How to Perform Chest Fly Exercises

The chest (pectoral) muscles are trained with two distinct movements: presses and fly exercises. Generally, presses are used to add bulk while the fly exercise is used for shaping. The chest fly may be performed effectively with both machines and free weights. The following steps will show how to perform chest fly exercises with dumbbells.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Perform the chest fly exercise after your pectorals are fatigued by chest presses, which usually involve more weight. You can benefit more from the fly exercise if the assisting muscles already are exhausted.
2. Select a pair of dumbbells of equal weight that will allow you to train to failure after 8 to 12 repetitions. Lie face up on a flat weight bench and with a dumbbell in each hand, raise your arms vertically with your elbows almost completely extended.
3. Inhale while lowering your arms out to the sides without bending your elbows more than needed to take the strain off them. Your wrists should remain straight to prevent the weights from pulling ligaments. You can rest the dumbbells on your forearm to take some strain off of your wrists.
4. Continue lowering until your elbows reach the level of your shoulders and bring your arms back up, exhaling as you do so. The dumbbells should not come so close together that your pectoral muscles are no longer being stressed.
5. Check your form on the dumbbell chest fly exercise by imagining you are hugging a large barrel. This is a complicated movement so proper form discipline is especially difficult and this visualization should keep your fly exercises from turning into presses.