Isolation · Intermediate
Dumbbell Flye
- Movement pattern
- Isolation
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Equipment
- Dumbbell, Bench
- Mechanics
- Isolation
- Sides
- Bilateral
- Main plane
- Transverse
How to do the Dumbbell Flye
Setup
Lie on a flat bench, dumbbells held above your chest with a slight bend in your elbows -- keep that elbow bend fixed for the whole set, it isn't something you flex and extend during the rep.
Lower the dumbbells out to your sides in a wide arc, keeping the slight elbow bend throughout, until you feel a stretch across your chest.
Bring the dumbbells back together in the same arc, leading with your chest rather than your arms.
This lift is mechanically weaker than a press because of the long lever arm -- use noticeably less weight than you'd press, and stay cautious with how far you let the arc travel at the bottom.
Common mistakes
Bending and straightening the elbows during the rep (turning it into a press) instead of holding one fixed elbow angle throughout.
Loading it like a press -- the long lever arm makes this exercise much weaker, so overloading it risks the shoulder at the bottom stretch.
Muscles worked
How the knowledge graph models this movement
Shoulder horizontal adduction