How Deep Do You Go On Flyes?

[Liberator]

So

How deep do you go?

I normally go as deep as possible, but am beginning to think this is a bad idea, although Arnold seemed to get away with it for year after year!!

 

[maxellyz]

i usually go just below parallel, i think its the best way and i belive arnold also just whent below parallel

 

[Liberator]

I think maybe I lied, I'd say just below parallel too after thinking about it.

Do you feel the resistance more in your shoulders than chest or both equally?

 

[maxellyz]

I don't feel it in my shoulders that much, if you have pain in your shoulders I would recommend not going below parallel, I belive flyes is a excellent exercise for chest.

how is your shoulder training going? are you strong in your shoulders?

 

[Liberator]

I'd say the stretch was more in shoulders than chest, but the chest is still quite intense

could it be I am going too wide with my arms, I dont feel it in the biceps tho

my shoulders are in proportion to the rest of me, I never do any pressing behind the head, or pulldowns, always infront of the body

flyes seem to be the only problem left

i used to go as wide as possible on bench, but have moved my grip further in and now dont get any problems there

 

[Chameleon]

I only go Parallel b/c of problems in my shoulder...but i would suggest going slightly below to get that extra stretch...Same thing when i do Incline Bench(dumbell)/Shoulder Presses ect...I go only to Parellel b/c of my shoulder

 

[Drifter]

I try to hit the floor when I'm doing flyes. The lower I go the slower I get because it can get dangerous when your pecs and stretched to the max.

 

[HeavyDutyGuy]

I rarely do them anymore, preferring the pec dec due to safety factors and that I can push all the way to failure and beyond with injury. Years ago I suffered a bad shoulder injury from flyes- actually came setting the weights down, and it cost me a yearof training, plus another year to get back full strength in my shoulder.

 

[Exodus]

go down as much as possible......if it hurts..... dont go down that far

try stretching before you do them..... even if you have done bench they may still be tight

 

[Valdez]

I go just below parallel. I'm not an advocate of flye's in the traditional sense. I believe that it is mechanically better to keep a much greater bend in your elbows and use your tricep a little to assist the movement. db flyes do not work the chest (the traditional movement) when you are at the top range of motion with the dumbells closer than your shoulder width.

dorian yates does db flye's exactly the same way as I do in the movie "blood and guts"



afro man was necessary.

 

[Liberator]

Thanks for the advice bros

I'll try Valdez method and also go just below parallel

Your right Exodus about my pecs feeling tight before I do them tho, I'll try stretching them a little too

Thanks guys

 

[Texas Guns]

My rule of thumb for all my clients is not to go beyond what you can see with your peripheral (sp?) vision. If you can't see the weight, you have gone too far. This prevents putting too much stress on you rotator cuff and causing injury, which you probably will not feel until the next exercise or even the next day. Mr. Guns thought he would prove me wrong and go below that point. He has not been able to work his shoulders since. He really damaged his rotator cuff BAD!!!! thogh I am not the kind to say, I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!

 

[Liberator]

I think I am guilty of breaking that rule which is probably why my shoulders hurt so much, I just tried it, definately go well past that

I will definately keep that in mind for Monday now without a doubt

thats good advice, never thought of it that way at all

its difficult when you train alone and have no-one to look up to, and books cant show you everything

thanks again guys

 

[anthrax]

Old thread!

I rarely do them

First it can be a rot cuff killer

Second there are way better exercises for the chest

But when I do them I do them on a Swiss ball to avoid going too far

 

[musketeer]

The ROM in flyes is dictated by the amount of weight you use and the bend in your arms. If your arms are straight then you could theoretically get the bells to touch the floor as long as you are using a light enough weight. The more that you bend the arms, the lower the ELBOW goes in comparisson to how low the dumbell is. I suggest that it is is how low the elbow is and not how low the dumbell goes that dictates the ROM. I believe that the bend in the arms should be determined as follows:

Press the bells directly up above your chest until lockout.
Bend the elbows to lower the weight roughly 4-5 inches.
Maintain that bend in the arms throughout the movement.
Now when you lower the dumbells to about chest level, the elbows will be significantly but not dangerously below chest level.

I can do clean, strict reps with 85lbers on a low incline as perscribed above.
I find the movement is a good compromise between a compound and isolation exercise.