maxing out on pec growth

[Tck13]

Having read this thread so far...

My impression of flyes are that they are really for "shaping" the muscle. I agree with what odoreater said about compound chest excercises:

If you want your chest to grow do heavy compound movements such as flat bench press, incline bench press and dips (particularly weighted if you can).

I don't think flyes are useless but one isn't really doing nearly as much as incline, decline, or flat presses when doing flyes. They are really just a toning excercise.

Here's a sample workout that should help you make gains:

3x6-8 flat bench (barbell)
3x6-8 incline bench (barbell)
3x6-8 decline bench (barbell)
3x8 dumbell flyes
3x8 cable flyes

If I was doing this and going heavy, I wouldn't do fly excercises as I would be burnt out.

I would do flyes on lighter weeks / months just to shape and tone the chest.

I tried pyramiding sets when lifting and it was a good change when reaching a plateau.

I think (haven't done it in years) it went something like this:

5 sets (let's say of a bench press), increase weight by a percentage with the 3rd set being the heaviest with the least amount of reps. Then, get lighter with the remaining two sets.

Can't remember exactly but it worked really well. It really hit the chest well...

Something like this:

Set 1 - 12 reps, light weight
Set 2 - 6-8 reps, medium weight
Set 3 - 5 reps, heavy weight
Set 4 - 6-8 reps, medium weight
Set 5 - 12 reps, light weight

IMO dumbells are always better as they require more stablization and they are let the arms and wrists have more of a natural movement.

 

[kever]

Originally Posted by Tck13

Something like this:

Set 1 - 12 reps, light weight
Set 2 - 6-8 reps, medium weight
Set 3 - 5 reps, heavy weight
Set 4 - 6-8 reps, medium weight
Set 5 - 12 reps, light weight

IMO dumbells are always better as they require more stablization and they are let the arms and wrists have more of a natural movement.


I'm doing this right now actually. it's called back off sets. My workout changes every 3 weeks, and this is the second week of back of the back off sets and it's working well for me.

As for fly's being useless? Im my opinion most people feel what works for them will work for other people. I have found that compound movements give my muscles the stimulus and growth that I'm looking for, but not everyone will respond the same. My recovery/genetics/nutrition/chemical ingestion is not the same as bodybuilders in Flex magazine, so I dont feel the need to do many isolation exercises. Lifting heavy with compound movements and varied rep ranges works great for me.
As far as I can tell your muscles are either going to get bigger, smaller or stay the same. Your body shapes them as your gene's tell them to.
Feel free to disagree with anything I've said. This is not an exact science.

 

[fatherseanfan]

I'm thankful for all this feedback, but am almost as confused as when I started given all the disagreement.

Why is it important to vary the rep ranges?

 

[shellshock]

 

[javyn]

Well said, almost word for word out of Alpha Male: The Path to Hardcore Natural Bodybuilding.

The biggest mistake that guys make when working out is comparing themselves and their workouts to the workouts of Arnold or Ronnie Coleman. These guys: (1) are genetic freaks, (2) use enough chemicals every day, including anabolic steroids, to kill a small horse, (3) train for a living and spending most of their waking hours in the gym, (4) have exceeded their genetic limits and therefore need any small adjustment that will stimulate more growth (including the inclusion of exercises such as flyes).

I do machine flies (flyes?) simply because they wind the hell out of me! I figure they have to be doing some good and/or those muscles are incredibly weak, since they tear me up so bad. Moreso than flat press, DB or BB.

I still agree with odor though, if time is an issue, definately drop the fly and focus on compound movements.

I'd actually attribute all the gains I've made, upper and lowerbody to squatting. It wasn't until I really quit screwing around and took the squat seriously that I started building up a bit. I gained 30 lbs of muscle, now my weight is considered "normal" instead of "dangerously underweight".

 

[PreppyBoy]

Well.........

This is my Chest Routine. Whether anyone agrees on it or not, really
doesn't matter to me. What matters is results, which they give me.

Decline Dumbbell Presses: 3 Sets Of 10 (100 pounds each Dumbbell)

Dumbbell Pullovers: 5 Sets Of 5 (100 pounds)

Dumbbell Flat: 3 Sets Of 15 (70 pounds each Dumbbell)

I only do compound exercises, and, dumbbells, due to being safer when
working out solo.