If you do on online search regarding dumbbell flys, you'll find a wide range of netspurts claiming they're useful for A) pre-exhausting the chest prior to your compound movements, B) as a finishing-off movement after your compound movements -- sort've like a "pump" chaser I suppose -- C) a superb exercise for ripping up tendons and tearing pec muscles, D) an utterly useless movement or E) something to be avoided for fear of eternal damnation. Then there's the F) crew which state Arnie did dumbbell flys so if Arnie did them then so should you, I, we, them and us.
Cool?
Before unpacking all the above, let's recap the basic flat-bench dumbbell fly movement. You have a flat-bench, two dumbbells, you lie down on the fucker making sure not to snag your nylon stockings, hoist the dumbbells overhead and -- starting with them above the chest line -- slowly lower them to the sides of the body (usually past the flat-bench itself) getting a great stretch on the chest before slowly bringing them back together overhead once again. Nice and controlled, there's one rep. But. There's a bit more to flys.
HOW TO DO DUMBBELL FLYS CORRECTLY and INCORRECTLY
Disclaimer: what is "correct" for some may not be correct for all due to mobility, lengths and proportions. Disclaimer ends. Right, so check out the above two graphics and note the differences. The first thing I want you to pay attention to is elbow positioning. In the left-hand graphic you'll note the elbows-slash-arms are in what's called a (downward pointing) arrow position whereas in the right-hand graphic, they're not so much. If anything, the right-hand graphic depicts the elbows as flatter; not so much going downward inasmuch as they're almost going outward.
This is a crucial difference.
ELBOW POSITIONING: How and why
Our pectoral muscles fan across from where our arms join the torso, stretching over our upper ribs to attach at the sternum, as per the graphic here on your left. Dumbbell flys, pec-decks, cross-over cables are all examples of working the muscle fibres according to their natural direction i.e. across the chest (as opposed to benchpress-type movements which are up and down). That's why if you hold your arm straight directly in front of you and move it left to right, left to right, you're feel the muscle fibres of your chest shorten and lengthen.
When doing dumbbell flys correctly, ensuring the elbows are drawn backwards and down as depicted in the top left-hand graphic, you are stretching the muscles fibres of the chest along their natural lines of tension. This tension or "stretching" under tension is what stimulates growth in the pectorals. As you may also note, the dumbbells are not far off being perpendicular to the floor -- and can be held thus when exhaustion sets in -- and are much closer to the body, further forcing the elbows downwards so as to generate the aforementioned stretch. That's the shit right there.
Clearly this is not the case in the top right-hand graphic. If anything, the arms are over-extended i.e. too flat, which moves the tension off the chest and onto the shoulders more. This is where rotator-cuff-fuckery can occur. Trust me, I know because it happened to me. What the incorrect form shows us is because the elbows are not bent enough, you end up trying to hold the dumbbells "up" so that your arms literally don't spread apart. Yes, this creates tension, but it's tension of the wrong kind.
You end up generating too much tension in the arms -- mainly the forearms which are not the focus here -- and far too much tension in the deltoid region, primarily the anterior deltoid, which again is also not the focus here. In lay-man terms, you're taking tension off the chest which is the precise area you're trying to target in the first place. Bad, bad, wrong kemosabe. You should be pulling the arms back and down not spreading them out and back. Get it?
DUMBBELL POSITIONING: Overhead and at completion
Another point to note is the positioning of the dumbbells over the chest area and when returning them at the completion of a rep. Don't hold the dumbbells too far forward so that they're over your throat or worse, your face. In case you forget, you're chest is not your face ☺ (you can thank me later). Likewise, don't hold the dumbbells too low so that they're literally above your upper stomach. An easy way to figure your position is to simply lie down, clench your fists overhead like your holding dumbbells, find and note that sweet spot and stay there on the day.
In the top left-hand graphic you'll also see the dumbbells are not brought together over the chest/sternum and the reason for this is simple: to maintain tension on the chest. In the top-right hand graphic you'll see the dumbbells are being brought together over the chest but to be honest, I think this is up to your personal preference. I don't think either is "more correct" so take it with a grain of salt. No-one is going to shoot you over this. Personally I like the idea of keeping the tension on so no, I don't touch the dumbbells overhead myself but like I said, it's up to you.
TECHNIQUE: Some helpful how-to tips
Firstly, you don't need to go heavy when doing flys. I personally use two 10kg dumbbells. That's it. If you're just starting then go light. There's no ego here and for the record, the reason dumbbell flys got a bad rap in the first place is because of idiots loading up way too much weight and ripping their chests open. Awesome for an Alien vs Predator film but just shitty for real-life. The dumbbell fly isn't about how much you can lift, it's about how effectively you stretch the chest fibres. Keep that at the forefront of your mind the whole time: how effectively are you stretching the chest fibres?
If you're wondering why you want to further build the pectorals -- apart from vanity -- it's because a strong chest contributes to your other exercises such as benchpress and overhead press. Sometimes we just need more "meat" on us to start hitting the sort of numbers those of us keen on getting stronger want to attain. In fact, a strong upper body-slash-torso is imperative for the likes of squats and deadlifts too, so keep in mind the over-all benefits here as well: it's your "core" that holds you up under heavy weight.
(Your "core" is not just your stomach, kemosabe).
Another thing to take into account is when you lower the dumbbells at the bottom of the fly, lead with the elbow not your hands; if you lead with the elbow the weight will lower itself naturally. If you lead with the hands, you'll be spreading your arms apart, not getting the necessary "arrow" I mentioned earlier, and transferring tension into your forearms and delts i.e. off your chest. On the return you're pushing upward then inward and this subtle switch between movements is something you need to keep front and centre. Actively focus on squeezing the chest as if the chest is pulling the weights up.
Now some people cue dumbbell flys as "hugging a tree" when you're bringing the dumbbells together overhead, which makes sense. Personally I think that's a pretty cool instruction and if it works for you, it works for you. To be honest, you'll need to play around a little here and find your sweet spot. Chances are your personal sweet spot could well be somewhere between the two and if, over time, you are injury free -- and more importantly you're seeing results -- stay with it. That's a pretty straightforward way to assess lifting health in my opinion: it works, you're not hurt, all good.
DUMBBELL FLYS: Should you be doing them?
Well, I guess it's like dressing: should you wear the black lycra shorts or the cute brown ones with the love-hearts and whistles? Yes I'm being an idiot but you get the point, right? If you've read this far you'll understand the purpose of flys and how to do them. Your next question is, do you listen to all the naysayers out there or grow a pair and give this a go? One of the first things I learnt early on is that everyone responds differently to the same stimulus. Flys get the same sort of flak as behind the neck press but you won't know till you try. I think they're a great exercise and will give your chest excellent stimulus. But. This might not be for you and that's fine, but at least find out.
Dumbbell flys fucking kill my chest (and I only have an average chest). I am sore for days when I do flys so for me, dumbbell flys are definitely a go as a main movement. Yes, there are a lot of netspurts who say soreness is not indicative of effectiveness but then when I hear someone like Mike Mentzer saying the opposite, well, I tend to go with the Mike Mentzer's of the world. I incorporate flys on benchpress-only days, working out in the morning and doing 4-5 sets of flys later that evening, maybe some isolation work for biceps (curls) and triceps (OHT extension) if I'm in the mood too. Which I'm usually not. Kia kaha koutou raua kia ora whanau.
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