Machine Chest Fly

Muscles worked by the Machine Chest Fly

Primary

ChestPectoralis Major

Secondary

Front DeltsAnterior DeltoidSerratusSerratus Anterior

Also called: pec, pecs, pectoralis major, pectoralis, chest muscles.

Equipment

Chest Fly Machine

Also called: fly machine, butterfly machine, seated fly, pec fly machine.

How to do the Machine Chest Fly

1. Sit in the chest fly machine and adjust the seat so the handles align with your chest.
2. Grip the handles with a slight bend in your elbows.
3. Bring the handles together in front of your chest in a smooth arc.
4. Squeeze your pectorals at the point of peak contraction.
5. Return under control to the starting position without slamming the weight.
6. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Form tips

• Keep a slight, fixed bend in your elbows throughout.
• Focus on squeezing the chest rather than pushing with the arms.
• Control the return instead of letting the weight stack slam.

At a glance

Machine Chest Fly in German & Spanish

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

Related exercises

• Cable Fly
• Decline Dumbbell Fly
• Dumbbell Fly
• Incline Dumbbell Fly
• Archer Push Ups
• Banded Chest Stretch
• Barbell Bench Press
• Bench Chest Stretch

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": "machine-chest-fly",
  "name_en": "Machine Chest Fly",
  "name_de": "Butterfly-Maschine",
  "name_es": "Aperturas en Máquina",
  "description_en": "A chest isolation exercise performed on a machine that arcs the handles together in front of the body.",
  "description_de": "Eine Brust-Isolationsübung an einer Maschine, bei der die Griffe in einem Bogen vor dem Körper zusammengeführt werden.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio de aislamiento de pecho realizado en una máquina que junta las palancas en un arco frente al cuerpo.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "equipment": "chest_fly_machine",
  "body_part": "chest",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "pectoralis_major"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "anterior_deltoid",
    "serratus_anterior"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "chest-fly",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Sit in the chest fly machine and adjust the seat so the handles align with your chest.",
    "Grip the handles with a slight bend in your elbows.",
    "Bring the handles together in front of your chest in a smooth arc.",
    "Squeeze your pectorals at the point of peak contraction.",
    "Return under control to the starting position without slamming the weight.",
    "Repeat for the desired number of reps."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Setze dich in die Butterfly-Maschine und stelle den Sitz so ein, dass die Griffe auf Brusthöhe sind.",
    "Greife die Griffe mit leicht gebeugten Ellbogen.",
    "Führe die Griffe in einer runden Bewegung vor der Brust zusammen.",
    "Spanne die Brustmuskulatur am Punkt der stärksten Kontraktion an.",
    "Kehre kontrolliert zur Ausgangsposition zurück, ohne das Gewicht aufschlagen zu lassen.",
    "Wiederhole für die gewünschte Anzahl an Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Siéntate en la máquina de aperturas y ajusta el asiento para que las palancas queden a la altura del pecho.",
    "Sujeta las palancas con una ligera flexión de codos.",
    "Junta las palancas frente al pecho en un arco suave.",
    "Contrae el pectoral en el punto de máxima contracción.",
    "Vuelve con control a la posición inicial sin dejar caer el peso.",
    "Repite el número de repeticiones deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep a slight, fixed bend in your elbows throughout.",
    "Focus on squeezing the chest rather than pushing with the arms.",
    "Control the return instead of letting the weight stack slam."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Halte die Ellbogen während der gesamten Bewegung leicht und konstant gebeugt.",
    "Konzentriere dich auf das Anspannen der Brust statt auf das Drücken mit den Armen.",
    "Kontrolliere die Rückbewegung, statt das Gewicht aufschlagen zu lassen."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mantén una flexión de codo ligera y constante durante todo el movimiento.",
    "Enfócate en contraer el pecho en lugar de empujar con los brazos.",
    "Controla el regreso en vez de dejar caer la pila de pesas."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/machine-chest-fly-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/machine-chest-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 === "machine-chest-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.