Cable Chest Fly

Are you looking for a switch from your regular bench press-dominant weight-lifting routine? Or, maybe you want to increase the strength and mobility of your shoulder joints. Either way, the cable chest fly might be exactly what you’re looking for.

In this guide, we’ll give you an in-depth analysis of the potential benefits the cable chest can offer. We’ll also give you a step-by-step on exactly how to do the cable chest fly. Plus, let’s not forget about the pro tips to help you get started safely. Let’s get into it.

How To Do

  1. Set both of the pulleys up at shoulder height or slightly above and attach the handles to the cables. Choose your ideal weight.
  2. Grab one handle with your right hand. Then, stretch the cable until you have enough line to the opposing pulley in your left hand.
  3. Move to the center of the cable machine. Step forward, finding a staggered stance (one foot in front of the other) for stability.
  4. Extend your arms out beside you, keeping a slight bend in your elbows. Hold the handles with your palms facing forward. 
  5. Lean forward slightly at the hips and engage your core to stabilize your spine.
  6. Exhale and slowly bring the handles together in front of your chest by drawing your arms in a wide arc.
  7. Keep the movement slow and controlled. Focus on squeezing your chest muscles as your arms move.
  8. When the handles meet in front of your chest, hold the position for one second and squeeze your chest muscles.
  9. Inhale and slowly return your arms to the starting position, keeping the movement controlled and maintaining a slight bend in your elbows.
  10. When you feel a stretch through the chest muscles, you’ve reached the bottom of your lift. Ensure your arms do not go past your shoulders to avoid overstretching.

Tips From Expert

  • Avoid using momentum to bring the handles together. The movement should be slow and controlled during the lifting and lowering phase.
  • Resist touching the handles together at the peak of your chest fly to maintain steady tension on the chest muscles.
  • Continue engaging your core muscles to prevent strain on your lower back.
  • Avoid letting your arms go too far back beyond your shoulders on the lowering phase as this could lead to a shoulder injury.

Optimal Sets and Reps

The cable chest fly can help you bulk up your chest muscles and increase strength in the deltoids and biceps. Vary the number of sets and reps based on your fitness goals. Below are several clinically proven examples.

Training Type Sets Reps
Strength Training 3–5 1–5
Hypertrophy 3–4 8–12
Endurance Training 3–4 15+
Power Training 3–5 15+
Optimal Sets & Reps of Cable Chest Fly

How to Put in Your Workout Split

The cable fly is a compound exercise which means it can target multiple muscle groups at the same time. The muscles targeted are mostly at the front of the body such as the chest and deltoids.

This exercise is incredibly versatile and gives you the option to work it into several workout splits, as listed below.

  • Full Body — The cable chest fly is an optimal workout for a full-body split since it works many upper-body muscles at once. Pair it with squats, bench presses, bent-over rows, and your favorite core exercise.
  • Upper Body — Beginners or individuals with limited training days can do a general upper body day including the cable chest fly. Work it in with an incline dumbbell press, overhead press, bent-over rows, pull-ups, dumbbell shoulder press, bicep curls, and lateral raises.
  • Push/Pull — Many people separate their workouts into push/pull days to reduce the likelihood of overtraining specific muscle groups. Combine the cable chest fly with a bench press, incline dumbbell press, overhead press, lateral raises, tricep dips, and tricep pushdowns.
  • Chest — Some people also choose to do only a chest workout routine. This workout can include exercises like dumbbell bench presses, incline bench presses, chest dips, cable crossovers, and wide-grip push-ups.

A more important factor to consider when designing your workout is rest periods. Studies show that shorter ones are better for endurance training. However, longer rest periods (3-5 minutes) help increase absolute strength. 

Primary Muscle Groups

Clavicular Head of Pectoralis Major

Muscles located at the top of your chest, running from your armpit to collar bone. Smaller portion of your chest muscle.

Sternal Head of Pectoralis Major

Large muscles located underneath your clavicle head. Makes up most of your chest area

Abdominal Head of Pectoralis Major

Muscles located at the bottom of your pectoral region, just above your abdominal muscles.

Clavicular Head

The pectoralis major is a large muscle located at the front of the chest. It is divided into three main parts: the clavicular head, the sternal head, and the abdominal head.

The clavicular head is the upper part of the pectoralis major muscle. It originates from the collarbone and inserts into the upper arm bone.

During a cable chest fly, the clavicular head assists in flexing the upper arm bone. This is useful for movements like lifting the arm forward and upward (shoulder flexion). It also aids in horizontal adduction (bringing the arm across the body) and helps to provide arm stability.

Sternal Head

The sternal head originates from the ribcage and inserts into the upper arm bone. It is primarily responsible for movements that bring the arms towards the body’s midline and push the arms forward.

The cable chest fly is one of the best movements for targeting the sternal heads. They’re actively engaged throughout the entire movement, especially during the strong chest contraction at the top of the movement.

Abdominal Head

The abdominal head is the lower part of the sternal head. It attaches from the upper part of the ribcage to the upper arm bone. It plays a significant role in pulling the arm across the body during the cable chest fly. 

Strengthening the abdominal heads through a lower chest workout is effective for improving cable chest fly performance.

