DB flys - are they important in chest development?

[Allen Iverson]

Or can I just stick to regular incline bench press and incline BB bench?

What do DB flys develop?

[tubby2hunny]

Or can I just stick to regular incline bench press and incline BB bench?

What do DB flys develop?

Yes do Flys, I really like incline flys lol. Incline bench = upper pec , flys = closing the gap between the pecs lol

[Allen Iverson]

so flys work the inner chest?

[HighTest]

In fact, dumbel flyes are not REQUIRED...

To close the gap between pecs, closed crips BB press with an exagerated contraction at top would be much more accurate

I myself use dumbel flyes as a pre-exhaust exercice, but since they are hardly hitting those white slow-muscle fibers which are usually dominant in the pecs, i don't use them as an exercice

Steph

[tubby2hunny]

so flys work the inner chest?

yes works inner chest

[russo54]

Or can I just stick to regular incline bench press and incline BB bench?

What do DB flys develop?

flys are very important for your chest development
flys work and keep all the strain on the outside of your chest(depends on what angle your doing it at) it supposed to build the outer muscles of your chest that you wont normally work on when you flat/decline/incline-bench,you should do your normal benching routine,but i recommend if your lacking in your lower/upper/middle outer chest try to do flys first,or supersets. Ie: decline bench(with spotter always) ###x6-10 until you cant go anymore then immediately grab your dumbbells most likely 15-20lbs (i personally do 35lbs but my range of movement is extremely huge) for a set until failure,only go 3/4 up so the strain says on your lower outer chest. ROM (range of motion) is one of the most important things when it comes to flys. You always hit the part of the chest your lagging in the most first when you have the most energy,upper chest development,and a wide lower chest are keys to a nice developed chest. You should try to get the "lunch box chest" the wide square separated fully devolved pecs.

Btw (never forget to do your inner pecs!)

Hope this helps!

[Memorial93]

What about pec deck over the regular DB flyes? Or Cable flyes?

[Inev]

Yes do Flys, I really like incline flys lol. Incline bench = upper pec , flys = closing the gap between the pecs lol

In fact, dumbel flyes are not REQUIRED...

To close the gap between pecs, closed crips BB press with an exagerated contraction at top would be much more accurate

I myself use dumbel flyes as a pre-exhaust exercice, but since they are hardly hitting those white slow-muscle fibers which are usually dominant in the pecs, i don't use them as an exercice

Steph

yes works inner chest

flys are very important for your chest development
flys work and keep all the strain on the outside of your chest(depends on what angle your doing it at) it supposed to build the outer muscles of your chest that you wont normally work on when you flat/decline/incline-bench,you should do your normal benching routine,but i recommend if your lacking in your lower/upper/middle outer chest try to do flys first,or supersets. Ie: decline bench(with spotter always) ###x6-10 until you cant go anymore then immediately grab your dumbbells most likely 15-20lbs (i personally do 35lbs but my range of movement is extremely huge) for a set until failure,only go 3/4 up so the strain says on your lower outer chest. ROM (range of motion) is one of the most important things when it comes to flys. You always hit the part of the chest your lagging in the most first when you have the most energy,upper chest development,and a wide lower chest are keys to a nice developed chest. You should try to get the "lunch box chest" the wide square separated fully devolved pecs.

Btw (never forget to do your inner pecs!)

Hope this helps!

I hate to go up against so many people at once . . . But Im seriously considering negging all of you simply for the fact that you are providing incorrect information. But i cant say i blame you because this MYTH is soooo far spread . . .

let me set you straight . . . You CANNOT target your inner chest. This is a myth. When a muscle fiber contracts. It contracts equally over its entire length. meaning you cannot target the end of it, or the middle of it. It grows equally. When you are working chest, you CAN target upper and lower. This is because these are separate muscle fibers. So you can activate some of them more than others.

I encourage all of you i quoted to do a quick google search and comfirm this if you doubt it. I think you all gain something from it.

As a second step . . . If you all believed this? what other lifting myths do you believe in also? Just because someone with a nice body said so

Bottom line about lifting:
Eat like a horse
sleep like the dead
lift like a demon


(Variation is ALWAYS a good thing. I would incorporate flys into any chest routine. Muscles respond very well to variation in exercise. This includes applying tension to your muscle at different points during the movements. Which is exactly what flys do.) But much of how your muscles look is purely genetic. Not a lot you can do about it most/some of the time.

