Thread 76541724

Could you fully replace pressing with dumbbell flies and build a great chest? What do presses do that flies don't and vice versa?

>>76541724 (OP)
Here’s a version you could drop straight into a /fit/ thread:

You could build a chest with only flies, but it’d be sub-optimal.

Presses: compound, let you move heavy weight, build overall mass/strength, hit pecs + triceps + delts. They’re the foundation because mechanical tension = growth, and presses allow the most overload.

Flies: isolation, pure horizontal adduction. Great stretch at the bottom, good contraction at the top, solid for mind-muscle connection. But you’re limited by shoulder stability and can’t overload them nearly as much.

Reality: flies are the accessory, presses are the main course. If you only do flies you’ll get some chest, but not the same size, strength, or balanced look. The winning combo is presses for load + flies for stretch/squeeze.

Want me to make it even more greentext-y for peak /fit/ readability?

>>76541724 (OP)
100% yes

>>76541728
>compound, let you move heavy weight, build overall mass/strength, hit pecs + triceps + delts. They’re the foundation because mechanical tension = growth, and presses allow the most overload.

But ChatGPT, what if I'm doing specific exercises on triceps and delts already?

>>76541734
Good follow-up, anon. If you’re already isolating triceps and delts, it doesn’t suddenly make flies equal to presses. Here’s why:

flies only

Isolation, sure, but you’re capped by shoulder stability.

Can’t load heavy less mechanical tension less hypertrophy potential.

Good for stretch/squeeze, but not enough by themselves.

presses

Even if you don’t “need” the triceps/delts stimulus, presses are still the most efficient way to put a lot of load directly on the pecs.

Heavier weight = higher tension = better growth stimulus.

Also builds pressing strength (which has carryover even if you don’t care about strength).

So yeah, you can hit triceps and delts separately, but presses aren’t just “compound because arms join in.” They’re still the only way to hammer the pecs with serious load. Flies are a good accessory, not a replacement.

Want me to make a clean greentext summary you can just copy-paste in reply?

reminder

>>76541888
>(in %)
>adds up to way more than 100

>>76541728
>mechanical tension = growth
The best way to increase mechanical tension upon a muscle is to isolate it, no? When you're benching 250, but that 250 is divided by 3 different muscles in two different arms you're left with 125lbs per arm and ~41lbs per muscle. I know the shoulder, triceps, and pec are going to carry different percentages of the load depending on your form when pressing, but the point still stands. I would say the biggest advantage of a compound lift its ability to allow people to lift heavier weights with less risk of injury. Your shoulders and elbows are likely going to be much happier benching 250 than they would be lateral raising 41lbs, flying 41lbs, and triceps extending 41lbs.

>>76541724 (OP)
Absolutely.
I have first hand experience with this.
Couple years ago I got crazy tricep tendonopathy in both arms and hand to give them a bit a rest but still wanted to work on chest so I switched out the entirety of my push work for db fly. Chest shot up quick got bigger than it ever had been and was able to hit more than just the lower head effectively. That was how I learned I had shit leverages for bench of course my triceps were getting tendonopathy and chest wasn't growing because they were doing all the work.

>>76542132
>compound
>less chance on injury
If you're snapping your shit on isolations you're training like a retard. It's not an either or situation, you should do both compounds and isolation. No bodybuilder worth a fuck has said otherwise

>>76541724 (OP)
i only ever see dyels do flies of any kind

>>76541897
retard

>>76541897
some things cited multiple times from multiple places.

>>76542158
I was referring to putting undue stress on your joints more than taking a trip to snap city.
If doing an exercise causes you shoulder or elbow pain then you're simply going to be less prone to do that exercise. Think of my previous example of the 250lb bench vs the 41lb fly, raise, and extension. You can finish up bench with 3-4 sets of 10. That's 30-40 individual movements. Isolation work is going to be 3-4 sets of 10 for each exercise, which would be a total of 9-12 sets of 10. That's anywhere from 90 to 120 individual movements and 180-240 movements if you include both arms. Your joints are going to be much happier with the fewer repetitions required of the compound lift, and the inherent stability of a barbell over a db is only going to add to the joint-friendliness. Also you're just going to save so much fucking time not having to do 200+ individual repetitions for what you could theoretically get out of 30 reps.

>>76541728
So because you can ask things to a language model we're not supposed to have any discussions now? Human interactions are over now?

Go fuck yourself.

>>76542210
>Go fuck yourself
This but just because you're are pseud who puts too much faith in youtube tier stupid advice and unironically uses the word "sub-optimal" without first establishing any kind of criteria. Just go fuck yourself deep hard all the get the balls in there too you gaping faggot.

>>76541724 (OP)

>Could you fully replace pressing with dumbbell flies and build a great chest?

Probably not, I don't know. Sounds like you just don't like BP.

If you really hate BP or you're afraid of getting stuck under the bar, you could always switch from flat bench to incline. Incline being for "upper chest" is bullshit, 90% of how your pecs develop is genetic. It's probably more, I pulled the 90% figure out of my ass. Some guys will get those really rounded upper pecs, some won't. Yeah, it's not as good of an ego boost because you won't be able to move as much weight as you would on a flat bench and no one ever asks you what your max incline bench is, but it's easier on the shoulders, isolates the chest more, and it's easier to fail out of. Plate-loaded Hammer Strength machines are good if your gym has them, and the seated, stack-loaded chest press machine is also good for isolating the pecs.

>What do presses do that flies don't and vice versa?

Do you mean doing nothing but 3-4 different types of flyes as a chest workout? Intuitively, it sounds retarded. But I don't think it would hurt you, so if you're really that curious go ahead and try it for a while, and just do flat, incline and decline DB flyes, plus machine flyes for chest. As far as I know, no one has ever tried that because it sounds dumb. If you think you've gotten decent pec growth that way, great, now you can go on social media and be the chest fly guy, and you will officially earn your place as a fitness huckster.

>>76541888
Oh, so it's bullshit, lies and larp regurgitated and repackaged.
No wonder they are failing.

>>76541724 (OP)
I fucked with flies for a few months, maxed out the fly machine and saw no bench strength gains and no size gains. My haymaker punch got significantly slower, it's like slow motion now when I used to have a good knockout crack. It's a bullshit pointless lift, detrimental to hook punch speed. Which makes me think maybe my push punches suck because of benching...