Incline chest fly

The incline chest fly principally exercises your chest muscles, with plenty of focus on your shoulder muscles. The work also puts few focus on your triceps, though less than a lot of other chest works out. Give extra attention to your form if you have had shoulder (especially rotator cuff), elbow, or lower back injuries.

Getting set
Incline the bench a few inches. Set the incline at 1-5 inches on the bench, depending on the bench. Holding a dumbbell in each hand, lie on the bench with your feet flat on the floor or on the bench, whichever feels more comfortable to you. Press the weights directly above your chest, palms facing each other. Tuck your chin to your chest to align your neck with the rest of your spine and maintain your natural back posture, neither arched nor flattened. See photo A.

The exercise
Spreading your arms apart so that your elbows travel down and to the sides, lower the weights until your elbows are just below your shoulders. Maintain a constant bend in your elbows as you lift the dumbbells back up. Imagine that you have a barrel lying on your chest, and you have to keep your arms wide to reach around it. See photo B in Figure.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO feel a stretch in the outer edges of your chest. Hold a moment in the lowered position to feel it even more.
• DON’T forget to keep the bend in your elbows as you lower the weights. If your arms are too straight, you place excessive pressure on your elbows and shoulder joints.
• DON’T move your elbows any lower than specified or you risk damaging your shoulder and rotator cuff muscles.

Other options

• Flat chest fly: Do the same exercise on a flat bench. The incline version emphasizes upper chest fibers, while the flat version calls in the middle and lower fibers as well.
• Decline chest fly: Do this exercise on a decline bench, with your head lower than your feet. The hardest thing about this version is picking up and releasing the weights. Grab the weights while you’re sitting up, hold them against your chest, and ease yourself into the decline position. When you’re done with the exercise, gently ease the dumbbells off to either side to the floor. (Don’t just drop them.) Better yet, ask someone to hand the weights to you at the start of the exercise and take them away when you’re done.