Incline Dumbbell Fly Exercise Guide & Video


Watch Incline Dumbbell Fly



Step 1. On an incline bench, hold a dumbbell in each hand and keep them at arms length above your body. Your palms should be facing each other.

Step 2. Spread and lower your arms out to your sides, bending the elbows slightly as you go.

Step 3. Stop the motion when your upper arms are parallel to each other.

Step 4. Raise the weights back up, straightening your arms as you go and squeeze the weight at the top.


The incline dumbbell fly is a primarily shaping and developing motion for the inner and upper chest. By varying the weight of each dumbbell and the repetition range, you can make this exercise more mass building. If you are using a lower weight, you can lower the weight farther without risking injury, getting a better stretch of the chest muscle. You can still get a good stretch when using a higher weight, but be careful not to lower the weigh too far or it may cause discomfort in the shoulder. If the incline dumbbell fly cannot be performed without at least lowering the upper arm perpendicular to your body, then lower weight should be used. The user should be careful to make sure that the motion being performed is not a press. A good way of assuring this is to bend the arms slightly and keep them at the same bent position through the motion. This way the triceps will not be engaged and only the chest will be working.

Incline Dumbbell Fly 4
Incline Dumbbell Fly 3

Updated: April 4th, 2015