Prone Incline Butterfly Exercise: How-To, Benefits, and Tips

The prone incline butterfly exercise is a chest-specific exercise that isolates the upper chest muscles and activates the challenging upper pecs in a way that a flat bench cannot.

Depending on your level of proficiency, different muscle areas are addressed when you perform this exercise.

When compared to the flat bench press, this exercise is more effective at stimulating all types of chest fibers. The sternal fibers—those that connect directly to your sternum—are the most significantly targeted pecs muscle groups by the prone incline butterfly exercise.

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Correct Technique to Perform Prone Incline Butterfly Exercise

Here are the steps to perform the prone incline butterfly exercise:

• Place your chest and stomach against the inclination of the bench as you lay down to start. Dumbbells should be held in each hand, palms facing one another (neutral grip).
• Make sure your arms are extended in front of you and parallel to the bench's angle. While exerting pressure with the ball of your toes, the legs should remain still.
• While exhaling, move the weights out and away from one another (to the side) while keeping the elbows slightly bent.
• For optimal results, push your shoulder blades together during this exercise.
• Elevate the arms till they are parallel to the ground.
• As you breathe in, feel the contraction and gradually return the weights to the starting position.
• Repeat for the appropriate number of times.

Try to finish one set of 5–10 repetitions when you initially begin. Add more reps as your chest strength develops, followed by more sets. Progressively increase to three sets of 10–12 repetitions.

The prone incline dumbbell fly strengthens the chest by focusing on the upper pectorals. (Image via Pexels/ Victor Freitas)

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Benefits of Prone Incline Butterfly Exercise

The prone incline dumbbell fly strengthens the chest by focusing on the upper pectorals. The triceps stabilize the movement, and the shoulders contribute just a little.

Despite the pectoralis' major gains from the flat bench fly, the incline butterfly exercise takes it a step further to isolate the top portion of the muscle. Including both movements in your training regimen helps you get the most out of your chest workout.

The incline butterfly exercise takes a step further to isolate the top portion of the pecs. (Image via Unsplash/ Anastase Maragos)

The rear shoulder blades are compressed by this exercise’s stimulation of scapular contraction and stretching of the chest muscles. This enhances posture. Additionally, it can facilitate routine tasks like retrieving a heavy object off a high shelf.

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Tips to Remember

Here are some tips to remember while doing this exercise:

1) Keep the form appropriate at all times. Your body functions in a particular plane of motion. Take your time, pay attention to your breathing, and move through the complete range of motion.

2) More mental and physical effort is needed for the chest fly. At the peak of the exercise, consciously focus on engaging and constricting your pecs.

3) Ensure that you are lowering the dumbbells on either side of your body at an exact level.

4) Dumbbells should be kept under control as you descend for four seconds. Reverse the motion you used to contract your chest muscles, hold it for a moment, and then do it again.

Ensure that you are lowering the dumbbells on either side of your body at an exact level. (Image via Unsplash/ Kelly Sikkema)

5) If you intend to increase the dumbbell’s weight, make sure you increase it gradually.

6) Don't let your lower back arch excessively, and keep your abs tight.

7) At the peak of your lift, avoid slamming the dumbbells together.

8) Always keep your elbow slightly bent, and never decrease the weight past your usual range of motion or to the point where you get joint pain.

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Conclusion

The prone incline butterfly exercise is an efficient and dynamic strength exercise that can support greater gains in muscle and strength and add more weight to compound actions like the bench press. Your athletic performance can be improved and your training program can be advanced by using auxiliary motions.

Consult your physical therapist before performing the prone incline butterfly exercise if you have a chest or shoulder injury. You should stop exercising if you feel pain or other unsettling sensations while performing the movement.