Use to cable chest fly to build a big and strong chest
Want to add size, strength and more definition to your chest? Of course you do! Here’s how to do the cable chest fly to realise your goal of building the bigger and broader chest you want, says New Body Plan creator and Men’s Fitness cover model Jon Lipsey
The dumbbell bench fly is a one of the most popular chest moves. Why? Because it’s one of only a few exercises that isolates the chest muscles. Almost every other chest move will also involve the triceps or the shoulders. But to grow a muscle to its maximum potential you need to isolate it and make it work by itself.
The dumbbell fly mistake everyone makes!
But there’s a problem. And it’s this. When it comes to wanting to build a bigger chest, many guys make the mistake of only ever doing dumbbell flys. And what’s worse, almost all of them do the move really badly (and even dangerously).
They fail to select the right weight and so choose dumbbells that are far too heavy. This places a huge amount of strain on their shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. Or they struggle so much with the weight of the dumbbells that they only move through a very limited range of motion.
So they hardly work the chest muscles at all. That’s why they never manage to build the better body they want. And they remain stuck, unable to shrink their man boobs, strip away their stubborn beer belly, or lose their love handles.
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The standing cable chest fly
Done right, dumbbell bench flys have a role to play in all quality fat-loss and muscle-building training plans. But the standing cable machine chest fly is as good, if not better, if you want to build a bigger and stronger chest.
Using the cable machine keeps tension on your chest muscles for both the lifting and lowering parts of each rep. That’s not the case with free weights. And the more tension you can place – and keep – on a muscle, the faster you’ll add the serious size, strength and definition you want.
And there’s one simple form tweak (see tip 3, below) that can place even greater tension on the middle of your chest. That’s the part of the pecs that many people struggle to develop.
How to do the cable chest fly
1. Start strong
Stand tall in the middle of a cable machine, holding a D-handle attached to the chest-height pulley in each hand with a slight bend in your elbows.
2. Chest up
Keeping your chest up and core braced, initiate the move and – still with that bend in your elbows – bring your hands around in front of your body to meet at around bellybutton height.
3. Wrist rotate
As your hands come together, rotate your wrists so your palms face upwards, then hold your hands together with little fingers touching, squeezing your chest muscles hard.
4. Perfect pause
Focusing on how this movement of your wrist and arms places tension on the middle of your chest, hold the position for a one or two count.
5. Rep range
Slowly reverse the movement all the way to the start, keeping full control of the weight throughout the return. Do 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps.
Want more chest-building advice? Try these three bench press tips to build pec power faster!
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