Cable Reverse Fly

Muscles worked by the Cable Reverse Fly

Primary

Rear DeltsPosterior Deltoid

Secondary

RhomboidsRhomboid MusclesTrapsTrapezius

Also called: rear deltoid, posterior delt, rear delt, back delt, posterior deltoid.

Equipment

Cable Machine

Also called: cable pulley, functional trainer, cable crossover, cable column, cable station, pulley machine.

How to do the Cable Reverse Fly

1. Set both pulleys at about shoulder height and stand centred between the two cable towers.
2. Take the left handle in your right hand and the right handle in your left hand, so the cables cross in front of you.
3. Stand tall with your arms reaching forward at shoulder height and a slight bend in the elbows.
4. Sweep your arms out and back in a wide arc, leading with the elbows, until they are in line with your shoulders.
5. Squeeze your shoulder blades together briefly without arching your lower back.
6. Bring the handles back to the crossed start position slowly and repeat for the planned repetitions.

Form tips

• Keep the elbows soft and fixed; bending and straightening them turns the fly into a row.
• Keep your shoulders down and your neck relaxed so the rear deltoids do the work, not the upper trapezius.
• Use a light weight and a slow return; the cables pull hardest at the end of the arc, so control that position.

At a glance

Cable Reverse Fly in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Cable Face Pull
• Dumbbell Face Pull
• Dumbbell Reverse Fly
• Machine Reverse Fly
• Rear Delt Fly
• Ring Face Pull
• TRX Face Pull
• TRX Y-Fly

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "cable-reverse-fly",
  "name_en": "Cable Reverse Fly",
  "name_de": "Kabelzug Reverse Fly",
  "name_es": "Apertura Inversa con Cable",
  "description_en": "A standing cable exercise for the rear deltoids: facing the space between two cable towers, you hold the opposite handles with the cables crossed in front of you and sweep your arms out and back until they are level with your shoulders. The cables keep tension on the back of the shoulders through the whole arc.",
  "description_de": "Eine Kabelzugübung im Stehen für die hinteren Schultermuskeln: Mit Blick in den Raum zwischen zwei Kabeltürmen hältst du die gegenüberliegenden Griffe, sodass sich die Kabel vor dir kreuzen, und führst die Arme nach außen und hinten, bis sie auf Schulterhöhe sind. Die Kabel halten die Spannung auf der Schulterrückseite über den gesamten Bogen.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio de pie con cable para los deltoides posteriores: de cara al espacio entre dos torres de polea, sujetas las empuñaduras opuestas con los cables cruzados delante de ti y llevas los brazos hacia fuera y atrás hasta que quedan a la altura de los hombros. Los cables mantienen la tensión en la parte posterior de los hombros durante todo el arco.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "cable",
  "body_part": "shoulders",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "posterior_deltoid"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "rhomboids",
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "pull_day",
    "knee_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "reverse-fly",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Set both pulleys at about shoulder height and stand centred between the two cable towers.",
    "Take the left handle in your right hand and the right handle in your left hand, so the cables cross in front of you.",
    "Stand tall with your arms reaching forward at shoulder height and a slight bend in the elbows.",
    "Sweep your arms out and back in a wide arc, leading with the elbows, until they are in line with your shoulders.",
    "Squeeze your shoulder blades together briefly without arching your lower back.",
    "Bring the handles back to the crossed start position slowly and repeat for the planned repetitions."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Stelle beide Rollen auf etwa Schulterhöhe ein und stelle dich mittig zwischen die beiden Kabeltürme.",
    "Nimm den linken Griff in die rechte Hand und den rechten Griff in die linke Hand, sodass sich die Kabel vor dir kreuzen.",
    "Stelle dich aufrecht hin, die Arme auf Schulterhöhe nach vorn gestreckt und die Ellbogen leicht gebeugt.",
    "Führe die Arme in einem weiten Bogen nach außen und hinten, die Ellbogen voran, bis sie auf einer Linie mit den Schultern sind.",
    "Drücke die Schulterblätter kurz zusammen, ohne ins Hohlkreuz zu gehen.",
    "Führe die Griffe langsam zurück in die gekreuzte Ausgangsposition und wiederhole für die geplante Anzahl an Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Coloca ambas poleas aproximadamente a la altura de los hombros y sitúate en el centro, entre las dos torres de polea.",
    "Agarra la empuñadura izquierda con la mano derecha y la empuñadura derecha con la mano izquierda, de modo que los cables se crucen delante de ti.",
    "Ponte erguido con los brazos estirados al frente a la altura de los hombros y una ligera flexión en los codos.",
    "Lleva los brazos hacia fuera y atrás en un arco amplio, guiando el movimiento con los codos, hasta que queden en línea con los hombros.",
    "Junta los omóplatos brevemente sin arquear la zona lumbar.",
    "Devuelve las empuñaduras despacio a la posición inicial cruzada y repite el número de repeticiones previsto."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep the elbows soft and fixed; bending and straightening them turns the fly into a row.",
    "Keep your shoulders down and your neck relaxed so the rear deltoids do the work, not the upper trapezius.",
    "Use a light weight and a slow return; the cables pull hardest at the end of the arc, so control that position."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Halte die Ellbogen leicht gebeugt und fixiert; beugst und streckst du sie, wird aus dem Fly ein Rudern.",
    "Halte die Schultern unten und den Nacken entspannt, damit die hinteren Schultermuskeln die Arbeit machen und nicht der obere Trapezmuskel.",
    "Verwende ein leichtes Gewicht und führe langsam zurück; die Kabel ziehen am Ende des Bogens am stärksten, also kontrolliere diese Position."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mantén los codos ligeramente flexionados y fijos; si los flexionas y extiendes, la apertura se convierte en un remo.",
    "Mantén los hombros bajos y el cuello relajado para que trabajen los deltoides posteriores y no el trapecio superior.",
    "Usa un peso ligero y un retorno lento; los cables tiran con más fuerza al final del arco, así que controla esa posición."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/cable-reverse-fly-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/cable-reverse-fly-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "cable-reverse-fly");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.