Rear Delt Fly

Muscles worked by the Rear Delt Fly

Primary

Rear DeltsPosterior DeltoidRhomboidsRhomboid Muscles

Secondary

TrapsTrapezius

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

Equipment

Dumbbell

Also called: db, dumbell, hex dumbbell, rubber dumbbell, hand weight.

How to do the Rear Delt Fly

1. Hold dumbbells and hinge forward at the hips.
2. With a slight bend in elbows, raise the dumbbells out to the sides.
3. Squeeze your shoulder blades at the top.
4. Lower with control.
5. Repeat.

Form tips

• Choose a light weight to keep the movement strict.
• Avoid using momentum from the torso to swing the weights up.
• Lead with your elbows rather than your hands.

At a glance

Rear Delt 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
• Ring Face Pull
• Banded Rear Delt Stretch
• Cable External Rotation
• Arnold Press
• Bulgarian Split Squat

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": "rear-delt-fly",
  "name_en": "Rear Delt Fly",
  "name_de": "Hinterer Deltamuskel Fly",
  "name_es": "Apertura de Deltoides Posterior",
  "description_en": "An isolation movement targeting the posterior deltoids and upper back.",
  "description_de": "Eine Isolationsübung für den posterioren Deltoideus und den oberen Rücken.",
  "description_es": "Un movimiento de aislamiento que trabaja los deltoides posteriores y la parte superior de la espalda.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "equipment": "dumbbell",
  "body_part": "shoulders",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "posterior_deltoid",
    "rhomboids"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "pull_day",
    "knee_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "requires_bench"
  ],
  "variation_group": "reverse-fly",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Hold dumbbells and hinge forward at the hips.",
    "With a slight bend in elbows, raise the dumbbells out to the sides.",
    "Squeeze your shoulder blades at the top.",
    "Lower with control.",
    "Repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Halte Kurzhanteln und beuge dich an der Hüfte vor.",
    "Hebe die Kurzhanteln mit leicht gebeugten Ellbogen bogenförmig zur Seite.",
    "Ziehe die Schulterblätter oben zusammen.",
    "Senke kontrolliert.",
    "Wiederhole."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Sostén las mancuernas e inclínate hacia adelante desde las caderas.",
    "Con una ligera flexión en los codos, eleva las mancuernas hacia los lados.",
    "Aprieta las escápulas en la parte superior.",
    "Baja con control.",
    "Repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Choose a light weight to keep the movement strict.",
    "Avoid using momentum from the torso to swing the weights up.",
    "Lead with your elbows rather than your hands."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Wähle ein leichtes Gewicht, damit die hintere Schulter die Arbeit übernimmt.",
    "Halte den Rücken gerade und die Vorbeuge über den ganzen Satz konstant.",
    "Vermeide es, die Schultern zu den Ohren zu ziehen."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Elige un peso ligero para no usar impulso.",
    "Mantén la espalda recta mientras estás inclinado hacia delante.",
    "Lidera el movimiento con los codos, no con las manos."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/rear-delt-fly-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/rear-delt-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 === "rear-delt-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.