Chest Fly's

[jpb8200]

Who does them? Doesn't matter whether you do incline, flat or decline fly's.

Do you go light or heavy?

Do they hurt your shoulders?

 

[WeakPoint]

I really like flyes, I try to switch it up with them. Sometimes cable, sometimes dumbbells. Sometimes incline sometimes flat. Never done decline flyes before.
I go heavy, and no it doesn't hurt my shoulders.

 

[nickd84]

I love doing heavy flyes and getting that nice stretch!! They have never hurt my shoulders.

 

[SilentBob187]

I super set lighter flies with heavy presses. Burns like a mother trucker but it doesn't hurt my shoulder.

 

[NaNo7717]

Doing flys dont really do much to your body. i really enjoy doing them for more shape to the pec. Keep it pretty light and do 10-12 reps. i see a lot of people in the gym go really heavy and either hurt themselves or do the worst reps ive ever seen. Also, dont go much past 90 degrees. People think that it stretches the pec better but its acutally just stretching the rotator cuff muscles and a lot of damage can occur. Pre-exhausting a press with flys works really well.

 

[ShakesAllDay]

I like flies... if they are done correctly and tension is kept on the chest (not going all the way up and resting). Also, I agree that a person shouldn't make it a habit to go super low on flies. 90 deg, or just a tad lower should be plenty.

 

[strester]

chest fly isn't in my current routine ... when I used to do them I went fairly heavy and had no shoulder pain

 

[GreenTempo]

i dont like flyes too much, just not enough resistance at the top. i usually end my chest workouts with cable flyes. sometimes i'll do a set or two of each though

 

[Bum Mahoney]

I super set with dumbell presses. Not super heavy, but enough that it burns. I like the stretch feeling. I don't go low and try not to rest at the top, though I have to admit that I need to focus better on this at times. I do incline most of the time.

 

[VolcomX311]

well put together poll

 

[remeizo]

I have been doing flys with my arms as straight as possible followed by dumbell presses, my chest has been slightly sore for two weeks. Love them and my shoulders do not hurt with this workout. I have ditched the barbell on my chest for a while.

 

[ITHURTZ]

I thought the purpose of flies was to get that stretch? Anyway I go heavy and never had shoulder problems. Heavy as in 70lb dumbells

 

[BodyWizard]

Doing flys dont really do much to your body.

I disagree profoundly, but then, perhaps it's the way you're doing it: a pec deck or other isolating exercise, and my disagreement goes away.

I use dumbbells, and I alternate sides, working slow and focused reps. This requires considerable recruitment of muscles throughout each rep, to stabilise my body on the bench through the move. No real surprise there since the great value of free-weights is to spread recruitment beyond the target fibers & increasing neuromuscular efficiency & integration. In my case, they're helping me carve out a waist again - I consider that a lot to do for my body.

Also, dont go much past 90 degrees. People think that it stretches the pec better but its acutally just stretching the rotator cuff muscles and a lot of damage can occur.

this I agree with enthusiastically, but let's be clear: it's not the RC muscles that are at risk: it's the ligaments and joint capsule. Permanent damage to these & one could end up w/ a pin in one's shoulder (or something - IANAD) & severe mobility restriction.

Pre-exhausting a press with flys works really well.

Since I lift without a spotter, I prefer to finish off post-press w/ the flyes.

 

[vruge87]

Chest flys. You will notice doing them on different inclines makes a difference in the weight you can do and the part of your chest and shoulder it hits. Definitely start with light weight and make sure you have good form, then move up in weight. If you learn to do them right you shouldn't have to worry about shoulder problems.

I personally like doing super sets, it really tightens the chest up.

 

[ms3jake]

i dont like flyes too much, just not enough resistance at the top. i usually end my chest workouts with cable flyes. sometimes i'll do a set or two of each though

X2 cable flyes FTW!:cheers:

 

[jcp2]

I thought the purpose of flies was to get that stretch? Anyway I go heavy and never had shoulder problems. Heavy as in 70lb dumbells

I am in the same boat as you, i used to love them. I lift for strength now so they don't fit into my routine anymore. Slightly bent arms and heavy ass weight. They should not bother your shoulders at all if done right.

 

[EasyEJL]

I super set lighter flies with heavy presses. Burns like a mother trucker but it doesn't hurt my shoulder.

for sure, I always do em that way.

 

[EasyEJL]

I use dumbbells, and I alternate sides, working slow and focused reps. This requires considerable recruitment of muscles throughout each rep, to stabilise my body on the bench through the move. No real surprise there since the great value of free-weights is to spread recruitment beyond the target fibers & increasing neuromuscular efficiency & integration. In my case, they're helping me carve out a waist again - I consider that a lot to do for my body.

dang, I wish I would have read this topic when you originally wrote it because now I have to try this (the alternating fly) and today was chest day so I have to wait till next sat

 

[WILL DA BEAST]

i generally do fly's at the end of my chest w/o so i do light weight such as 25's - 30's for 20-25 reps. It's just to get a good final pump before i call it quits, and also gives a good finishing stretch for me.

 

[Fatal Wisdom]

Meh at the moment I dont do any flyes, seeing as i notice nothing really from them, I just keep it heavy compounds flat/incline presses with dips.

As far as feeling the "burn" goes, I hope i never feel the burn, seeing as it's from the build up of lactic acid which is actually quite bad for the muscles.

And as far as "shaping" Im not too scientifically clear on this but as far as I know muscles arent playdough, and can't be "shaped" but only grown larger/stronger.

but please correct me if i am wrong

 

[Zero V]

I do them as heavy as I can, they are the reason my chest blew up, and is increasing. I am a fan of the fly!

 

[Sergiu]

If you do them with proper form, I don't see why your shoulders should be hurting. I do them as heavy as I can and I don't have any shoulder problems.

 

[Joshua86]

I like flies... if they are done correctly and tension is kept on the chest (not going all the way up and resting). Also, I agree that a person shouldn't make it a habit to go super low on flies. 90 deg, or just a tad lower should be plenty.

Agreed. Flyes used in conjunction with compound pressing movements for chest are, in my opinion, the best way to train the chest. I tend to save my flyes for the end of my chest routine, usually done in a superset with something like cable crossovers.

But like Shakes said, it's all about tension (contraction). You want to keep your chest tense, or contracted, throughout the entire movement. I do like to get a good stretch at the bottom of the lift, but there's a differene between a good stretch and stretching too far. You kind of have to figure out your range, but a tad lower than 90 degrees is about right. Also, at the top of the movement, I like to squeeze my chest muscles for a brief moment, causing further contraction and muscle fiber stimulation.

Try doing a superset of incline DB flyes followed by cable crossovers, imploying the techniques described above, then after your superset, flex your chest as hard as possible for about 15-30 seconds. I love it!

The chest is a tricky muscle group to train. Some people are gifted enough to where they only need a handful of pressing movements to develop a full, powerful chest, while others, like myself, need a multitude of exercises to hit the chest from as many angles as possible. Trail and error until you find your groove, then consistency. That's my two cents anyway.

Happy training!

 

[SFW]

I like flies... if they are done correctly and tension is kept on the chest (not going all the way up and resting). Also, I agree that a person shouldn't make it a habit to go super low on flies. 90 deg, or just a tad lower should be plenty.

Shakes! whats up buddy? SFW_SFW from bn... nice to see a fellow bn poster on here.