Cable crossovers for building chest mass

[Pericles]

You are better off doing your chest like this

Pressing movement (barbell or db)
Fly movement (metabolite production)
Pressing movement again

Doing flies first leaves you using more delt and tricep on your presses and less overall pec. Has been proven by science numerous times.

 

[nothuman]

You are better off doing your chest like this

Pressing movement (barbell or db)
Fly movement (metabolite production)
Pressing movement again

Doing flies first leaves you using more delt and tricep on your presses and less overall pec. Has been proven by science numerous times.

I do 3 pressing movement (3 sets each) followed by 2 fly movements (3 sets each). I'm reluctant to do any flyes before all my pressing. Always worked well for me.

 

[johnjuanb1]

I do 3 pressing movement (3 sets each) followed by 2 fly movements (3 sets each). I'm reluctant to do any flyes before all my pressing. Always worked well for me.

I do 2 chest workouts per week. One is all pressing. This other is flies. It keeps the chest full and great pumps.

 

[Goody]

Every other chest workout I do nothing but fly movements from different angles and such... nothing makes my chest more sore than those workouts

 

[danieltx]

Science is great, but figure out what works for you. Arm length, leverage points, etc., make that different for everyone. My chest has made more progress than ever before since putting a fly movement first.

 

[nothuman]

I do 2 chest workouts per week. One is all pressing. This other is flies. It keeps the chest full and great pumps.

More than one way to skin a cat

 

[D2]

my pec grew more on cables and db flyes then any kind of presses:headbang:

 

[Lilleo187]

I just started doing 5 sets of db presses with moderate weight then 4-5 sets wide grip bench press after with lighter weight. No need for flyes afterwards. Chest will be sore as fuck the next day. Try it.

 

[heavyhitter]

my pec grew more on cables and db flyes then any kind of presses:headbang:

What about the other pec?

 

[PitbullTank]

You are better off doing your chest like this

Pressing movement (barbell or db)
Fly movement (metabolite production)
Pressing movement again

Doing flies first leaves you using more delt and tricep on your presses and less overall pec. Has been proven by science numerous times.

I like this... when i go back to the presses since weight is lower i really like to focus on the upper shelf w some higher angles with a few specific targeted movements ive learned...
My favorite is a reverse grip EZ bar high angle incline press... saw Dex doing it w C Glass, tried it, awesomeee :headbang:

 

[juggy38]

I like this... when i go back to the presses since weight is lower i really like to focus on the upper shelf w some higher angles with a few specific targeted movements ive learned...
My favorite is a reverse grip EZ bar high angle incline press... saw Dex doing it w C Glass, tried it, awesomeee :headbang:

John meadows programs it like that a lot. Press, fly, press.

My workout that always leaves me crippled..

BB incline pyramid up to heavy (6-8 reps)
Cable flys 10-12 reps 2 hard sets
Flat dumbbell DC rest paused

Chest is FRIED. It’s only 3~4 working sets but then the final DC set is like a mortal combat fatality

 

[headtrainer]

No exercise is for definition. The shape and look of a muscle is genetically predetermined. You can only increase the size of it. Definition is achieved through diet and low bodyfat levels.

Truth!

 

[headtrainer]

You are better off doing your chest like this

Pressing movement (barbell or db)
Fly movement (metabolite production)
Pressing movement again

Doing flies first leaves you using more delt and tricep on your presses and less overall pec. Has been proven by science numerous times.

I have found this approach to be very effective!

 

[headtrainer]

Fly movements recruit a lot more pec muscle fibers than pressing movements. You can just feel it if you do both movements right now with no resistance. Pressing is a lot of delt work.

My triceps take over during the flat bench and my front delts take over during inclines. In order to get my chest to grow I need my arms to move inward during presses. Cable crossovers have added mass to my chest.

 

[headtrainer]

My shoulders dont like fly motions w heavy weight so i dont think much a builder compared to press... but are a great way to drive max amount of blood... problem is like most chest exercises that people cave their chest in amd its turned into a front delt fly lol...

I agree that many people cave their chest in which takes the work away from the chest worked properly. There’s a way to do cable crossovers without hurting the shoulders. Many people do them in a manner that puts undue stress on the supraspinatus tendon. The key is using a narrower arc and less stretch at the top of the movement.

 

[headtrainer]

It's one of the ways your pec muscle is intended to move...(crossing your arms in front of you).

A great variation of a pec exercise I like sometimes is to get seated in a Hammer Bench Press facing sideways. Your shoulder will be resting against the pad that normally your back is resting on.

Load plates on one side...and use one arm to press the handle out. This moves it across your chest. It's like a combination bench/flye.

Having the pad on the back of the machine to brace yourself against allows you to use some heavier weight. It's a great finishing exercise and takes most of the delts out of what really feels like a pressing movement...just across your body!

The one arm cross press on a Hammer Strength Machine you speak of is a great exercise for those who have shoulder pain during standard chest presses.

 

[buck]

Pretty Sure Birds have great Pecs without Pressing!

They are doing flies with their body weight for hundreds/thousands or more reps per set, something I can't do. I can feel my muscle fibers contracting quite a lot when I flex my arm but I do not think that there are a lot of fibers actually being recruited under significant tension that will cause growth. I think it is much the same for flies. The number of fibers have to be great enough and under enough tension for long enough for hypertrophy to occur. Plus when doing isolation movements we are taking our stabilizer muscles out of the equation which can lead to accelerated wear and tear I am betting.

 

[concreteguy]

Cable flies are an excellent finishing exercise. For best results have your chest parallel to the floor and the cable rollers up as high as possible. Go high reps in the 20's to total melt downs. This is one of only a few chest moves that can't be cheated with momentum. Like anything else, it's what you make of it.

CG

 

[heavyhitter]

John meadows programs it like that a lot. Press, fly, press.

My workout that always leaves me crippled..

BB incline pyramid up to heavy (6-8 reps)
Cable flys 10-12 reps 2 hard sets
Flat dumbbell DC rest paused

Chest is FRIED. It’s only 3~4 working sets but then the final DC set is like a mortal combat fatality

Really? Ive rarely ever seen john program like that. Its pre prime pump so a dumbbell or machine press, thn a heavy movement, typically barbell incline, and then a stretch move like a dumbbell flye. Ive rarely ever seen a flye movement come second

 

[johnjuanb1]

More than one way to skin a cat

Haha that expression must come from a country where they eat cats.
I love cats.