Muscles worked
The cable rear delt fly trains your rear delts, which move your arms back and out. The middle trapezius and rhomboids help between your shoulder blades, along with the shoulder's external rotators. With the cables crossed, the pull comes from the opposite side and lasts through the whole movement. You stand upright, so your lower back has no hinged position to hold, and working one arm at a time is easy.
Common mistakes
- Squeezing your shoulder blades together first. It then becomes more of a row for your upper back, and your rear delts get less. Let your arms lead and your shoulder blades follow at a calm pace.
- Leaning back to build momentum. With too much weight, many people throw their upper body back to get the cables moving. Stand with soft knees and your weight even across your feet, and reduce the weight if your body keeps moving.
- Letting your hands wander up or down. Hands rising towards the ceiling let your traps take over, and hands dropping towards your hips give your back more to do. Keep them at shoulder height all the way out and back.
Variations and alternatives
- The reverse pec deck has a chest pad and fixed handles, when you want both arms locked into one path.
- Rear delt flyes use dumbbells with your torso hinged forward, for when the cables are busy.
- The face pull trains the rear delts in a pull with a rope, giving your upper back and external rotators more to do.
Sets and reps
Control in the end position counts here, not the weight. 12 to 20 reps over two to four sets is common, light enough to pause briefly at the end of every rep. It fits after your presses or at the very end. See the guide to sets and reps for more.
As it is easy on the body, many people do it two or three times a week to finish upper body sessions, see how often to train. Raise the weight when every set reaches 20 controlled reps, in line with progressive overload. In between, stay at the same weight and hold the end position a second longer.