Rear Delts · Cable
How to Do a Cable Rear Delt Fly, and Why You Cross the Cables
Every other fly asks you to hold a hinge for twelve reps. This one asks you to stand still, which is why sets end when the delts are done.
Illustration adapted from Everkinetic via workout-guide, CC BY-SA 4.0. Full credits.
| Equipment | Cable |
|---|---|
| Back zone | Rear Delts · Upper Back |
| Muscles | Rear Delts · Infraspinatus |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Typical work | 3 × 12–15 |
| Where | Gym |
What is the Cable Rear Delt Fly?
The cable rear delt fly is a cable exercise for the rear delts and infraspinatus. Standing between two low-to-mid pulleys, you take the left handle in your right hand and the right handle in your left, then open your arms wide against the crossed cables. You stay upright throughout, so no hinge has to be held.
The one cue that matters: Cross the cables, stay tall, and open your arms wide — the constant tension does the work.
Why the Cable Rear Delt Fly is worth doing
- It is the only rear delt movement in the library done standing tall, so the lower back never limits the set
- Crossing the cables means resistance is highest exactly where the arms are widest, which is where a dumbbell has none
- Weight moves in stack increments, so progression is measurable rather than a jump to the next dumbbell
- Both arms are loaded independently, so a stronger side cannot lend the weaker one anything
How to do the Cable Rear Delt Fly
- Set the pulleys at shoulder height Both sides the same, roughly level with your shoulders. Lower puts the arc under you, higher turns it toward a face pull.
- Cross the cables Take the left handle in your right hand and the right handle in your left, so the cables cross in front of you. This is what makes the resistance line run across your body rather than down it.
- Stand tall and step back Feet under your hips, chest up, arms out in front with a soft, fixed elbow bend. Step back until there is tension on the stack before you start.
- Open wide Sweep both arms out and slightly back until they are level with your shoulders and wide of your body. The app’s cue is that the constant tension does the work — you are steering, not heaving.
- Return under load Let the stack draw your hands back together over about two seconds without letting the plates touch down.
Muscles worked
The rear delts carry the whole arc, and the infraspinatus joins as the arm rotates outward at the wide end. Those are the same two muscles a hinged dumbbell fly credits, which raises a fair question: why bother with the cable?
Because of where the resistance sits. A dumbbell fly is a vertical fight against gravity — nearly weightless with the arms hanging, hardest at the top. A crossed cable pulls horizontally across your body, so the load is highest at the point where the arms are furthest apart and the rear delt is shortest.
That is a different stimulus from the same position, and it is the reason to run both across a week rather than choosing one.
| <a href=”/back-muscles/rear-delts/”>Rear Delts</a> | Posterior deltoid — Rounded shoulders from behind — the detail that finishes a back. |
|---|---|
| <a href=”/back-muscles/infraspinatus/”>Infraspinatus</a> | Infraspinatus & teres minor — The plate under the shoulder blade. Separation, and healthy shoulders. |
Form tips
- Cross them, do not skip it. Uncrossed cables shorten the useful arc and put slack at the start. Crossing costs nothing and roughly doubles the range under tension.
- Fix the elbow and forget it. Set a soft bend before the first rep. If the elbow opens as you widen, you are pressing, not flying.
- Do not lean away. Leaning back to help the arms out is the cable equivalent of swinging. Stand still; the stack is the adjustable part, not your torso.
- Stack increments beat dumbbell jumps. This is a 12 to 15 rep movement in the library and the useful weight is small. One pin position is usually a far smaller step than the next pair of dumbbells.
Common mistakes
- Setting the pulleys too high
- Above shoulder height the elbows want to rise and the movement drifts toward a [[/exercises/face-pull|face pull]]. Both are worth doing; only one of them is this.
- Letting the stack touch down
- The plates settling between reps is the one way to get slack out of a cable movement. Keep an inch of air under them for the whole set.
- Turning it into a reverse row
- Pulling the elbows back and squeezing the blades makes this a rhomboid movement. Arms wide, blades quiet.
- Going heavy because the stack allows it
- A cable stack will happily give you a weight the rear delts cannot steer. The tell is the torso starting to rotate as one arm finishes ahead of the other.
Sets, reps and where it fits
Three sets of 12 to 15, late in a session. It is the best rear delt movement in the library for a set taken genuinely close to failure, because there is no position to lose and nothing to catch when the muscle gives out.
If Rear Delts came back as your lowest zone, running this once a week alongside a hinged fly and a band pull-apart covers all three tension curves — highest at the top, highest at the widest, and highest at the finish. The three-week Traps & Rear Delts block leads a session with exactly this kind of work.
No cable? Do this instead
No cable stack? A dumbbell rear delt fly hits the same two muscles hinged over, with the load hardest at the top instead of at the widest point. With a band, the band pull-apart gives you the standing position back and puts the hardest point at the finish.
Variations and similar exercises
- Reverse Pec Deck
- The machine version, seated with your chest on a pad. Pick it when you want the same arc with nothing to stabilise.
- Rear Delt Fly
- Hinged, with dumbbells, hardest at the top. Pick it as the other half of the pair rather than the alternative.
- Face Pull
- Same cable stack, elbows high and pulled to the eyes. Pick it when you want the lower traps involved.
7 Cable Rear Delt Fly alternatives, by equipment and level →
Compared: Cable Rear Delt Fly vs Reverse Pec Deck
Frequently asked questions
Should you cross the cables on a rear delt fly?
Yes. Crossing puts each handle on the opposite side of your body, which means there is tension from the moment your hands are together and the resistance line runs across you rather than down. Uncrossed, the first third of every rep is nearly free.
What height should the pulleys be for a cable rear delt fly?
Roughly shoulder height on both sides. Lower and the arc runs beneath you; higher and the elbows start to rise, at which point you are drifting toward a face pull, which is a different movement with the lower traps involved.
Is a cable rear delt fly better than dumbbells?
It is different, not better. A dumbbell fly is hardest at the top and weightless at the bottom; a crossed cable is hardest where the arms are widest. Running both across a week gives the muscle two tension curves rather than one.
Why do my traps take over on rear delt flys?
Usually the weight. When the rear delts run out, the upper traps volunteer by shrugging the arms wider. Drop a pin, keep the shoulders down and away from your ears, and stop the set when they start rising.
Should the Cable Rear Delt Fly be in your plan?
BackMaxx scores your rear delts from one photo and builds the week around whatever is lagging — so the Cable Rear Delt Fly only shows up when it is the right call.
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