Flies before benching? Preexhausting work?
 

Do any of you guys pre-exhaust your chest by doing flies before hitting the bench presses? Not every session of course, but ocassionaly?


Co-worker and I were discussing this idea/method today and it made me realize that I hadn't questioned the method in years.

Your thoughts and or experiences?

No, I enjoy the stretch that the fly provides on my chest, so I normally do them when my chest is already full of blood.

No. I prefer bench then flies.:)

I agree with the others. I prefer bench then flies for the stretch.

I see the bench as the main chest exercise and the fly as more of an assistance exercise. Therefore I want to be sure that I can maintain the highest intensity on the bench and not worry about the fly as much. IMO If you pre-exhaust your chest, once you bench you will start using more shoulder and back muscles and will get less stimuli in the pecs. For the same reason I won't pre-exhaust my quads before squats or back before deads.

I think everybody else pretty much covered it. However from time to time it's good to mix things up. Try it one week and if it feels good then keep doing it once in a while. But don't forget that benching is one of the main exercises and needs more attention.

I have done flies first then bench to pre-exhaust my chest. My favorite way is to perform them as super sets. Basically a set of flies then with no rest drop the dumbells and perform the bench press. Afterwards rest a minute then perform two or three more sets that way. My chest actually responds to this method better than a anything else when trying to put on size. Of course you will have to use lighter weight than normal once you get to the bench press, but its worth it. Everyone's body responds differently to exercise variations and I never knock anything until I try it myself.

If you have trouble feeling your chest during bench, then sure, do some flies first.

It is all about what your goals are.