The dumbbell fly is an isolation exercise for the chest. It only involves movement at the shoulder joint; your elbows remain stationary. This exercise isolates the chest muscles and reduces the involvement of your triceps. You can adjust the angle of the exercise to work different areas of your chest.
Execution
You have to do the dumbbell fly exercise in a lying position. You cannot do this exercise standing because gravity is not working against you in this position to provide resistance. Hold your arms out to your sides, your elbows slightly bent and your palms facing the ceiling. Lock your elbows in this position. Pull your arms together in a semi-circle until your hands almost touch.
Function
The fly exercise isolates the chest muscles. Unlike a pressing movement, you do not move your elbows during a fly, which reduces the involvement of your triceps. The fly targets both heads of the pectoralis major and the anterior deltoid, your front shoulder muscle. Several other muscles activate during the fly exercise. Your biceps and triceps engage isometrically -- without movement -- to stabilize your upper arms.
Adjustments
Change the incline of the bench to emphasize different areas of your chest. The pectoralis major has two heads: clavicular and sternal. The clavicular head is smaller and sits above the much larger sternal head, which is the most visible chest muscle. Incline the weight bench to target the clavicular head or decline the bench to target the sternal head. Do not incline the bench too high; if you start to feel the tension more in your shoulders, lower the incline slightly.
Considerations
Your forearm muscles activate during the fly exercise to maintain a neutral wrist position. Do not curl your wrists; keep them straight throughout the movement. If you move your elbows, you will turn this exercise into a pressing movement. Lock your elbows in a slight bend and maintain this position. To strengthen the chest muscles, select a weight that allows you to complete five to eight repetitions with good form. If you can easily do 10 to 12 repetitions, increase the weight.
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