Exercises on the butterfly simulator for the pectoral muscles. The simplest trick with a butterfly knife. Exercises for the inner thigh muscles

Hi people. How are you? This article contains some "amazing" information called the Butterfly Exercise for pectoral muscles" Here I will tell you about the mechanics of the exercise, the working muscles, the purpose of this movement, its nuances and differences from analogues. All this right now.

Honestly, my favorite of all the exercises is the barbell press. horizontal bench: I would do it, if physiology allowed, day and night. Nevertheless, I am not above doing other exercises for the pectoral muscles, that is, the chest. Among them there was a movement of hands. But let's talk more about this.

Hand fly, aka “butterfly”

As you know, you can raise your arms in a machine (block) or with dumbbells. With dumbbells this is done in a lying position, and in the simulator - sitting. Please note this: body position is the key and fundamental difference.

For ease of understanding, dumbbell flyes are usually called simply “flyes” or arm raises, but hand raises in block simulator– butterfly: You seem to be flapping your wings.

I'll digress a little. To be honest, I don’t quite understand why flyes are called flyes, because the exercise gets its name based on the strength effort. The bench press is when you press a weight away from you, the biceps curl is when you bend your arms with a barbell, but here it’s the other way around.

The power effort in the butterfly is a contraction of the arms, not an extension. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to call this exercise a hand raise in a machine or with dumbbells, rather than a fly. But this is so, my reasoning.

So, the “butterfly” has an advantage over the dumbbell fly: the peak load (muscle contraction) does not subside at the highest point (with the arms fully closed). But when you raise your arms while lying down, this tension subsides: the load, when you raise and bring your arms together with dumbbells while lying down, goes down along your arms, relieving tension from the pectoral muscles. This is bad, because the goal is not to save more energy, but to spend it, thereby pumping up the necessary muscles.

Features of the exercise

I would like to clarify the working muscles, because to say that the chest works means to give a “smeared” answer, as politicians do - they never answer directly. So, the pectoral muscles work here in full, but different parts of them receive different loads.

In the butterfly, the inner parts of the pectoral muscles are mainly tensed the most, but this exercise is not as simple as it may seem: the outer parts are stretched when the arms are raised. I’ll tell you why this is needed below.

Another feature of this movement is the ability to regulate the amplitude of movement you need (width of arm extension). Put more, and the muscles will be more loaded and stretched.

Please note that when you set yourself a certain weight on the block, try not to put it completely in place, do not lower it all the way so that it knocks. This is necessary to ensure that your muscles do not lose tension when you place weight.

There are different block simulators in which the hands can be held in different ways during the reduction. So, you can bring your arms almost straight, or you can have them bent at the elbows (the forearms look up, and you bring your elbows together). By the way, the second option is preferable, because in it the amplitude of movement is greater (in the first you move your palms, in the second case - your elbows). Consequently, breastfeeding receives a greater load.

Since the butterfly is an isolating exercise, only one muscle group should work. Therefore, do not “cheat” when bringing your arms together in the exercise machine, do not lean forward, do not lift your back from the back of the seat, and when bringing your hands closer to each other, strain your pectoral muscles, as if additionally (not due to the exercise, but on your own).

In the future, when you fully lower and raise your arms, you will have to stay in these positions for literally one second, again, to increase tension in the pectoral muscles. Try it, and then be sure to write down in the comments how you feel.

Why use a butterfly?

First of all, this movement is used as a shaping one: with constant use it gives the pectoral muscles shape - expands with outside and grows mass from the inside. One pectoral muscle looks like a uniform cushion - this is the result of working with this exercise. But, again, this is an isolating exercise. This movement alone “will not fill you up.” Therefore, you first need to tire your chest with basic exercises.

The principle is this: you work with basic chest exercises, and only then “finish off” the chest with isolating exercises, giving them shape, pumping them with blood. Bodybuilders call this process "grinding."

For girls, this exercise is an excellent help for the formation of natural muscle corset breasts, especially if female breasts big size. I think girls understand what I mean. Or, on the contrary, are your breasts too small? Then, in tandem with a bench press, for example, or with a dumbbell bench press, you can slightly increase chest volume due to muscle growth in this area.

When to use?

