Incline Dumbbell Flys – Exercise Spotlight
We’re looking at Incline Dumbbell Flys in this edition of Exercise Spotlight! When many lifters train their chest, they often perform bench presses, with no thought to incline work. There’s no doubt that the bench press is a key chest exercise – but don’t overlook your upper chest! One of the best ways to hit that area is incline dumbbell flys. In this article, we’ll break this exercise down, plus give you routine examples, nutritional guidelines and supplement suggestions. Let’s get started!
What Are Incline Dumbbell Flys?
Incline Dumbbell Flys are an isolation exercise that’s performed on an incline bench. As noted, it directly targets your upper chest. As mentioned, for some lifters, the upper chest can lag behind if you focus too heavily on flat bench presses or flys.
Muscles Worked By Incline Dumbbell Flys
We know this exercise works the upper chest, or the pectoralis major (clavicular). Synergist muscles include the middle chest (pectoralis major (sternal), anterior deltoid, and the biceps brachii (short head). Stabilizer muscles include the wrist flexors, triceps brachii, biceps brachii, and the brachialis. (1)
Form
The correct form is important for this exercise. First, limit your incline bench to about 30 degrees. If you use a higher incline it turns into a front deltoid exercise. The actual fly motion should be a wide arc, keeping your elbows bent. Since this is an isolation exercise, I suggest using a weight that allows you to perform full reps using good form.
Incline Dumbbell Fly Variations
Variations of this exercise are primarily performing your incline flys using low cables. You can also use resistance bands. Other variations include changing the angle of the dumbbells. For example, facing each other or facing slightly out. Finally, some gyms have an incline fly machine.
2 Example Chest Routines Featuring Incline Dumbbell Flys
Routine # 1
Here’s an example routine that targets the upper chest.
Flat Bench Press
Warm up over 3 sets:
- Bar x 15 reps
- 20% RM x 10 reps
- 40% RM x 8 reps
5 sets x 8 reps
Incline Barbell Press
3 sets x 8 reps
Incline Dumbbell Flys
3 sets x 8 reps
This routine gives you 11 total sets for the chest, with 6 sets for the upper chest.
Routine # 2
If your upper chest really lags behind, try this pre-exhaust superset routine. The idea behind pre-exhaust is to hit your chest with incline dumbbell flys first because it directly targets upper chest. Following with a compound exercise ensures you work all the muscle fibers. This assumes your chest is warmed up and ready to go.
Incline Dumbbell Flys superset with
Incline Bench Press
5 sets x 12, 10, 8 reps each exercise
Flat Bench Press
3 sets x 8 reps
This routine gives you 13 total sets for the chest, with 10 of those hitting your upper chest.
Performance Notes
When performing incline dumbbell flys, avoid touching the dumbbells at the top. This allows you to keep constant tension on the upper pecs. Perform your reps in a slow and controlled manner. Take 2 seconds to lift the weight, 4 seconds to come back down, and pause at the fully stretched position for 3 seconds.
Make sure you complete the full range of motion – no half or quarter reps. Rest 60-120 seconds between sets. On the supersets, rest 30 seconds between each superset, then 120 seconds before you do the bench press.
Progressive Overload
Using the progressive overload principle is the best way to make progress. Put simply, It is one of the most important principles of resistance training. You will never make progress if you always do the same workout with the same weight and the same number of reps. Following the progressive overload principle allows you to progress towards your goals by taking planned, logical steps of progression. It’s a foundational principle used by bodybuilders, powerlifters, and many serious athletes. (1)
Adding Weight
Gradually using more weight is the most common way to apply progressive overload. By gradually adding plates, you’ll see consistent progress. This makes sense, most lifters expect to get stronger as they continue to train. The majority of lifting authorities advise using this principle right from the start of your lifting journey. It’s a major key to building a foundation of size and strength.
How Often Do I Increase Weight?
This is probably the biggest question regarding progressive overload. There are several answers. Some say that when your current target rep becomes easy, add 10% more weight. Other authorities claim you can use this technique every week as long as the increments are small. I think the most practical way is to use the 2 x 2 rule. This simple rule says you should increase the weight by 10% for large muscles and 5% for small muscles once you can perform 2 additional reps beyond your target rep for your last set, for 2 workouts in a row.
Nutritional Guidelines
Lifting-based nutrition begins with protein. How much protein? I always suggest at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. In addition, your protein consumption should be evenly spaced throughout the day. For example, that could look like this: 3 main meals and 2-3 protein shakes and/or bars. This approach to protein timing is both logical and convenient, even though some current trends don’t completely agree. I don’t care what the current trends are. This is a common sense approach. Basically, you’re eating when you get hungry.
OK, so what about carbohydrates? I advise focusing on complex carbs, keeping your total daily intake to 1 to 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight. I also recommend eating roughly 50% of your day’s carbs (and all of your day’s simple carbs) in the hours that surround your workout. Of course, you should be eating a clean, low sugar diet, and keeping fat intake in check, focusing on healthy fats. For fats, think 20% of total daily calories.
Supplement Suggestions
OK, first up is a quality pre-workout. One of my favorite options is Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode. This relatively newer Pre took the market by surprise by dosing citrulline much higher than anyone else. The high citrulline dose kicked off the citrulline dosing wars, and it’s why you now commonly see pre-workouts with as much as 10 grams of citrulline per serving. That’s not the only exceptionally dosed ingredient in this Pre, and there is much more to it than nitric oxide pumps. It’s a complete, well-balanced formula that features exceptional ingredients and full disclosure labeling.
Looking at the current economy, you may be in the market for a “core” pre-workout. For those who may not know, a “core” pre-workout is a value priced Pre featuring a streamlined yet effective formula. One of the better options is NutraBio Base. This is one of the best “core” pre-workouts currently available and since it’s made by NutraBio, it features an extreme fully transparent label. After all, NutraBio pretty much invented the idea of full transparency. In fact, you can clearly see everything that goes into any of their products, and that includes the flavoring and sweeteners. Now that’s how it should be!
OK, so next up is a high-quality protein powder. I always suggest Hi-Tech Precision Protein. Why, you may want to know? Simple. This whey protein powder is superior to any other protein powder currently on the market because it is designed to release leucine, the most anabolic amino acid, in the first phases of protein synthesis. As you should know, protein synthesis is a direct trigger of muscle growth, and leucine is one of the most potent compounds that stimulate protein synthesis.
From there, I always advise adding creatine monohydrate powder to your program. Of course, if you’re using Gorilla Mode it already provides 5 grams of creatine per serving. Even still, I suggest AllMax Nutrition Creatine Monohydrate, and I suggest using it on your off-days so you can get your dosage every day. If you aren’t using Gorilla Mode, you’ll want to take it every day. Finally, I advise using a good multivitamin – which you should think of as health insurance. Probably the best multi on the market is AllMax VITASTACK with 70 nutrients!
Summary
In this edition of Exercise Spotlight, we have taken a good look at incline dumbbell flys, a great upper chest exercise. Plus, I have provided 2 routines, performance tips, nutritional guidelines, and supplement suggestions. After you stop by illpumpyouup.com and get your shopping done, all that’s left is to hit the gym and work those pecs!