The bench press and dumbbell fly are two of the most popular and effective chest exercises. But which one is better for building a bigger, stronger chest? Here’s a detailed comparison of the bench press vs dumbbell fly to help you decide.
An Introduction to the Bench Press and Dumbbell Fly
The bench press is a compound chest exercise that also involves the shoulders and triceps. It is performed lying on a bench, holding a barbell with an overhand grip, and lowering it to chest level before pressing it back up. The bench press allows you to lift heavier weights and is great for building chest size and strength.
The dumbbell fly is an isolation exercise that targets the pectoral muscles. It involves lying on a bench holding two dumbbells, lowering them out to your sides until you feel a stretch in your chest, then bringing them back together over your chest by flexing your pecs. The fly emphasizes muscle contraction and is often used as a shaping exercise.
Muscle Groups Worked
Bench Press
- Pectoralis major and minor
- Anterior deltoids
- Triceps
- Serratus anterior
- Coracobrachialis
Dumbbell Fly
- Pectoralis major
- Pectoralis minor
The bench press works several muscle groups including the chest, shoulders, and triceps. This makes it a highly effective mass building exercise.
The dumbbell fly isolates the pectoral muscles, making it less effective for adding overall mass but better for targeting chest width and shape.
Strength Building
Winner: Bench Press
Due to the multi-joint nature of the bench press, you are able to lift much heavier weights than with the dumbbell fly. This makes the bench press superior for building functional chest strength.
The stabilization required during the bench press also trains core strength. The supported nature of the fly means less overall strength gains.
Hypertrophy (Muscle Growth)
Winner: Bench Press
The heavy weights used in the bench press make it ideal for prompting muscle protein synthesis and growth. It builds chest thickness and mass very effectively.
While the dumbbell fly better targets the pecs, the lighter weights mean less overall muscle growth compared to the bench press.
Chest Width and Shape
Winner: Dumbbell Fly
The dumbbell fly emphasizes the contraction of the pectorals, especially the outer edges, leading to greater chest width and more defined shape.
The bench press builds mass but does not specifically target outer pec development for width and shape gains.
Training Volume
You can perform many more reps of dumbbell flies compared to bench press sets due to the lighter weights used. This makes the fly better for higher volume training to maximize hypertrophy.
The bench press allows for heavier weights but fewer rep sets. Lower rep sets with heavier loads build more strength.
Variations
- Bench Press: Barbell, dumbbell, Smith machine, incline, decline, close grip.
- Dumbbell Fly: Incline, decline, cable fly, pec deck machine.
Both exercises have many variations you can use to target the chest from different angles and stimuli.
Muscle Recruitment
The bench press uses a lot of assisting muscles to move the weight. This recruits more muscle fibers.
The dumbbell fly works in isolation so targets the pectorals specifically but with less total muscle recruitment.
Conclusion
- For building overall chest mass and strength, the bench press is more effective due to the heavier weights used.
- The dumbbell fly better isolates and shapes the pecs while the bench press will build thickness.
- Include both exercises in your routine to train the chest through different movements and stimuli for complete chest development.
The bench press vs dumbbell fly debate need not be an either/or proposition. For the best results, incorporate both into your chest workout to build size, strength and an impressively muscular chest.
Now also check the squat vs the leg press, traditional vs sumo deadlifts and pull-ups vs pulldowns, the next logical exercise is, of course, the bench press. To put the barbell bench press against the dumbbell or smith machine bench press was too similar an article to what my colleague Colin has already covered (a very worthy article to read if you want to know which of the three possibilities will suit your muscle-building needs best), so it made sense to me to instead post the bench press vs the dumbbell fly
Conclusion
- For building overall chest mass and strength, the bench press is more effective due to the heavier weights used.
- The dumbbell fly better isolates and shapes the pecs while the bench press will build thickness.
- Include both exercises in your routine to train the chest through different movements and stimuli for complete chest development.
The bench press vs dumbbell fly debate need not be an either/or proposition. For the best results, incorporate both into your chest workout to build size, strength and an impressively muscular chest.
Now also check the squat vs the leg press, traditional vs sumo deadlifts and pull-ups vs pulldowns, the next logical exercise is, of course, the bench press. To put the barbell bench press against the dumbbell or smith machine bench press was too similar an article to what my colleague Colin has already covered (a very worthy article to read if you want to know which of the three possibilities will suit your muscle-building needs best), so it made sense to me to instead post the bench press vs the dumbbell fly.
Happy Lifting!
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