[PheNom9]

you can't target the inner chest. but anyways i do flys give me a great pump in my chest. i love them

[Inev]

you can't target the inner chest. but anyways i do flys give me a great pump in my chest. i love them

this x 2

[russo54]

What about pec deck over the regular DB flyes? Or Cable flyes?

for the pec dec,i use it mainly for my inner pecs,put it to the closest possible setting inwards (elbows coming into each other) and do a full rep and flex for about one second when you reach it,instead of coming all the way back,only come about 1/4 back so the inner pecs have constant stress on them,this is a excellent exercise for the inner pecs to be built up and have a nice split down the middle. You can do both pec dec flys for a solid isolation all the way back with the farthest possible,or comfortable setting,i dont prefer these because you cant choose a particular part of your pec. But it is a good outer middle pec development exersize.

Cable flys are one of my favorite outer chest exersizes. You can choose even the smallest parts of your chest on depending how you choose to collaborate your form,stance,arms,and rom. You can get a sick rom on these,amazing stretches and a sick burn. Cable flys are a really good way to hit your chest from another angle that you usually wouldnt!

i can usually end of doing all these exersizes between 2-3 chest workouts.

[tubby2hunny]

Pease teach me about "Range of Motion" also

[russo54]

I hate to go up against so many people at once . . . But Im seriously considering negging all of you simply for the fact that you are providing incorrect information. But i cant say i blame you because this MYTH is soooo far spread . . .

let me set you straight . . . You CANNOT target your inner chest. This is a myth. When a muscle fiber contracts. It contracts equally over its entire length. meaning you cannot target the end of it, or the middle of it. It grows equally. When you are working chest, you CAN target upper and lower. This is because these are separate muscle fibers. So you can activate some of them more than others.

I encourage all of you i quoted to do a quick google search and comfirm this if you doubt it. I think you all gain something from it.

As a second step . . . If you all believed this? what other lifting myths do you believe in also? Just because someone with a nice body said so

Bottom line about lifting:
Eat like a horse
sleep like the dead
lift like a demon


(Variation is ALWAYS a good thing. I would incorporate flys into any chest routine. Muscles respond very well to variation in exercise. This includes applying tension to your muscle at different points during the movements. Which is exactly what flys do.) But much of how your muscles look is purely genetic. Not a lot you can do about it most/some of the time.

im not sure why you dont think you cant target your inner chest?
yes it will be spread throught the pec muslce,but most of the stress will relay on the inner pecs.

havent you ever herd a partial reps so only a single part of a muscle is targeted?
i workout my inner chest every time i do my chest.

[gympunk]

I do Lighter Weight DB Flys as a finishing exercise, Flat & inclined...

[russo54]

Pease teach me about "Range of Motion" also

The range of motion is how far you perfrom your exercise, aka how deep/far/throught you go for each repetition. DB flys are one of the rom exersizes you have to concentrate on. The farther you go down the more of your outter pec. muscle fibers have more stress to bring back up,becuase of the wieght weighing it down. At the end of my dumbell workout days,ill grab a 50lb dumbell and set the bench flat,and do 1-3 incerbiley wide range of motion almost as the dumbell is touching the ground.

[tubby2hunny]

The range of motion is how far you perfrom your exercise, aka how deep/far/throught you go for each repetition. DB flys are one of the rom exersizes you have to concentrate on. The farther you go down the more of your outter pec. muscle fibers have more stress to bring back up,becuase of the wieght weighing it down. At the end of my dumbell workout days,ill grab a 50lb dumbell and set the bench flat,and do 1-3 incerbiley wide range of motion almost as the dumbell is touching the ground.

LOL thanks, It was for the "cant target inner pecs" poster. I feel ROM lets you target "inner chest"

[tubby2hunny]

I hate to go up against so many people at once . . . But Im seriously considering negging all of you simply for the fact that you are providing incorrect information. But i cant say i blame you because this MYTH is soooo far spread . . .

let me set you straight . . . You CANNOT target your inner chest. This is a myth. When a muscle fiber contracts. It contracts equally over its entire length. meaning you cannot target the end of it, or the middle of it. It grows equally. When you are working chest, you CAN target upper and lower. This is because these are separate muscle fibers. So you can activate some of them more than others.

