the chest will fail on the pressing exercises before the secondary muscle groups.

For hypertrophy 6-12 reps will likely yield the best results, providing optimal time under tension. This will provide adequate stimulation for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, and acute response to anabolic hormone concentrations, compared to that of lower rep ranges.
Lower rep ranges will likely not suit this exercise due to excessive stress placed on joints.