Incline Dumbbell Fly

How to Perform the Incline Dumbbell Fly

Set an adjustable bench to a 30-45 degree incline and sit back holding a dumbbell in each hand.
Press the dumbbells up above your upper chest with a slight bend in your elbows, palms facing each other.
Maintaining the slight elbow bend throughout, slowly lower the dumbbells out to the sides in a wide arc.
Continue lowering until you feel a deep stretch across your upper chest, with the dumbbells roughly in line with your shoulders.
Do not lower the dumbbells below shoulder level, as this can place excessive stress on the shoulder joints.
Reverse the arc by squeezing your chest muscles to bring the dumbbells back together above your upper chest.
Think of hugging a large tree — the movement should be a controlled arc, not a pressing motion.

Bending the elbows too much, turning it into a press

Maintain a fixed slight bend in the elbows throughout the entire movement. The elbows should not flex or extend during the exercise.

Using too heavy a weight

Flyes are an isolation exercise — use moderate weight that allows you to control the arc and feel the chest muscles working through the full range.

Going too deep and overstretching the shoulders

Lower the dumbbells only until they are in line with your shoulders. Going deeper risks shoulder impingement and rotator cuff strain.

●Focus on squeezing the chest muscles together rather than pushing the dumbbells up.
●A slight inward rotation of the wrists at the top can increase the peak contraction.
●This exercise pairs perfectly with incline presses — do presses first for strength, then flyes for isolation.

Strength

4-5 sets of 6-8 reps at 70-80% 1RM

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 10-12 reps at 60-70% 1RM

Endurance

2-3 sets of 15-20 reps at 50-60% 1RM

Join 2,000,000+ lifters tracking their workouts with Stronger. Available on iOS and Android.