Reverse Cable Fly
Primary Muscle Group: Real Deltoids
Secondary Muscle Group: Traps
Equipment Needed: Cable machine
The Benefits of Reverse Cable Fly
Resistance training is shown to help with muscle imbalances including those caused by poor posture. If you’re slouching over computers, cell phones, and driving too much you may not have the best posture. This constant head forward body position can cause the rear shoulder and back muscles to lengthen while chest muscles become tight.
The reverse cable fly is a resistance exercise that targets the rear shoulders (deltoids) and major muscles of the upper back, including the trapezius. The trapezius helps with a scapular retraction or pulling your shoulder blades in toward each other.
Strengthening these muscles using the reverse cable fly exercise will help improve poor posture, promote an upright stance, and improve balance.
Adding the reverse cable fly to your strength-training workout is a great way to round out an existing program. The exercise only requires a cable machine meaning it can be performed at the gym.
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The Risks of doing Reverse Cable Fly
Reverse Cable Fly does place a lot of stress on your rotator cuff muscles, which stabilize your shoulder joints. If you have poor shoulder mobility, or if your weight is too heavy, you could tear a shoulder muscle.
So before giving behind the head shoulder press a go, here's exactly how to do them without risking pain or injury.
How To Do Reverse Cable Fly
1. Stand facing twin pulley cables positioned close together and approximately shoulder height.
2. Grasp stirrup cable attachment in each hand. Step back away from machine so cable is taut. Stand with feet staggered. Point elbows outward with arms straight or slightly bent.
3. Pull stirrups out to sides, maintaining stiff elbow position throughout exercise. Return to original position and repeat.
For Perfect Technique
1. Avoid hunching your shoulders up during the movement.
2. Keep your chin tucked to maintain a neutral spine during the exercise.
3. Focus on feeling the shoulders blades coming together with proper breathing from start to finish.
Variations
Once you have mastered the Reverse Cable Fly exercise you can try alternative exercises that target similar muscle groups such as;
How To Do Lateral Cable Raise
1. Stand beside a cable machine. Assume a shoulder width stance; tighten your core and keep a flat back all throughout the movement.
2. Grab the handle of a pulley cable and raise it sideways. Maintain a slight bend in your elbows and bring the handle up to shoulder level.
3. Hold the position for a second at the top.
4. Resist the weight on the way back to starting position.
5. Once you have done the targeted number of reps on one side, switch and work the other shoulder.
6. Perform the exact same number of reps on the other shoulder.
How To Do Dumbbell Lateral Raises
1. Firstly, grab a set of dumbbells and stand straight up with the dumbbells at your sides.
2. Your palms should be facing your body. You should be holding the dumbbells slightly off your body, as this keeps the tension on the side deltoids. This is your starting position for the exercise.
3. To execute, slowly raise the dumbbells up to around shoulder height. It's important that you do not let your wrists go above your elbows while raising the weight, as this will take the work off the side delts and put it on the front delts.
4. Pause at the top of the movement, and then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position.
5. Do not let the dumbbells touch your body, and then raise them for the next rep.