As a four-time Mr Olympia winner, Jay Cutler has built his chest with countless cables and pec-deck reps, but in the interests of switching things up, the bodybuilding legend says that standing dumbbell flys are worth a serious look, demonstrating the move to his almost 6 million loyal Instagram fans.
Here’s what you need to know:
Why Try the Standing Crossbody Dumbbell Fly?
The standing crossbody dumbbell fly targets both the chest and shoulders but also recruits the whole body in order to balance the weight. Primarily, you’ll pump up the pectoralis muscles, along with the anterior (front) delts, rhomboids, and lats. You’ll also tax the biceps and triceps as you move the dumbbell.
“Now, we used a lot of variations back in the day with cables, there’s a lot of machines that imitate the fly movement,” explained Cutler. “With dumbbells there’s a little more stabilization but ideally you can hit really good fibers, especially you guys trying to build your lower chest, outer chest and really get that peak contraction.”
How Jay Cutler Performs the Crossbody Dumbbell Fly
Working with one dumbbell at a time, Cutler demonstrated that his method is to bring the weight across the nearside of the body with alternating arms, squeezing the chest as he reaches the top of the lift. “Remember, contract the chest as you come up,” encouraged the bodybuilding icon. “Straight arm, really get that squeeze in the chest.”
While this is a beast of a move, there’s no need to ego lift says Cutler. “And remember, use a weight that is enough where you can feel the stimulation, and don’t worry about going crazy, crazy heavy because it’s all about the contraction in this exercise.”
So how often should you perform this movement? “This isn’t an exercise that I necessarily do every single workout,” shared the four-time Mr. O, “But I like to mix it in … just hit things a little different, and to keep a little variation in my workouts!”
Give it a shot next time you’re hitting chest, enthuses the big man!
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