Information on how to run faster, lift stronger and think deeper

What dumbbell flyes do [Article,Video]

Posted by Pascal Landshoeft

Jan 2, 2020 9:00:00 AM

 

Why dumbbel chest fly

What do dumbbell flyes do

 
The dumbbell fly will help you to develop a rounder chest over the long run compared to the flat bench press.
 
 
 
Click for Instagram
 

Related articles

What are your goals 

 
The most important thing for exercise selection for your routines is that you are focused on the goals you want to achieve. Most of the times this is easier said than done. Many beginners want everything and nothing: 
 
  • I want to look like a model, but eat well
  • I want to be strong, but not look bulky 
  • I want to run fast, but I don’t like cardio
 
These are just some examples of goal sets of beginners. It is completely normal to be timid or unsure about what you want to achieve and can achieve. It always helps to prioritize first what is important to you. The fields usually are: 
 
  • Looks 
  • Health
  • Performance 
  • Endurance 
 
You can categorize it in a million different ways, but to keep it simple prioritize these five for yourself. 
 
Looks are all about what you see in movies, on Instagram and the magazine covers. While these are highly artificial, fabricated images of people, their impact on social life is very real. If you look for fame or financial success based on your looks you can achieve this, just be aware that the choices you will make to get there are not necessarily healthy, make you enduring, strong or well-performing in sports. Eating disorders and steroids might provide an outstanding look, but don’t help you to be strong or have healthy sperm. 
 
If your main focus is the health you will mainly choose moderate diets and exercise regimen. You won’t go crazy on diets or schedules as this means too much stress. This will keep you healthy but probably never get you to the pinnacles is endurance, strength, looks or endurance. But that is ok as long as you are fertile and happy. 
 
Performance is usually sports-related. This means that endurance and strength training is still important, but play a secondary role in skill practice in the relevant sport you pursue. It is of not a lot of use to be strong like a bull but not being able to skate if you play ice hockey. The good news about sports is that looks don’t matter that much. If you are a blob that can lift a fire truck in a very truck lifting competition, nobody cares that you are not ripped or have shining white teeth. Even though that might help to attract sponsors. 
 
If you are mainly into strength you can park all efforts and time on endurance and skill practice. You can fully focus on lifting barbells, stones, and other heavy objects. You might even toss them in the general direction of people in the gym who get on your nerves. 
 
If you are mainly about endurance you can spent your time on your long runs, swims and cycles around the country and maybe never look at a rack. Yes, you might not be the strongest or most buff, but who cares when you cycle the Ardennes with a smile. 
 
Prioritizing these five areas for yourself will help to make it a lot clearer to you, your GP and your personal trainer which exercises to pick and at which intensity to perform. This will determine which rack is the best for you or whether you need one at all. 
 

Chest training 

 
When training your chest it is easy to fall into a mind trap. The bench press gets a lot of air time when it comes to training the chest. This means the flat barbell bench press. While it is a great exercise to get stronger and bigger and is not the only tool to successfully build a big strong, full chest. To achieve this you will also need some cable work, flyes and decline and incline bench press work to attack the whole area. 
 

Why dumbbell chest fly 

 
Dumbbell chest flyes are a great way to stimulate growth in the outer and inner chest. Done right you will get more of a pump out of them then out of the different bench press variations. The downside is that they are not great for most strength development goals as you put your arms in a suboptimal position to create maximum force. 
 

What dumbbell flyes do 

 
Dumbbell flyes will mix up the training for your chest by using a different motor pattern and equipment for training your chest. The default is usually the barbell bench press. Dumbbell flyes, therefore, provide variety to build a fuller chest. 
 

Why dumbbell flyes are bad 

 
Dumbbell flyes are bad when they are done poorly like with most exercises in the gym. Start slowly with weights you are absolutely sure you can handle yourself. The main idea is to keep the arms at a slight angle and spread as far as you can. You want to go deep and wide, slowly and controlled. The dumbbell flye is not about maximum weight, but the maximum pump. If you pick weights that are too heavy you can injure your elbow joints and shoulders quite badly is you will fail the movement at the lowest point. If you hold onto the dumbbell too long this can get nasty. 
 

Pros of dumbbell flyes 

 
Dumbbell flyes are easy to do and do not need a lot of equipment. A pair of dumbbells and a bench and you are ready to go-to pump up your chest. 
 

Cons of dumbbell flyes 

 
It is tempting to go too heavy too soon and risk injury. They are also not the best exercise to build strength by themselves. 
 

Alternatives to dumbbell flyes 

 
Alternatives to the dumbbell flye are: 
 
  • Cable cross overs 
  • flye machine 
  • Skull crushers 
 

Summary  

 
The dumbbell flye is a great accessory exercise for powerlifting or a focus exercise for bodybuilders who need more pump in their chest. 

Topics: Rogue, Dumbbell