As I said, the “butterfly” is used after basic exercises, but often programs are structured in such a way that triceps are also pumped with the chest on the same day, which also includes basic exercises. So after what should you do the wiring in the block simulator? Naturally, after basic chest exercises, and then move on to triceps exercises, although they will be basic.

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Today, many athletes are beginning to devote more and more time to exercise equipment during training; power machines for the pectoral muscles have gained enormous popularity, one of the most popular exercises for this muscle group is bringing your arms together in the butterfly simulator. The exercise is named so because it resembles the flapping movements of the wings of a butterfly; during execution, the middle pectorals are mainly involved; the exercise is performed to pump the muscles with blood, giving them greater relief and convexity. The exercise also perfectly forms the dividing line between the halves of the pectoral muscles.
The butterfly curl is an isolating exercise, and therefore it is best to perform it after basic work at the end of the workout. Working in such a machine will make your pecs toned, increased pumping will cause blood flow to the muscles, and along with the blood, nutrients will reach them, which is why the processes of muscle growth and recovery will occur at an accelerated rate. Also, the butterfly squeeze is a safe exercise and the risk of injury is minimized.
It seems to most athletes that there are no difficulties when performing hand movements in the butterfly simulator, however, in the gym you can see many beginners who perform it incorrectly.
Approach the exercise machine, select the height of the seat to suit your height, and also adjust the width of the handles so that the tension in the chest is constantly maintained during exercise. Place optimal weights, sit on the seat, press your torso tightly against the back, straight back. Grab the handles of the butterfly simulator, make sure that your shoulders are parallel to the floor, your feet are on the floor, your gaze is straight ahead - this is your starting position.

As you exhale, begin to bring your arms together; at the end point of the amplitude, pause for a second to achieve peak contraction and tension.

Smoothly and under control, begin to return to the starting position, while inhaling. Extend your arms until you feel a slight stretch in your pectoral muscles, then repeat the movement. As you perform, try not to engage your biceps; this often occurs during the last reps of a set. Follow the fold in elbow joint, the angle must be fixed.

Doing the butterfly will not be beneficial for everyone. Beginners should not use this machine if they have almost no muscle mass, in a word, if your training experience is less than 1 year, then it’s better to do the basics for now. The butterfly fold is suitable for experienced athletes who already have developed muscles, but want to give them a round, convex shape, and also draw a midline between the halves of the chest. The advantage of the butterfly exercise over others is the constant tension throughout the entire range of movement, for example, when performing dumbbell flyes, the tension decreases at the end point of the movement.
Let's look at a plan for training the pectoral muscles using a machine for information:
Barbell press on a horizontal bench (1-2 warm-up + 3-4X8-10);

Dumbbell press incline bench(1-2 warm-up + 3-4X8-10);

Hand raises in the butterfly simulator (3-4X10-12);

Crossover (3-4X8-12).

These 4 exercises are guaranteed to tire out your pecs and make them grow; the pectorals and crossover will bring a powerful pumping effect; for rapid muscle growth, we recommend training your chest every 3 days.
Video about the features of the technique of performing hand movements in the butterfly simulator

This exercise owes its name to the most beautiful insect on Earth - the butterfly. Indeed, the movements of an athlete performing a butterfly strongly resemble flapping wings. The butterfly stroke is designed for isolated work on the central part of the chest. Despite such a narrow focus, the “butterfly” is popular in many gyms in our country. Now we have to figure out who should turn it on and why this exercise into your training program.

Muscle groups involved

Active muscle groups when performing the “Butterfly” exercise

Basic: the pectoralis major muscle, or rather its middle part. This area works in conjunction with the shoulder muscles and is responsible for bringing the arms to the body.

Auxiliary: anterior deltoids, serratus anterior muscle.

Stabilizers: pectoralis minor, latissimus, trapezius, rotator cuff muscles.

Description of the “Butterfly” simulator

"Butterfly" does not refer to basic exercises, so not every room has equipment for it. To perform it, you will need a pack-deck strength machine. What he really is? The “pack deck” consists of a bench with a vertical back, a rack with weights and two “levers” with vertical handles, which you have to move.

The simulator comes in two types: for working with bent elbows and with outstretched arms. The difference between them is that different amplitudes are used when performing the exercise.

