Few bodybuilding movements look as impressive as having well-formed boulder shoulders, yet many guys lag significantly in developing their rear deltoids.
To prevent this from occurring, many people should include cable rear delt fly as part of their shoulder workout regimens. This movement will strengthen rear deltoids, traps and rhomboids muscles – essential components in maintaining good posture and avoiding slouching.
The Exercise
The cable rear delt fly is an exercise designed to isolate the posterior (rear) head of your deltoid muscle. Additionally, this exercise targets upper back muscles and core stabilization for improved posture during daily activities and other shoulder and chest exercises. As such, this routine should be part of anyone’s workout regime looking to enhance posture or create an attractive back.
For optimal results, this exercise should be completed using a double-pulley cable machine that allows you to adjust the distance between its pulleys. This type of machine allows for targeted posterior deltoids movement at approximately 45 degrees from your body – however access may not always be accessible – most gyms may only have one or two and getting on these machines during peak times can be challenging. Hence there are alternatives that will still train this underused and underdeveloped muscle group.
As part of the cable rear delt fly, you will begin by holding one dumbbell in each hand with arms extended outward away from your body. Bend at your hips and engage your core to bring back in arms in a retraction motion; it should feel familiar to anyone who has ever performed bench presses, as this works the same muscle group in much the same manner.
Another advantage of this movement is that it targets mid and lower traps muscles – essential muscles for maintaining good posture – just as effectively as bench pressing does. Thus, using this movement to perform other shoulder and chest exercises such as overhead press or barbell bench press will also strengthen these important muscle groups and maintain an erect and straight posture during other shoulder and chest exercises like overhead press or barbell bench press.
Finally, this movement can also work the triceps brachii muscles in your arm; however, this should not be its primary goal. Triceps work more effectively through lateral raises and other back exercises.
Variations
The standing crossed cable rear delt fly is an isolation movement designed to work the posterior head of shoulder muscle (deltoids). It’s often performed for moderate to high reps (8-12 reps per set) as part of an upper-body or shoulders workout routine, targeting not only posterior deltoid but also trapezius and rhomboids in order to facilitate shoulder movements.
Exercise can be performed using either one arm at a time, or both arms in unison as though crossing each other in front of your body, as shown below. This version targets more the posterior head while still hitting mid and front heads to some degree – it may also be beneficial when working with limited equipment at home or the gym where dumbbell rear delt fly is unavailable.
Training all three heads of shoulder muscles to have strong and functional shoulders is key to creating strong and functional shoulders. Unfortunately, however, too many people neglect this aspect, instead relying on shoulder presses and lateral raises alone – this often results in imbalances between two sides leading to poor posture and poor balance between them. Training your rear delts using cable rear delt fly exercises alongside traps and core exercises can help solve this issue.
An alternative variation on this exercise involves performing it while in a bent-over position. You can achieve this by attaching a D-shaped handle to a dual cable machine, setting the pulleys below your head, standing with feet shoulder-width apart and bending until your upper body is nearly parallel to the floor – grasping both pulleys firmly with one hand at the same time – crossing them over in front of you as shown below.
This exercise targets all the same muscles as its standing cable rear delt fly counterpart, though it’s not ideal for those suffering from lower back problems as it can lead to rounding of the spine and rounding is possible with this movement. A single arm bent-over cable rear delt fly would be more appropriate as it doesn’t involve hip hinging which in turn reduces stress on your lower back.
Equipment
Most people prefer using a machine when performing the rear delt cable fly exercise, though you can also perform it using dumbbells for an intense but less convenient movement. Machine versions, however, tend to be more convenient and effective.
Use a chest or pec fly machine with its seat set at zero, and adjust the handles so they’re directly behind it. This setup allows you to isolate deltoids while also working lats, traps, and rhomboids as muscle synergists.
The rear deltoids are a small muscle group that must be isolated to fully activate for optimal development. Unfortunately, most shoulder exercises (shoulder press, lateral raises and upright rows) only target two of three heads of deltoid: anterior and lateral heads. Due to not including pressing movements like shoulder press or lateral raises when training deltoid muscles (anterior and lateral), often only two heads (anterior and lateral heads) of deltoid are trained while its posterior head (posterior head) often gets ignored or not trained correctly – therefore making cable fly an excellent way of training this muscle effectively and thoroughly!
Cable rear delt flys (also called standing crossed cable flys) are an isolation exercise for the shoulders that should be performed with moderate to high repetitions (8-12 reps per set) in upper-body and/or shoulder workouts for optimal results. They can help anyone looking to develop strong and well-rounded physiques.
Without a dedicated rear delt fly machine, finding an isolation exercise for this muscle may prove challenging. But you don’t need one; any chest or pec fly machine can easily become an isolation exercise by changing its settings to mimic cable fly exercises for rear deltoids. Simply lowering handles so they are directly behind your seat before adjusting arm positioning to isolate your deltoids.
Not only can this exercise strengthen and define your shoulders, it can also tighten up your back. People often hunch over due to sitting for long periods or muscular weakness; cable rear delt fly exercises help prevent this by strengthening back muscles.
Reps
Rear delt cable flies are typically performed for moderate to high reps as part of an upper-body or shoulder workout, helping build strength while improving posture and creating an appealing, full, round shoulder appearance.
Exercise targets the posterior (rear) head of your deltoids while also strengthening upper back muscles like the rhomboids and erector spinae, and works your core in order to stabilize movement while keeping shoulders in proper positions while pulling rope handle toward body.
Your goal should be to select a weight light enough that allows you to lift it while maintaining correct form, without stressing out your shoulder joint. Aim for 10-12 repetitions per set and choose whether the exercise should be done standing or sitting; both versions will provide similar results, though the latter will prove more challenging.
Sitting may be easier on your back, but it won’t provide as much isolation. For maximum muscle work and isolation, consider performing this movement while standing with hips squared; or use half kneeling position with cable machine but this may only target specific muscles.
Although both seated and standing versions are effective at working the posterior head of deltoids, neither offers as much isolation as a cable rear delt fly. The movement allows you to focus solely on one specific pattern; hence why this exercise is often referred to as an “isolated cable delt fly.”
Only another shoulder exercise offers this level of isolation is the dumbbell bent-over front raise; however, while that exercise targets all three heads of your deltoids simultaneously, cable rear delt fly is specifically targeted to this muscle.
Rear deltoids may seem small, but their importance to shoulder movement cannot be overstated. From pulling to throwing motions and even improving posture by decreasing round shoulders. Many people neglect including this muscle group in their training regimen; but just doing a few sets of rear delt cable flys can have a dramatic effect on shoulder health and strength.
