Cable Bent Over Rear Delt Fly

Stand in the middle of a cable crossover, grab the low pulley handles with your arms crossed, bend your knees, and hinge your hips back to lean your torso forward. Use an overhand grip with the backs of your hands facing forward, keep your back straight, and start with the handles crossed in front of your knees.

Keep a slight bend in your elbows and sweep your arms wide to the sides until they are near shoulder height. Because your torso is bent forward, your arms open toward the back of your body, so keep the feeling of the rear delts spreading your arms.

Pause briefly at the top, then slowly lower the handles and cross them again in front of your knees. Keep your torso angle unchanged on the way down so the cable tension never breaks.

Focus on the backs of your shoulders contracting and then lengthening as your arms cross. Because you pull crossed cables from low pulleys, the rear delts stay under tension even at the bottom where your arms meet.

Raising your torso as you open your arms removes the bent-over angle and brings in the traps and momentum instead of the rear delts. Rounding your back increases lower-back stress, so keep your hips pushed back and your chest open.

Exhale as you open your arms and inhale as you bring them together. Breathing while keeping your abs braced helps steady your lower back in the bent-over position.

If you struggle to feel your rear delts in standing reverse flies, learn the movement in this bent-over position first. The deeper you lean, the stronger the rear-delt tension, so set the angle within a range your lower back tolerates.