Fly your way to a huge chest!

[Entity]

I think that for building massive pecs, flyes are the way to go. Presses involve the tri's and delts to such a degree that even though the weight is much heavier, the percentage of it being lifted by the chest is minimal. The exception is the range of motion from slight above the chest and for maybe 2 more inches further until the tri's totally dominate. I bet if one was to do a study on how much weight the pectorals are actually lifting on a flat bench press, it would be around 30%. So if youre benching 315, you chest is actually lifting about 95 lbs between both pectorals... thats nothing. Im sure the ratio is higher on incline maybe 40-50% but thats still minicule.
With flyes however, esspecially incline flyes, the portion of weight handled by the pecs might be around 80-90%. So if you doing say... 95lb dumbell flyes with fairly strict form youre chest is feeling up to 85lbs per pectoral, thats 190lbs between the two, thats 100% more load on the chest than the set with 315. And not only is your chest feeling a greater load, but the muscle is being worked in a much more natural plane with the arm moving in front of the body, the hands facing inward.
I think one heavy pressing movement would be useful to create an "overflow" effect, allowing the body in general to feel a heavy load, but it would be interesting to see what a 10 week training cycle with chest workouts consisting soley of 12-15 sets of flyes would produce.

 

[jawbreakerkid]

I tend to agree. I'm currently dieting and trained chest on monday. I like to mix things up so I started my workout with flat db flyes. I went as heavy as 115lb db's for a set of 8 (remember, I'm dieting and weak!) I then did bb incline press and finished with cable cross overs. I can feel the pecs working much better in a fly movement than I can with a press. With incline I can stick my chest out and really concentrate on pressing the weight with my chest, but the squeeze you get with a fly movement is unrivaled. I see so many people who bench bench bench, and there chests are not impressive, I think flat bb bench is a highly overrated exercise for building muscle. Then again, look at the massive chests of power lifters...so who knows...lol

 

[bigbadasian]

Reply

|--[\\\]>--------- I'm a fly man myself. i'll do a press movement for the first exercise (usually some type of incline) and then all flys afterwards....at the end to just burn-out i may do a flat press on a machine to failure.

 

[GetnDiesel]

PEC DEC

One time where a machine kicks arse. Do it first. Train it as a primary exercise. Load it up heavy (after a good warmup of course). And ALWAYS keep your back steady and concentrate on the squeeze. Your pecs will ache for days...

 

[Tom]

pre-exhaust...

Why not super-set flys and bench presses. Do flys first no more than 60 lb dumbells even for the big boys. Too heavy and it's just a wide version of a dumbell bench press. Do 12 -15 ultra strict reps of flys and go immediately to bench presses and you won't belive the pump. Try 3-4 supersets like that and see if that doesn't get you some chest growth.

 

[babygetoboy]

My Chest is my biggest bodypart by far, and I've never done fly's, ever. They've grown from Low Incline Smythe Presses, and Hammer Machine Flat and Decline presses.

 

[xcelbeyond]

I have 2 bad shoulders. Doing heavy flyes, my shoulders give out WAY BEFORE I feel anything in my chest.

 

[Thor]

I HEAR YA EXCEL

I have 2 bad shoulders. Doing heavy flyes, my shoulders give out WAY BEFORE I feel anything in my chest.

My experience with flyes has been terrrible for my shoulders although I may be going out (stretch) too far. But it always seemed to hurt my shoulders more than help my chest. I have decent chest development from doing incline dumbells, and dips with cable flys as a finisher sometimes.

 

[saint808]

I have 2 bad shoulders. Doing heavy flyes, my shoulders give out WAY BEFORE I feel anything in my chest.

you know i always complain about my chest.... but it could be my damn shoulders giving me the trouble.... never though about it much because they always hurt.

 

[LATS]

THE THOUGHT OF HEAVY FLYS JUST MAKES MY SHOULDERS HURT.. i never do flys and my chest is doing just fine.. everytime i have tried to incorporate then, i just end up with tweeked shoulders..

 

[jawbreakerkid]

this is weird, because I have two bad shoulders and flys don't hurt them one bit. But the rest of you with shoulder problems have trouble with flys, whereas if I try to flat bench, there's no way it's happening!

 

[MR.BICEPS]

I have 2 bad shoulders. Doing heavy flyes, my shoulders give out WAY BEFORE I feel anything in my chest.

Same here unless I use a machine and keep my hands below the lower chest during the contraction part of the movement. Incline flyes are out for shoulder problems.