I encourage all of you i quoted to do a quick google search and comfirm this if you doubt it. I think you all gain something from it.

As a second step . . . If you all believed this? what other lifting myths do you believe in also? Just because someone with a nice body said so

Bottom line about lifting:
Eat like a horse
sleep like the dead
lift like a demon


(Variation is ALWAYS a good thing. I would incorporate flys into any chest routine. Muscles respond very well to variation in exercise. This includes applying tension to your muscle at different points during the movements. Which is exactly what flys do.) But much of how your muscles look is purely genetic. Not a lot you can do about it most/some of the time.

How do I "NEG" someone? lol

[Inev]

im not sure why you dont think you cant target your inner chest?
yes it will be spread throught the pec muslce,but most of the stress will relay on the inner pecs.

havent you ever herd a partial reps so only a single part of a muscle is targeted?
i workout my inner chest every time i do my chest.

do a google search my friend. Im not just randomly posting crazy stuff i dreamed up.

[Lector606]

Wow, Inev, I can't believe so many people are disagreeing with you!

Guys, listen to what he is saying. Here's my crappy attempt at dumbing it down: imagine you are looking at a person standing in front of you. Now imagine drawing little lines running up and down their biceps. When the muscle contracts the whole line contracts. There is no "only activating the top part" or the lower part. It's no different with any other muscle. This is not one of those "agree to disagree" things, it's a really basic piece of physiology.

This has nothing to do with the fact that it may seem possible for other muscles, because they are actually made up of numerous parts (i.e. upper and lower chest). Since they are separate they can be activated separately (at least to some extent), so you can develop one more quickly than the other.

[DaveBriggs]

I hate to go up against so many people at once . . . But Im seriously considering negging all of you simply for the fact that you are providing incorrect information. But i cant say i blame you because this MYTH is soooo far spread . . .

let me set you straight . . . You CANNOT target your inner chest. This is a myth. When a muscle fiber contracts. It contracts equally over its entire length. meaning you cannot target the end of it, or the middle of it. It grows equally. When you are working chest, you CAN target upper and lower. This is because these are separate muscle fibers. So you can activate some of them more than others.

I encourage all of you i quoted to do a quick google search and comfirm this if you doubt it. I think you all gain something from it.

As a second step . . . If you all believed this? what other lifting myths do you believe in also? Just because someone with a nice body said so

Bottom line about lifting:
Eat like a horse
sleep like the dead
lift like a demon


(Variation is ALWAYS a good thing. I would incorporate flys into any chest routine. Muscles respond very well to variation in exercise. This includes applying tension to your muscle at different points during the movements. Which is exactly what flys do.) But much of how your muscles look is purely genetic. Not a lot you can do about it most/some of the time.

agreed

that is correct inev, if you want your inner chest to be bigger you have to increase the muscle mass of the whole chest.

to the other guys, your pectoral muscle is shaped like a fan..going from your shoulder joint to your inner chest. you can make the upper chest work and harder and you can make the lower chest work harder but you can't just hit one end of a muscle fibre.

[Stevin]

Seems to me like anatomy wasn't taken at school by all the people who think you can work only part of a muscle fibre.

Strong misinformation in this thread.

Reps to Inev

[Defiant1]

Wow, there seems like some really smart people in here, and I am really learning a lot.


I did google, but now I'm confused...

http://www.joseantoniophd.com/websit...cles.php?id=17

that guy seems pretty smart too.

http://ptjournal.apta.org/cgi/reprint/73/12/857.pdf

these guys too.

[Slow-N-Steady]

I really don't get these threads. From a scientific standpoint, yes, it may be technically incorrect to say, 'work' the inner chest' or 'working the upper pecs', etc. But all you have to do is go do the various exercises and you can easily tell that you are stressing different areas of the chest.

[Pullup17]

Wow, there seems like some really smart people in here, and I am really learning a lot.


I did google, but now I'm confused...

http://www.joseantoniophd.com/websit...cles.php?id=17

that guy seems pretty smart too.

http://ptjournal.apta.org/cgi/reprint/73/12/857.pdf

these guys too.

