Chest dumbbell flyes VS Bench Press – which exercise is better for a sculpted chest?

Two of the more popular chest exercises are chest flyes and the bench presses but which one is better for your regime?

Bench Press

The bench press is everyone's favourite gym move,so much so that it's damn hard to find an empty bench!

How to do: Lie on a flat bench. Keeping your arms shoulder-width, lift the bar from the rack and hold your arms perpendicular to the ground. This is your starting position (if this is use your first time, use a moderate weight). Breathe in and lower the bar so it touches your middle chest, hold for a brief pause and push the bar up. This will be one rep.

What it does: Like we said, the bench press is a very popular exercise. It targets your whole chest but mainly works the lower pecs. That being said, it's a great compound movement to develop width, become stronger and actually works your entire torso. However, it's not the only popular chest exercise:

Chest Dumbbell Flyes

Chest dumbbell flyes are another contender for must-have exercises in your regimes.

How to do: Lie down on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each arm. The palms of your arm will be inwards, facing one another. Hold the dumbbells perpendicular to your chest up with a slight bend in your elbow. This will be your starting position. Lower your arms on both sides creating a wide arc until you feel a slight stretch over your chest. Make sure your arms remain stationary while doing this and the movement is powered by the shoulder joint. Return to the starting position as you squeeze your chest muscles and breathe out. This is one complete set. Hold this position for a second and repeat the desired the number of times.

What it does: It helps isolate the pectoral muscles and also works the upper pectorals since it's an isolation movement (one joint involved) as opposed to a compound movement. They are great for developing width and a more symmetrical look.

Trainer tip: Justin Woltering, fitness expert and author says that if he had to pick one he would pick the bench press. He says: 'The bench press wins because it is one of the big 3 compound movements. It allows you to use more weight, and a stronger muscle is a bigger muscle.'

However he adds despite that bench press has cons. 'The con to the bench press is that the lower pecs are doing the majority of the work. So incline presses and fly to presses are a great way to build the chest from the clavicle down. DB flyes are a great movement for stretching the pecs and developing chest width. You will never be able to develop the thickness that you can with bench press, but it is great for 'filling in the gaps' and create a more symmetrical and balance look.'

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