FLIES VS. PRESSES

[Jordan]

ive read alot of debate on this matter and hope to get it concentrated into one thread... so, ill give my opinion on the matter, which is entirely based on my own experiences in the gym. Many argue that flies are good for mass. Others say that packing meat on is all about presses. i think this needs to be clarified! obviously, everyone will react differently to different exersizes, making it difficult to come to a conclusion. In my experience, flies have added a lot of size to my chest..... however, its all along the outter portion . This, i recently have realised, has made my chest awkwardly proportioned- my mass lies mostly in the upper, outer part of my chest, leaving the inner part looking small by comparison. i believe this is because flies target the chest better than presses however, most of the fibers that are worked are along the outter portion. If flies make up the bulk of a chest workout, the chest will grow out of proportion, leaving the ¨clevage¨ looking small. So, whats everyones opinion on the matter? Dont get me wrong, i love flies but in my opinion, if you use them too much, youll get an awkward chest...

[Stonecold54]

Originally posted by Jordan
ive read alot of debate on this matter and hope to get it concentrated into one thread... so, ill give my opinion on the matter, which is entirely based on my own experiences in the gym. Many argue that flies are good for mass. Others say that packing meat on is all about presses. i think this needs to be clarified! obviously, everyone will react differently to different exersizes, making it difficult to come to a conclusion. In my experience, flies have added a lot of size to my chest..... however, its all along the outter portion . This, i recently have realised, has made my chest awkwardly proportioned- my mass lies mostly in the upper, outer part of my chest, leaving the inner part looking small by comparison. i believe this is because flies target the chest better than presses however, most of the fibers that are worked are along the outter portion. If flies make up the bulk of a chest workout, the chest will grow out of proportion, leaving the ¨clevage¨ looking small. So, whats everyones opinion on the matter? Dont get me wrong, i love flies but in my opinion, if you use them too much, youll get an awkward chest...

well it depends on what you are using for flyes. if you are using dumbells then the contraction as you get to the apex of the movement becomes hardly anything since it is horizontal movement. if you are using a machine then you should be able to get a nice full contraction that will stimulate the whole chest. the old nautilus 10 degree incline flye machine was perfect. it had pads the fit in your elbow joint so it would take your arms out of the movement and let you contract soley with your chest.

the second point I want to make is that adding mass using a particular movement is more about genetics than the movement. me personally, I can't use presses with a barbell. I get absolutley no contraction in my chest when i do that, so there is no point in doing them. I use crossovers, flyes, and some hammer strength for my chest. usually shorter guys with shorter arms and barrell chests are the guys who swear by the bench press and that is how it should be because they are built to be good at it.

[lxorl]

flat bench doesnt do much for me either, and I am pretty weak on it. ( I am taller).

I have better luck with DB and flys.

[speedracer59]

I use both movements and swap them up between incline and flat.

[ski]

Flyes can definately add pec mass.If you want them to affec t your inner chest moreturn your hands in at the top of the movement.It will give you a better contraction.You may have to lighten the load at first.To settle the whole debate just do what you respond to best.You are the one training for YOU only. Train hard bro !!

[JACKAL]

very good responses. i agree about what stonecold said about bench. my arms are long and i cant seem to get a good workout with barbell bench (i like widegrip though). when i noticed my inner chest lagging i began using the incline fly machine with a pad placed behind my back on top of the back of the seat to stretch my chest even more. then, on contraction, i squeeze for a good 2-3 seconds, making sure i feel a good burn in the middle of my chest.

[Jordan]

that must be my problem. i always use dumbells, sinse dumbells usually use more fibers than their barbell, machine equivilants... i guess flies is one the exceptions... from now on, machines it is!

[BAiley]

What Ski said...I do those flye turning your hands in at the top
and it works great on the middle chest...Keep working hard!!

[Jordan]

do you mean, turn them to the position that they are in during normal presses?

[JACKAL]

go down and do a rep with palms facing eachother, then when you contract rotate your hands inward (so your pinkies are next to eachother).

im pretty sure thats what ski meant.

[Jordan]

im always reluctant to use exersises with ¨spinning¨ movements such as arnold presses, sinse they are often tough on your joints. does anyone know how safe this technique is? i ask because my joints injure easily... thanks,
j

[D Animal]

for mass presses are way better then FLYES.........I got POWA

[JACKAL]

Originally posted by Jordan
im always reluctant to use exersises with ¨spinning¨ movements such as arnold presses, sinse they are often tough on your joints. does anyone know how safe this technique is? i ask because my joints injure easily... thanks,
j

well its different for everyone. if your joints are more likely to injure than id steer clear of rotating weights. maybe you could try lighter weight to see how your joints react. play it safe, an injury can set you way back.

[jaco]

I'm one of those that benching never worked for, I'd feel almost no pec contraction. Using dumbbells worked better but for me the best was to sit upright on a bench/chair in the cable station. Put the pulleys at shoulder level and press just like dumbbell presses. I felt an extreme contraction that was painful in a good way. After these I do incline dumbbell presses.

[babylon]

i do both of them perfectly even.. i do flat bench ,incline and decline barbell press, and flat , incline and decline flies... i just added the flies in the past 2 months, and its made my barbell press stronger, and my outer chest big

[meat12]

In my opinion switch it up monthly your body gets use to the same exercise quickly, go from bb's to db's to cables. Maybe for one month do bb flat bench, db decline flys, db incline presses then switch it around. When your constantly doing flat bench press you will eventually plateau, yeah you might be able to lift more but you may not see any results, so if you were to try something new like switch it up a little bit... it would put your muscles into shock mode and you will get past that plataeu. So overall i'm saying vary your workout month at a time...sometimes flys sometimes presses.

[joesapart]

I have the exact same problem you descibed. For me my shoulders, arms, back, everything else is big but my chest is lacking and looks much smaller in comparision, in paticular the middle part which looks like its caving in. I am thinking of giving up barbell benching altogether and doing something like this, alternating between two different workouts each week...
Workout 1:
-incline dumbbell press
-hammer strength bench
-machine flyes turn in grip 2-3 second pause
-cross cable
-dumbbell decline

Workout 2:
-flat dumbbell press
-hammer strength incline
-dumbbell flyes turning in grip
-cross cable
-weighted dips

Any opinions on whether this is the right way to go about it?

[meat12]

Try this for chest works pretty good: do it as compound sets

Wide grip Bench, Close grip Bench, wide pushups 3 12/10/8

Incline db press, Incline db flys, close grip pushups 3 12/10/8

Decline db press, Decline flys, Medicine ball pushups 3 12/10/8

Do this workout like once a month, it kills, i've seen some nice results from just mixing it in every once in a while. With each set move up the weight a little and believe me you will feel it in the morning