I was doing my pec flies wrong! any help/suggestions?

[schnebbles]

I'm still not sure I have the form right, but when I was doing S& H CHest tonight (first time) I was barely feeling it in the pecs. Hmmm.. I had my boyfriend come down and see what I was doing wrong, and he thinks I have my arms going like up closer to my head, when they need to be down, I'm not talking down as in low, down as in like to the chest area more.

That probably doesn't make sense, but I know somethings wrong, b/c my arms are dying, and my pecs are just fine!! I felt it more in my arms.

does anyone have any pointers to help? I tried moving my arms like lower on my body, and it seemed a little better, and I think at that point my arms were so fatigued, I just dont know!

Thanks!!

 

[bfj]

Hi Kathy,
Check this site out for the porper form. Even though it's performed on the pec fly machine, it also is useful technique for the pec fly with free weights. (Since it explains the arm and shoulder positions and the extend of the movement).

http://www.ballyfitness.com/rapid_results/expert_advice/video_clips/video.asp?25

Hope this helps.
Bita

 

[trprwife]

On MIS, Cathe describes the movement as hugging a big, fat tree. Your arms are spread pretty wide. Don't let your elbows drop below your chest and when you bring the weight up over your head, leave about 6" between them. I never used to feel anything in my pec area either until I upped my weight considerably. I did MIS yesterday for the first time and my pecs hurt so bad today I could barely get my bra off. I think the chest area is a really hard area to target. I don't have much luck there and my back is a really hard area for me to target as well. Hope this helped.

Kim

 

[LizzieLiz]

RE: I was doing my pec flies wrong! any help/suggestion...

Hi Kathy,

First, I think your boyfriend is right, you should definitely be keeping those weights just over mid-chest area, whether doing flies or presses.

I felt like I was doing this movement wrong for a long time. I could never feel my chest working as hard as my arms. The muscles right near my armpit and shouldler muscles would fatigue before I could feel anything in my chest area. Cathe says to "use mental assistance" on these muscles - really focus on them and feel them working to pull up the weights. Once I actually started using my CHEST rather than my arms (well, some arms but not as much) to pull up those weights, I started noticing a difference. Next day I was sore in my chest (behind my breasts) rather than just in my arms, although the arms were still sore.

 

[schnebbles]

RE: I was doing my pec flies wrong! any help/suggestion...

thanks everyone!! I know I did something wrong, and even this morning, my arms feel funky and no soreness in the pecs.

I do remember her saying about the tree, i'm going to keep that in mind, and practice more. I am kind of upset I did a whole workout wrong though! oh well, it worked something at least

 

[FitnessGoddess]

RE: I was doing my pec flies wrong! any help/suggestion...

What I did to learn to do it "right" was lie down on the bench, and just let my arms go straight out to the side (NO WEIGHTS OF COURSE). Make yourself look like a lower case t. Then practice the move. Even without weights, you should be able to feel your pecs flexing. Keep adjusting your arm position until you feel your pecs. When you get that down, you're ready to add weights.