EXECUTION
- Adjust the bench so that the bench incline is at an angle of between 35-45?
- Lie in a face-up position on the bench with the feet flat on the floor about shoulder width or slightly more apart and the knees flexed about 90?.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip, i.e., with the palms facing inward, and the arms fully extended or locked above the chest.
- Inhale slightly more than usual and then hold your breath as you lower the arms out to the sides. As the arms move outward, bend the elbows slightly and hold this arm position during execution.
- As the upper arms approach shoulder level or slightly below, and you feel a strong stretch in the shoulder, reverse directions slowly and smoothly. Do not stop in the bottom position.
- Keep holding your breath as you pull the arms back up to the vertical position. Exhale as you pass the most difficult point on the way up or as you reach the vertical position. Pause momentarily with the arms straight and then repeat.
- Be sure that the arms remain in line with the shoulders throughout the movement.
TRAINING TIPS
- This exercise does not require additional weight for effective development of the muscles since it relies more on leverage. The key is to maintain relatively straight arms as you lower them out to the sides for greater resistance. Keeping the elbows bent 90? allows you to use almost twice the weight but the effective resistance is the same. Also with the arms bent up to 90? in the down position, you will be doing more of an incline dumbbell bench press as opposed to the incline dumbbell flye.
- Do not exceed the normal range of motion in the shoulder joint when doing this exercise. If the arms go too far below the level of the shoulders, you may be placing excessive stress on the shoulder joint and affected muscles. This is a common cause of stretch marks at the shoulder-chest junction and tearing of the muscle fibers or tendons.
- Because of the stress that can be placed on the shoulders, be especially careful if you do this exercise on a pec-deck machine. Because of the extreme rear positioning of the arm pads on many machines, excessive stress is placed on the shoulders when starting the exercise. When you use dumbbells, you can more safely control the movement.
- Breathing is very important in this exercise for control of the movement especially when changing directions from the down to the up movement. Be sure you inhale and hold your breath as you lower the weight and make the transition back upward. Exhale forcefully as you pass the most difficult point in the range of motion to relieve the built-up internal pressure.
- For an even stronger contraction of the pectoral muscles and to bring in full involvement of the serratus anterior muscles, raise the arms as high and as close as possible above the chest.
- To insure stability when doing the exercise, it is important that you maintain the feet in contact with the floor. You should experience some pressure being exerted against the floor through the feet.
- Be sure the arms stay in line with the shoulders and in a vertical plane. Lowering the arms below mid-chest or above the head can place excessive stress on the shoulders.
- Keep the angle of the bench at about 35-45? to the horizontal. Setting the angle higher than 45? changes the exercise so that it is closer to a lateral arm raise, while going much lower is closer to a bench press. Thus, 35-45? is the ideal angle.
- Straighten or even lock the arms when they are directly above the chest. The weight will then be supported mainly by the bones and the muscles can relax momentarily. But, as you lower and raise the dumbbells, keep the elbows slightly bent to minimize stress to the elbows.
MAJOR MUSCLES INVOLVED
In the incline dumbbell flye, the muscles of the shoulder joint and shoulder girdle are involved. In the shoulder joint the anterior deltoid, coracobrachialis and the upper pectoralis major muscles play the major roles. The deltoid is a three-part muscle that covers the entire shoulder, in front, above, and behind. In this exercise, it is mainly the anterior deltoid and the anterior portion of the middle deltoid that are involved. The coracobrachialis is a small muscle located deep underneath the deltoid and pectoralis major muscles on the front and inner side of the arm. The pectoralis major is the large muscle covering most of the chest. It runs from the anterior border of the scapula the whole length of the sternum and the cartilages of the first six ribs to attach on the humerus very close to the insertion of the deltoid.
In the shoulder girdle, the serratus anterior and pectoralis minor muscles contract to abduct the scapula on the up phase. The serratus anterior lies on the outer surface of the ribs at the sides just below the armpits and is covered by the scapula at the rear and pectoralis major in front. The pectoralis minor is a small muscle located on the upper chest and is covered by the pectoralis major.
MUSCLE/JOINT ACTIONS
In the shoulder joint, there is diagonal adduction, which is a combination of shoulder joint adduction and flexion. In this movement, the arms are moved from the sides of the body to above and directly in front of the chest. The plane of the arms is vertical and the diagonal is measured in relation to a top-to-bottom line through the upper body. The major muscles in the action are the upper pectoralis major, coracobrachialis and the anterior and anterior middle deltoid.
In the shoulder girdle, there is abduction of the scapula and slight upward rotation. In this action, the serratus anterior and pectoralis minor pull the scapula away from the spine toward the sides of the ribs as the arms move forward and upward toward the midline of the body. The scapula also rotate upward with contraction of the serratus anterior and, to a limited extent, contraction of the upper and lower portions of the trapezius.
SPORTS USES
In bodybuilding, the incline dumbbell flye is very important for full development of the upper chest and anterior shoulder. It is also an excellent exercise for development of the serratus anterior muscle in the area under the armpits. In powerlifting, it is valuable for improvement in the bench press.
The combination of shoulder joint diagonal adduction and scapula abduction is very important in all forward and upward reaching and grabbing actions. Thus, it plays an important role in boxing and the martial arts in execution of various punches and in grabbing an opponent. These actions also play an important role in throwing and hitting actions as for example, in executing forehands in tennis and racquetball, when throwing the ball overhead and overhead-sideward in baseball and softball, and in the discus, shot-put and javelin throw during the release phase. In gymnastics it is especially important on the rings, high bar and unevens.