Flyes, flyes, and push-ups, oh my!
Last updated on April 6th, 2025
“Exercise variation is a real thing,” said Renaissance Periodization (RP) co-founder Dr. Mike Israetel during a recent collaboration with bodybuilder Eric Janicki alongside RP bodybuilding coach Jared Feather.
Janicki shared three modified exercises to boost chest growth. “[Eric] makes the hardest part of every exercise harder; it’s impressive,” Feather lauded.
3 Must-Try Chest Exercises
- Decline Dumbbell Flyes
- Incline Cable Flye
- Deficit Push-Ups
3 Incredible Chest Exercises You Haven’t Seen!
Decline Dumbbell Flyes
Use lighter dumbbells than for flat or incline flyes.
- Set the bench at a 20 to 30-degree decline.
- Lie back and press the weights above the chest.
- Bend the elbows and lower the weights until the pecs are fully stretched.
- Sowly reach overhead for a boosted pec stretch.
- Push the dumbbells back toward the outer chest, squeeze the pecs, and lock out the arms above the chest.
You can drive as much stimulus with less weight. There’s no tension in the front delts due to the unique angle.
—Eric Janicki
Stop, adjust, or lighten the load if you feel most of the stretch in the front delts. Focus on time under tension and less on weight, gradually increasing the range of motion each workout.
“Don’t do five sets of [decline dumbbell flyes] in your first workout, or you won’t be able to brush your teeth,” Dr. Israetel advised. Start light, go slow, pause, get that extreme range of motion; it’ll make you injury-proof,” he prescribed.
Incline Cable Flye
Incline cable flyes provide stability, isolation, and constant tension — limitations of standing flyes and dumbbells.
- Set the cable below the shoulders for an upward movement path.
- Pull the shoulders down and back, and keep the elbows slightly bent.
- Reach back to stretch the pecs and squeeze the pecs while pulling the hands together.
- Pause briefly at the top, and control the stretch phase.
More advanced lifters can externally rotate the shoulders for a deeper stretch. Avoid holding the contractions for too long. Since science points to eccentrics being slightly more growth-promoting, spend more time in the stretch. (1)
Deficit Push-Ups & Growth Hack
Deficit push-ups involve two objects, like dumbbells standing on their ends to achieve a significantly greater stretch at the bottom of each rep.
- Keep the glutes lifted to bias the upper pecs.
- Place the feet on a raised platform to increase the difficulty.
Janicki suggests placing hands on the inner sides of the dumbbells and keeping the arms at 45 degrees. Shift forward in the stretch for more eccentric stimuli.
The last hack involves placing a foam wedge between the shoulder blades during machine chest presses to increase the range of motion. Flat benches limit the stretch and possibly growth potential.
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Reference
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Van Every DW, Plotkin DL. Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum. Sports (Basel). 2021 Feb 22;9(2):32. doi: 10.3390/sports9020032. PMID: 33671664; PMCID: PMC7927075.
Featured image: @ericjanickifitness on Instagram
