Both the incline bench press and dumbbell flyes are effective exercises for building chest muscle. The best choice for you depends on your goals, experience level, and available equipment. For a well-rounded chest workout, consider incorporating both exercises into your routine.
The bench press beat flys in terms of average muscle activation for all target muscle groups, including the pecs: see the data below. Flys did stimulate the biceps more. Interestingly, biceps activity was actually likely high enough to stimulate muscle growth with the flys.
Chest flyes are one of the most effective exercises for building your chest. But if you don't do them correctly, the muscles worked will be other muscles, like your shoulders — instead of your chest.
Therefore the triceps will expire first before the pecs are fully worked. That is why it is advisable to do flyes first because it makes the pecs temporarily weaker than the triceps so that you can maximally blast the pecs without the triceps expiring first.
No surprise here, the bench press is the #1 exercise you should be incorporating into your routine if you want to build a broad, powerful looking chest. Doing the bench press with proper technique allows you to generate a tremendous amount of power and move a lot of weight, leading to a bigger, stronger chest.
The best exercises for chest muscle growth are the standard Bench Press for the middle pecs, the Incline Bench Press for the upper chest muscles and the Weighted Dip using heavy barbell plates for the lower chest.
This also goes back to the idea of muscle growth. If that's your goal, you need constant tension on the muscle. Unfortunately, Chest Flys just won't deliver that, which means you're cheating yourself on Chest Day. If you want a massive chest, you won't get one with Chest Flys.
A research review from 2015 found that a fairly wide range of rep durations (1-8 seconds) can be used to maximise muscle growth, but training at very slow speeds (longer than 10 seconds per rep) can actually reduce the effectiveness of the exercise and is not the best way to achieve hypertrophy or muscle growth.
The classic bodybuilding staple has been used for years to develop chest size and strength, working that essential function of the chest that's too often overlooked in favor of big bench press sessions. Just because the dumbbell chest fly is simple, however, doesn't mean it's without subtleties.
Dumbbell Floor Fly/DB T-Bench Fly
Because of this, you're able to go a little bit heavier with the weight when performing the dumbbell floor or bench fly, making it a great finisher to your chest workout.
If your primary goal is to build overall strength and upper body mass, the incline bench press may be the better choice due to its compound nature. However, if you're looking to isolate and specifically target the chest muscles for hypertrophy, dumbbell flyes might be more suitable.
The incline press is ideal for targeting the upper chest and anterior deltoids, making it essential for those looking to build a balanced and sculpted chest.
So while yes, bench press can be made to be “enough” for chest development, bench press alone is likely far from optimal.
The researchers behind the International Journal of Sports Medicine review concluded that both fast reps and moderate-slow reps help improve muscular strength (think: how much weight you can lift).
The dumbbell chest fly is an upper body isolation exercise that works the pectorals and deltoids, with the triceps and biceps also engaged to stabilise the movement. In addition to building muscle, this exercise can help to open the chest and improve flexibility, master scapular retraction, and improve coordination.
For overall upper body strength and functional fitness, the bench press is still the better choice. For those who want to build chest muscle definition and reduce joint strain, the pec deck is a good addition. Safety and Form: Regardless of the exercise, proper form and safety are key.
If you're looking to create major chest gains, you need to choose chest exercises that work all three heads of the pectoralis major and work the chest across midline. Some of the best exercises to do on chest day for maximum growth potential are: Barbell Bench Press. Horizontal Cable Crossover.
But you'll want to practice the move you want to improve, and you'll want to do it often. Instead of doing body part splits with a single chest day per week, plan to program bench two to three times per week.
Chest press
This is a great exercise to reduce breast size as it targets the underlying muscle tissue in both your chest and upper back region. You can use either dumbbells or a barbell for this move.
You can do pull-ups everyday but that won't allow your muscles time to rest, heal, and grow. This means that you won't get bigger muscles in a short period. The best approach would be to have at least a day of rest in between pull-up sessions.