Execution technique

Approaches: 3-4

Repetitions: 10-12

Before starting the exercise, adjust the pack-deck to your height. Sit on the bench and place your hands on the handles. Look: your shoulders should be parallel to the floor, and your forearms should be perpendicular. There should be a right angle between them. If these conditions are not met, then change the height of the seat (or the height of the handles - it all depends on the model of the simulator).

So, let’s start “flapping our wings”:

6 reasons why you should do the exercise

The “butterfly” gives the bodybuilder the following advantages:

The pectoral muscles become more proportional (for many Bottom part chest is more developed than others due to bench presses), a clear relief appears, separation of the right and left pectoral muscles.
Deep areas of the chest are worked out that other exercises cannot reach.
When performing butterfly, the pectoral muscles are well stretched, which increases blood circulation in them and, accordingly, accelerates their growth.
The load in all phases of the “butterfly” is uniform, in contrast to exercises performed with free weights.
"Butterfly" is good exercise to restore the tone of the upper body after injury.
Butterfly can also be useful for the fair sex, because it can tone the breasts and make them more elastic.

Many inexperienced athletes spread rumors that the butterfly is a completely useless exercise. We don't want you to fall into this misconception.

Fly in the ointment, you can’t live without it

First, let's figure out what goals you want to achieve at this stage of bodybuilding. If you are a beginner (less than 1 year of experience), then you shouldn’t even waste time sitting down at the “peck-deck”. In your thoughts about training, there should be only the “golden three”: bench press, deadlift and squat. The “butterfly” is not at all intended for building up bulk: it is an isolating exercise for the chest muscles.

The butterfly exercise is a tool for professionals who want to “polish” their large, but not yet processed, mountain of muscles.

Now that we have eliminated all the ambiguities, we can move on to considering the shortcomings:

The trajectory of movements in the pack deck is strictly fixed, which does not always allow you to work the pecs at the desired angle.
The maximum liftable weight of simulators for hand reduction is in the range of 100-120 kg. This may cause some inconvenience for experienced bodybuilders.

“Butterfly” is an indispensable exercise for the formation of evenly developed and sculpted pectoral muscles. It is suitable mainly for professionals and athletes undergoing recovery from injuries.

Video: Bringing your arms together in the butterfly simulator

It is also useful for beginners to master the butterfly technique - these skills will be useful to them in the near future. To exercise safely and effectively, remember to follow our tips. Powerful training to you, friends!

Be sure to read about it

The butterfly exercise machine helps to train the muscles of the abs, arms, and legs. The butterfly is suitable for training men and women. There are many varieties of this simulator, which we will discuss below.

Advantages

It has a very simple design.
It is lightweight and easy to handle.
It can be used at home, in the country and even on a picnic.
The weight and compactness of the expander makes it easy to carry.
The expander has no age or gender restrictions.
Can be used for any physical condition.

Instructions

Helps improve body contours and increase muscle tone. The expander works thanks to compression. , arms, back, abs, chest are effectively strengthened in a short time.

“Compression” is the basic principle of operation. This allows you to work out many muscle groups. It is recommended to exercise for about thirty minutes daily. Repeat the exercises fifteen times.

Exercises for the inner thigh muscles

Initially, this simulator was intended mainly to combat a very difficult area, the inner thigh. Many people know how difficult it is to cope with muscle sagging in this sector. “Butterfly” is one of the few simulators that very effectively combats this problem.

Sit on a chair in a position that allows you to move your hips smoothly.
Hold the expander between your knees, head down, and place your legs together.
It is advisable to keep your hands on the handles of the expander.
Start the power load with your hips, keeping your knees moving towards each other.
The exercise is done about fifty times.
Can be done in several approaches.

Exercises for the abs

It will help put stress on all the abdominal muscles, which is very important for those who want to have a flat tummy.

Take a lying position on the floor.
Bend your knees and place your feet on the floor.
Fix one handle of the exercise machine between your knees.
Squeeze the second one at chest level in your hands.
Raise your legs off the floor, putting pressure on your hips and stomach.
Return your legs to their original position.

Exercises for the pectoral muscles

“Butterfly” can help strengthen the chest muscles at home and make it more elastic and beautiful shape without any surgical interventions.

