Q: I have a good grasp of the ideal-exercise factors from your ebook Old Man Young Muscle and Brignole’s The Physics of Resistance Exercise. I understand why dumbbell decline presses are ideal for chest, but what about flyes? They appear to encompass the same ideal factors, and you don’t have to use as much weight to get the same load on the pecs because of a longer lever [arms extended].
A: Excellent observation. Dumbbell flyes do have a lot of the ideal factors…
You’re definitely pulling your upper arms toward the target muscle’s origin, which is on the breastbone in this case.
And you’re getting independent muscle contraction by having a weight in each hand, which diffuses bi-lateral deficit to a degree; however…
A limiting factor is the biceps, which are in a disadvantageous position…
Because of that, you may have to fight to keep a continuous bend at your elbow, which can have you using your biceps too much.
The biggest limiting factor is that the resistance falls off too fast as you move through the arc of flexion. It feels like almost zero one-third to halfway up the stroke.
But that’s what makes the dumbbell flye such a great exercise for getting stretch overload on the pectorals.
It’s why I suggest using it as an add-on move—after the ideal exercise. Try using only the bottom half of the range of motion…
Stretch overload can produce unique “layers” of extra mass. As Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D. observed after a study was published that verified that [Scand J Med Sci Sports, Jan 30, 2017]:
Studies in animals have shown that loaded stretch is a potent stimulus for muscle growth, most notably shown by the early work of Jose Antonio, Ph.D…. [But] this is the first study I’m aware to show that a loaded stretching protocol produces significant hypertrophy in humans.
He goes on to explain that the growth produced was different than what occurs with “traditional training protocols”—sarcomeres in series as opposed to parallel growth.
Exciting stuff—and an indication that you can use those unique hypertrophy effects to beef up your pecs.
New: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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