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Pushups, Chest Presses and Chest Flies

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Chest Fly with Dumbbells

The chest fly is another way to work the major muscles of the chest with a focus on the outer part of the chest. Flies make a nice complement to both chest presses and pushups because those moves are compound; the fly is an isolation movement. You'll most likely need to use a lighter weight for flies, and you should take care when lowering the arms down to avoid hurting the shoulders or losing control of the weights.
  1. Lie on the floor, bench or step. Hold weights over the chest with the palms facing each other.
  2. Keeping the elbows slightly bent, lower the arms out to the sides and down until they're level with the chest.
  3. Keep the elbows in a fixed position and avoid lowering the weights too low.
  4. Squeeze chest to bring the arms back up as though you're hugging a tree.
  5. Repeat for 1 to 3 sets of 8 to 16 reps.

Tips

  • Do this exercise on a ball to add a balance challenge.[/ul
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