Dumbbell spreads are a popular exercise that we meet at the gym or in fitness rooms. What do the fly spreads work for? First of all, it is an exercise that improves the mobility of the chest and shoulder girdle, and also works perfectly for the growth of major and minor pectoral muscles. There are many variants of this exercise and everyone will surely find something suitable for them.

Spreadsare a valuable physical exercise, but should be treated as an addition to training, not its main part. They engage the chest quite strongly and have a strong effect on increasing its strength in stretching, so they can be a bit injurious exercise, especially for beginners.

That is why it is so important to learn the correct spreading technique and learn in theory first before going into practice. Spreads are characterized by a great variety and can be made in many planes and with the use of various accessories.

At the gym, we can meet with standing flaps, bench flaps, negative and positive bench flanges, gate flaps on ropes, ball flaps, dumbbell flaps, ketle flaps, etc. In this exercise it limits us only our own imagination.

Contents:

  1. Spreads - how to do them correctly
  2. Spreaders - what do they work for?
  3. Spreads - injuries
  4. Dumbbell spreads - how to choose the weight?
  5. Spreads - types

Spreads - how to do them correctly

Spreads are relatively simple strength exercises, but there are some important rules to follow to get them right.

  1. Before each strength exercise, it is worth paying attention to the breathing in the given exercise. While performing the spread on the exhale, lower the weight, and on the inhale we raise it to the starting position. When exhaling, if we have a lot of weight, we can help ourselves and let the air out by drawing it through our mouth and making the sound of "tsss".
  2. Flyers are an auxiliary exercise in building the muscles of the chest and shoulder girdle, but should be treated as an addition to the training, not its main and only exercise for these parts (they are much more effective exercises than flyers).
  3. Spreads should beperform at least 3 series and more than 10 repetitions. This is not your typical muscle gain exercise where you use heavy weights and do a small number of repetitions until your muscles fail. Spreads is an accessory exercise aimed rather at increasing the strength of the muscles and their functions, as well as isolating the muscles of the chest.
  4. The lower we lower the dumbbells, the better. Then our muscles will stretch more and their fibers will tear, which will affect their better and greater post-workout build-up. We must especially watch out for injuries here! It is very easy to forget yourself and drop your hands too far, and this is a position that strains our muscles especially and it is not difficult to tear or even break them. The second thing is that we can choose too much weight, which will just weigh us down.

Spreaders - what do they work for?

Spreads is an isolated and accessory exercise.

What do spreads work for? First of all, for muscles such as:

  • pectoral muscle (main working muscle)
  • minor pectoral muscle
  • deltoid muscle
  • biceps muscle of the arm
  • dentate anterior muscle
  • crus-brachial muscle

Rozpiętki is also an excellent functional exercise! Few people pay attention to it, but flyovers, due to the element of dumbbell displacement to the side in a large extension of the chest, increase the mobility of the shoulder joint in this position. What's more, the flaps prevent contractures of the chest and increase its mobility, which prevents posture defects.

Spreads - injuries

Spreads are not a particularly complicated and contusive exercise, but you also need to use common sense and follow the rules of proper technique when performing it.

The characteristics of the exercise unfortunately qualify it for exercises where it is possible to stretch or tear the muscles. During the fly, we work hard on a heavily stretched muscle, and if we forget or choose the wrong weight, we may contract a chest or shoulder joint injury.

That is why it is so important to slowly progress and learn a given exercise "dry", without heavy loads.

Dumbbell spreads - how to choose the weight?

Before performing dumbbell flyovers, it is worth asking yourself: what weight to choose and whether it will be appropriate to the level of our skills.

For this purpose, it is best to choose a weight that will be about 3 kg less than the one suggested by our ambition. Better to start with a lighter weight,warm up the muscles and joints, and then move on to heavier dumbbell values. This has its advantages because if we immediately reach for a heavy weight and it turns out to be too heavy, if we do not get injured, then at best we will take smaller dumbbells right away. This will take our chance to fly with more weight, because we disqualified ourselves at the start.

However, if we warm up the muscles with less weight, they will work more efficiently and more efficiently, which may result in a series of flyovers with a much heavier weight than expected.

Another important aspect in weight selection is the fact that when we reach for too much weight, we will not be able to fly in a technically correct way. On the other hand - too light dumbbells will not give us the expected and planned effect. Weight selection is extremely important and we must always determine it individually, by trial and error.

Spreads - types

1. Bench spreads- bench spreads are the most popular version of this exercise.

To start their performance, lie on the bench in such a way that your legs are evenly spaced on the sides of your body and your feet are firmly pressed to the floor. To avoid pain in the lumbar region, tuck the pelvis under you and tense your abdomen by gently lowering the ribs downwards.

Then grab the dumbbells and slide them in front of you so that they are level with your collarbones. Place your palms facing you. Remember to lock the extension in the elbows, but do not let them overstretch. Then visit the dumbbells to the sides. Stop when you feel a marked pulling in the armpits and chest area. Then return to the starting position with the exhalation. Do not hit the dumbbells when bringing them together.

2. Leaf spreads on an oblique bench- spreads on an oblique bench are made similarly to the spreads in the standard version.

In this case, the angle of inclination is different - and we can do spans both in a positive and negative slant. The first version will perfectly activate the lower part of the chest, while the second version will activate the upper part of the chest just below the collarbone.

3. Ball spreads- ball spreads are an excellent balance. The ball is an unstable surface, which will certainly make it difficult for us to perform this exercise.

Lean the top of your shoulder blades on it and perform the sternum position - straighten your hip, tense your buttocks, but do not overbend your lumbar spine. Then, visit your hands to the side and return to the starting position.Remember to keep your wrists in a neutral position.

4. Zippers on the gate with a lift- spreads on the gate with a lift are a very interesting alternative to standard zippers. To do them, stand in the gate and grab the lines. You can take a gentle lunge position or stand with your legs wider apart, but the first version of the setup will be more stable.

Then perform a side-to-side invocation. Remember not to push your chest out and not to hyperextend your thoracic spine. Roll up your pelvis, gently lower your ribs, and pull your chin back. Bring your hands together until there is a clear pull in the chest.

5. Spacers in standing- spreads in standing is probably the most difficult version of this exercise, because gravity does its job to make it difficult for us.

Stand with your legs slightly apart. Roll up your pelvis, tense your abdomen, and raise your arms with the dumbbells in front of you. Point them so your thumbs are facing up. Then visit your hands on the sides of the cage. Make sure your elbows are slightly bent and your arms are slightly lower than the collarbone line.

About the authorMałgorzata Kośla She is a qualified fitness instructor and certified personal trainer. Since childhood, her greatest passion was sport - she played football and basketball. Then a new love came - dance, especially dancehall. He likes to sweat at the gym and relaxes in yoga and meditation sessions. He is constantly expanding his knowledge about training and a he althy lifestyle. What besides sports? He runs a store with natural cosmetics and he althy food, writes his own blog (stylzyciadowolny.pl) and deals with copywriting.

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Category:

Anatomy