Unlike some people who need facts and science to back up data, i've read what Dr Jose Antonio and also some bodybuilders have been saying all along and have applied their principles to my training and all i have got to say is, I AGREE! Key word here is EMPHASIZE a part of the muscle and NOT ISOLATE.

I always fail to understand this, since people who say a muscle is hit equally throughout, why not do other exercises which apparently DO NOT emphasize an area since they are all the same according to you guys (eg. different angles of cable rows/pullups) Just set aside 2 months, do different exercises, and see for yourselves whether an exericse does/doesn't emphasize an area more.

[user94984100999]

What about pec deck over the regular DB flyes? Or Cable flyes?

i like the incline cable flys myself

[Slow-N-Steady]

I always fail to understand this, since people who say a muscle is hit equally throughout, why not do other exercises which apparently DO NOT emphasize an area since they are all the same according to you guys (eg. different angles of cable rows/pullups) Just set aside 2 months, do different exercises, and see for yourselves whether an exericse does/doesn't emphasize an area more.

Exaclty...just go do it and see for yourself.

[Finnegan Bell]

DB flyes are very good for stretching ur chest ,it will protect u from shoulder and pec injuries if done right.

[Inev]

Wow, there seems like some really smart people in here, and I am really learning a lot.


I did google, but now I'm confused...

http://www.joseantoniophd.com/websit...cles.php?id=17

that guy seems pretty smart too.

http://ptjournal.apta.org/cgi/reprint/73/12/857.pdf

these guys too.

Not sure why you neg me and then post articles which support my post. The only part i can see that would be reasonable to disagree with in my post is where i claimed muscle fibers contract equally over the entire length. I dont have sources to prove this is true, and in reality i would expect that the muscle fibers will contract uniquely due to their own physical properties. however i would not expect this contraction to differ due to the amount of stress relative to the muscles position.

1) pectoralis major - if you?re interested in developing the upper portion (clavicular head) relatively more so than the sternocostal portion, it is best to do a narrow grip incline bench; if you want to target the sternocostal region relatively more than the clavicular region, a narrow grip on the decline bench is best. And furthermore, for the greatest activation of the entire pectoralis major muscle, then the wide grip bench press is the king of the chest exercises.

This is from the section where he talks about how his article is actually applicable. notice that he never talked about inner and outer chest. Only upper and lower. Which is already established knowledge.

Your second article . . . Is a new research study on muscle partitioning talking about how muscle strands are not uniform in a muscle or along their length. At no point do they talk about muscle stimulation and growth due to stimulation. Their conclusion is that future research into this area can help our understanding in physical therapy.

at any rate . . . If you are going to neg me saying im posting incorrect information. I expect you to at least refer me to something that does not support my claim, or is at least relevant to our discussion. Because so far you pointed to something which supports my post, and something which doesn't even touch on this topic.

[ProTec]

i like the incline cable flys myself

Cable flys make more sense because the "weight" you are moving is constant during the whole move, whereas with DB flys, the angle your arms are at play a great role in the amount of "weight" is being transferred to the target muscles. (the pecs)...

Imagine for yourself. If the DB's are straight above your chest, the chest is no longer under any tension since all the force (gravity) is actually working on compressing your arms and no force at all is pulling the pecs "apart". Much like a cosinus function.

With cables this is different, since the cables, with the handles straight above the chest, are still trying to pull your arms outward, (the weight stack is only moving up and down in a straight line, while the force is now a pulling force in the ROM), much more like a linear line. (not completely linear, but the curve is MUCH less dramatic)

The PEC Deck has that advantage too, BUT, the pec deck is still less effective than cables, since there is no stabilizing effort necessary.

So for ME it is clear I would much rather use cables. Much harder on the muscle, but strength development over the complete ROM and I also need to stabilize.
Unfortunately I do not have two weight stacks, so I am stuck with Dumbbells.

After the fly's, I grab some resistance bands and simulate the cables untill I am completely exhausted. Mathematically, this is the best I can do and I am really pumped after my workout.

When I am in a gym, like soon during my holiday, I do not touch the flys. Cables ROCK!


Just my two cents.

M

[tubby2hunny]

do a google search my friend. Im not just randomly posting crazy stuff i dreamed up.

INEV, you should do the articles for bodybuilding.com

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pecs.htm