Dumbbell Flye
An arc-path chest movement lying on your back — stretches and loads the pecs without pressing.
Also called: chest flye, chest fly, dumbbell fly, pec fly, flye, pectoral fly, pec flye, écartés haltères
Illustrations: Exercise data by RepDB (repdb.co)
Setup
Lie on a bench (or the floor) with a dumbbell in each hand pressed above the chest, palms facing each other, slight bend in the elbows.
How to do the Dumbbell Flye
- Open the arms in a wide arc, keeping the same gentle elbow bend throughout.
- Lower until you feel a stretch across the chest — elbows about level with the torso.
- Squeeze the dumbbells back together on the same arc, like hugging a barrel.
- Keep the shoulder blades pinched and down on the bench.
Dumbbell Flye muscles worked
The Dumbbell Flye works the chest and shoulders.
Common Dumbbell Flye mistakes
- Bending and straightening the elbows — that turns it into a press.
- Dropping too deep and straining the shoulder joint.
- Clanging the weights together and losing chest tension at the top.
Scale it
Easier: Lighter weights, or do them on the floor so range is limited automatically.
Harder: Slow 3-second opening phase, or a 1-second pause in the stretch.
Pairs well with
Bench Press
Pressing a barbell or dumbbells from the chest lying on a bench — the standard heavy upper-body push.
Cable Chest Press
Pressing against constant cable tension — keeps the chest loaded through the full range, easy on the shoulder since the angle is adjustable.
Floor Press
A bench press from the floor — the same pressing pattern with a built-in range limit that spares the shoulders.
Incline Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Press
Incline pressing with palms facing each other — a shoulder-friendly grip that still builds upper chest and front shoulder strength.