Take a standing position.
Place the expander between your forearms.
Place your hands on the head of the machine.
Elbows should point down.
By using power load try to connect your elbows.
Return your hands to the starting position.

So what's the secret

The exercise machine is designed to bring the arms and legs together, which gives additional load. It helps make sports at home more effective and the load more maximum. Simple exercises for legs, arms and other parts of the body become more professional and can sometimes even replace some exercises in gym.

There is, of course, an opinion that practicing with the “butterfly” is not effective and is a simple toy for amateurs, but everyone has the right to their own position.

People who have purchased an expander and exercise with it every day confirm that the thing is necessary and useful. These statements are not unfounded and are supported by positive results.

What muscles work

A personal trainer and a good gym with weight training equipment are not always affordable for everyone, and not everyone has enough time. And it happens that such conditions simply do not exist nearby. Therefore, when correct use The “butterfly” can become an indispensable assistant for working the following muscles at home:

back muscles;
chest muscles;
abdominal muscles;
buttock muscles;
muscles of the inner thigh;
muscles of the arms and legs.

What to replace

Of course, there are analogues that are also easy to handle and easy to use at home, one of these is the chest expander for extension. Its shape is not at all different from the “butterfly”. The difference between expanders is that the chest levers are compressed while in a resting position. The spring in this device must be spread apart, not closed, although the effect is approximately the same as from the work of its predecessor.

Electronic trainer or muscle stimulator

This massager can be called a godsend for lazy dreamers. It is intended for those who want to become slimmer and improve their body contours without doing anything.

Using such a myostimulator is quite simple; it is attached to the problem area and turns on. According to the manufacturers, when turned on, microcurrents begin to operate, causing the muscles to contract, which imitates their work. It turns out that the principle is this: a person does nothing, but the muscles work and burn fat.

Manufacturers promise that their brainchild:

will help replace physical exercise and retain their effect;
will get rid of excess ballast on the body;
muscles of any part of the body will not be left unattended;
has a positive effect on the condition of the skin of the body.

Contraindications to using the device are:

pregnancy;
complex heart diseases;
high blood pressure;
skin diseases.

It can be used as a hand and foot stimulator. It is very difficult to say how impressive the result of this massager is, but for those who constantly believe in fairy tales, I would like to remind you of the old truth that you cannot easily pull a fish out of a pond.

Power butterfly

This machine is a gym equipment and rarely anyone can afford to have it at home. Butterfly is translated from English as butterfly, so it can also take its rightful place on this list. Most often, this machine is preferred by the fairer sex and those who have recently started going to the gym.

The machine can offer:

form a beautiful torso;
facilitate the exercise with dumbbells, bringing your arms together in front of you;
work out all the muscles of the arms and back;
Since the seat back is adjustable to different angles, this allows you to determine the correct one.

Butterfly, those who are seriously involved, very rarely consider the exercise machine to be beneficial, and prefer to apply the load with the help of But, despite popular opinion, it is considered a good helper for breast pumping. It can also be used for warming up, which is also important. The good thing about butterfly for beginners is that it is quite safe and you can only get injured with it if you try really hard. Women also love to use it.

The exercises for this machine are not very difficult.

Exercise No. 1

Pectoral muscle training.

Take a position sitting on a bench.
Press your back against the backrest.
Push your chest forward, squeezing your shoulder blades forward.
You need to grasp the handles so that your forearms and shoulders create a right angle.
Bring your hands together so your pads touch.
Take your starting position.
Repeat the movement several times.

By adjusting the backrest angle to different angles, you can train different muscles breasts

Exercise No. 2

It will help the rhomboid and trapezius muscles.

Take a sitting position.
Place your chest against the back.
Back straight, legs apart.
Grasp the handles with your hands.
Pull the handles slowly towards you.

Every gym has exercise equipment that is especially loved. If we talk about representatives of the fair half, then these are exercise machines for hyperextension and legs; for the male part - pull-block units and exercise machines for the “butterfly” exercise.

It’s easy to explain the high popularity of this hand pinch exercise machine: the movements in it are intuitive, so the athlete does not need to have seven spans in his forehead. Moreover, the trainers themselves load their students with these trainings, saying that they train the chest well, therefore, in short term, an increase in mass will become noticeable.

