GS Chest & Triceps - how heavy

L Sass

Cathlete
How heavy do you go on pec flies? I use 30# dumbells on the bench press, but I use my 25's on the flies - more so because I wonder if I won't hurt anything by going heavier. Does anyone go really heavy for flies?

Lorrie

"Pain is temporary - quitting lasts forever"
Candace Grasso, CC-V-6
 
Speaking of which, I am planning on getting the Gym Styles soon. It looks like I'll have to invest in some heavier weights? Currently, I only have 3, 5, 8, 10, and 12 lb. dumbbells. What weights are needed for the Gym Styles?
 
Flyes put the shoulder at a riskier position for injury, so I stick with a light weight (and since they are more of an isolated exercise than presses, it makes sense to use less weight for them than for presses). If I use 25# for presses, I will use 15# for flyes, for example. I rarely go higher than that for flyes (sometimes up to 17.5# using Platemates), but have gone up to 30# for presses.
 
Wow!
All I know is that I just started going GS, and I can't go heavier than 10 for flies right now. I probably could, but not without sacrificing form.

And I was feeling it PLENTY the day after with 10 lbs.

The max that I have right now is 12lbs, and that is still working fine for me, as a beginner.
 
>Wow!
>All I know is that I just started going GS, and I can't go
>heavier than 10 for flies right now. I probably could, but not
>without sacrificing form.
>
>And I was feeling it PLENTY the day after with 10 lbs.
>
>The max that I have right now is 12lbs, and that is still
>working fine for me, as a beginner.

We're at all different levels on this board, and some of us have been working out with weights for many years. 10# is actually quite a bit for a beginner, IMO. No need to be wowed!
;-)
 
I typically use 25 or 22.5 for the presses and 20 or 17.5 for the flies. If I do the timesaver version, I will start with 22.5 for flies, but I typically 'fry up' on chest pretty quickly. Chest seems to be the only muscle group that finds me working at or below Cathe's weight selections. Although, in GS, I find she goes heavier than she has in recent years. I really should put GS back into the mix!!
 
Thanks guys - so pretty much we all lighten up on flies. Does anybody stay at a pretty heavy weight? I'm just afraid of doing some shoulder damage with heavier weights. I'm doing 6 weeks of Cathe after my first P90X rotation. I'll do another P90X after this, but I'd forgotten how much I like the gym styles. They really are awesome!

Lorrie

"Pain is temporary - quitting lasts forever"
Candace Grasso, CC-V-6
 
Hi Lorrie-

For me it depends on the tempo of the exercise. For example, if its a 1 up/1 down count then I lighten up. If its a bit slower, ie 2 or 4 up/2 or 4 down, then I can go heavier. I think the faster counts give way to more injury if you are going heavy. The slower the count, the more you can focus on your form and use heavier weight.

(Exception: S and H workouts which are a 6 count up/2 count down.. that is extremely slow and you will have to lighten up just to hold the weight up for that long during the working phase.)

I normally lift about 5 lbs heavier on presses than I do for flies. Also when doing incline chest work from GS, I have to lighten up as well.

Take care, Lynn M.
 

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