To understand whether this is so, let's turn to the anatomical atlas:

The butterfly exercise is so named for its resemblance to the movement of insect wings. Its task is to develop the medial strip of the pectoral muscles, primarily affecting the sternal area big muscle, whose share in chest wall greatest. In addition, it adds volume to the chest and is associated with the work of the shoulder muscles, which are responsible for turning the arms outward and inward.

Other muscle groups also help these muscles perform the butterfly exercise.

3 synergistic muscles work:

anterior delta;
pectoralis major (more correctly, the clavicular region);
biceps head (short).

In addition to them, stabilizers are involved in the process:

brachialis;
biceps head (long);
triceps;
wrist flexors.

Using an anatomical atlas information upper limbs in the “butterfly” exercise, you can get acquainted with the work of muscles in more detail:

Advantages of working in a simulator

The athlete performing the movements receives a number of benefits:

clearly visible relief and balanced shape of the chest (men);
training small areas and developing the breast evenly throughout the entire volume;
development of the internal region (median stripe) and visual separation of the pectoral muscles of the left and right;
improvement of the bust line (relevant for women) by toning the chest muscles;
good stretching, thanks to which the chest is filled with oxygen and nutrients;
assistance during the rehabilitation period (after an injury);
stability and additional support for the shoulder muscles, thereby reducing the risk of injury;
Due to the fact that the butterfly exercise is isolated, the auxiliary muscles are not loaded, which stimulates their growth.

Technique for performing the butterfly exercise

Despite their simplicity, movements are often performed incorrectly, so study correct technique need to.

Let's look at it step by step.

Preparatory step.

The first thing you need to do is adjust the height of the simulator, for which the seat is moved down or up.
After this, you need to set a comfortable degree of initial stretching of the pectoral muscles (comfortable position of the arms), changing the position of the guides (if provided for by the design). To do this, handles are installed more closely in the upper grooves.
Having loaded the machine reasonably, sit down in it and press your straight back tightly.
Shoulders should be kept parallel to the floor, legs should be spread and rested on the floor.
Grab your hands and look straight ahead.

This is what the starting position looks like.

Step one.

After a deep breath, exhale and begin bringing your hands together.
Having reached the end point (full reduction), tighten your pecs, holding them for 1-2 counts in this position.

Step two.

Controlling the movement, slowly return to the IP until you feel a slight stretch in the chest muscles.
Repeat the training as many times as necessary.

To understand better, please refer to the picture below:

This is what the butterfly exercise looks like in dynamics:

the arms cannot be completely straightened: they remain bent at the elbows throughout the movement;
at the end point of the butterfly exercise, squeeze your pecs powerfully, strain them and hold them in this position;
slowly spread your arms, bringing the weight up (do not throw it);
the phase of bringing the arms together is twice as long as the extension phase;
the elbows in the butterfly exercise are parallel to the floor throughout the training;
it is correct to include an exercise at the end of chest training, as a finishing exercise for the muscles;
if lag of one half of the chest is noticed, you can perform the butterfly exercise only on this side;
the number of repetitions recommended for athletes to perform is 10-12 times;
For athletes with a weak rotator cuff and those who have suffered a shoulder injury, even moderate weights are dangerous.

Important: depending on the design of the simulator, versions of the “butterfly” exercise differ.

Is the butterfly exercise effective?

Seeing how simple the exercise is, many consider it ineffective. Based on the research results, we can say that the “butterfly” exercise really does not give weight gain, since the training is aimed at improving the shape of the chest, i.e. refers to “grinding”.

In other words, as long as the athlete has a flat chest, the exercise will not add volume to the muscles. When there is muscle mass, but not enough “beauty” and the shape is not perfect, bringing your arms together in an exercise machine will help solve the problem. For women, the butterfly exercise is useful for productive lifting, i.e. it helps you become an owner firm breasts, if performed in combination with other exercises.

The advantage of mixing in an arm simulator is the resistance, which is constant throughout the training, in contrast to free weights, where it decreases in the upper part of the trajectory (in the case of dumbbells, for example).

In this option, in addition to the chest muscles, the load is distributed on the deltoids.

Video: Butterfly exercise