Secondary Muscle Groups

Serratus Anterior

Small, fan shaped muscle that lies deep under your chest and scapula.

Upper Trapezius

Triangular shaped muscles located between your neck and shoulder blades.

Biceps Long Head

Most outside part of your bicep.The front of your upper arm.

Biceps Short Head

Most inside portion of the biceps. Located at the front of your upper arm closest to your chest.

Anterior Deltoid

Muscles located at the front of your shoulder region

Anterior Deltoid 

The anterior deltoid is located at the front of the shoulder and is one of the three heads of the deltoid muscle

During the cable chest flies, the involvement of the anterior deltoid is limited, but very important. It assists in stabilizing the shoulder joint and helps bring the arms together. Its involvement is crucial for maintaining control and balance during the exercise.

Serratus Anterior

The serratus anterior is a muscle located on the side of the chest. It extends from the upper ribs to the shoulder blade (scapula). 

During a cable chest fly, the serratus anterior acts synergistically with the pectorals, helping stabilize the shoulder girdle. During the final phase of the fly movement, the serratus anterior helps the arms come together in front of the body.

Upper Trapezius 

The upper trapezius is a part of the trapezius muscle, which is a large, triangular muscle extending across the back of the neck and shoulders.

The upper trapezius helps stabilize the shoulder blade during the fly movement. This stability is essential to maintaining proper form and preventing shoulder injuries.

Biceps Short Heads

The biceps short head is one of the two major parts of the bicep brachii muscle group. It originates from the shoulder blade and attaches to the forearm.

During chest cable flies, the biceps (including the short head) contract isometrically to help stabilize the arm and shoulder joint. This means that there is no change in the length of the muscle when it contracts.

Biceps Long Heads

The biceps long head is the other part of the muscle that makes up the biceps brachii. Like the biceps short head, it extends from the shoulder blade to the forearm. However, it is located on the outer arm, while the short head is on the innermost part of the upper arm.

It also contracts isometrically during cable chest flies to provide additional support to the arm and shoulder. This is especially important during the lowering phase of the exercise.

Equipment

Single Grip Handle

Wide Cable Pulley Towers

These provide a good range of cable exercise using wider lever points for a bigger range of motion. Ensure you don't drop the cables when lifting.

Single Grip Handle

This can be attached to a cable machine and used for a wide range of unilateral resistance exercises. Ensure you keep a firm grip.

Who Should Do?

Individuals Wanting Larger Chest Muscles

The cable chest fly, depending on its angle, can be used to target the entire pectoralis major muscle. This makes it an effective exercise for individuals wanting to enhance the strength and size of their chest muscles. Especially when paired with progressive overload, which involves progressing weight or reps steadily over time.

Athletes

Shoulder injuries are common among athletes practicing sports that involve throwing and other overhead motions. In a study that tested 20 healthy subjects, consistent usage of a cable chest exercise was shown to strengthen and improve shoulder mobility by 20%–30%.

Who Should Not Do?

Anyone With Pre-Existing Shoulder Injuries

Cable chest flys can be used to strengthen the shoulder joint and improve joint mobility. 

However, individuals with pre-existing injuries like rotator cuff tears or bursitis are at risk for further injuring their shoulders. They should avoid cable chest flys until fully healed and given the go-ahead by their doctor or rehab specialist.

Beginners Without Proper Guidance

Most beginner weight lifters struggle with proper form and choosing the best weight for their experience level. 

During cable chest flys, this lack of understanding can lead to muscle strains and more serious shoulder injuries. Therefore, it’s best to practice with a certified trainer while you gain a better understanding of proper technique.

Individuals With Limited Mobility

Over time, practicing cable chest flys can help increase shoulder mobility. However, this exercise requires a full range of motion in the shoulder joint. Therefore, limited mobility can restrict this range, leading to improper form and reduced effectiveness at targeting the chest muscles.

Individuals working with limited upper body mobility should use a combination of other chest-building exercises and frequent stretching instead. 

Benefits Of The Cable Chest Fly

Minimal Joint Strain

It wouldn’t be safe to say that cable chest flys don’t put any strain on the shoulder joint. Nonetheless, they can be a better alternative when compared to other strength-building exercise types.

When compared to variable resistance machines, cable pulley exercises were shown to distribute force on the joint more effectively. Making it the better option for beginners and people recovering from a shoulder injury.

Better Posture

The pectoral muscles play an important role in good posture. Weak chest muscles can cause the back muscles to overcompensate, leading them to be overworked and tight. 

When strengthened, the chest muscles help to balance muscular forces between the front and back of the upper body. In turn, this contributes to an overall better and more comfortable posture.

Improves Strength

Research shows bench press limits core involvement, making it better for solely building chest strength. However, cable chest flys can be used to build strength in a greater variety of muscle groups than bench presses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are cable flys good for the chest?

Absolutely, cable chest flys are excellent for increasing chest muscle strength. Depending on the angle of your cable chest fly, you can better target the upper, lower, or middle chest muscles.

What are the different angles of a cable chest fly?

There are three different cable chest fly angles, including the high-to-low, mid-level, and low-to-high. Each is suited to target a different pectoralis major muscle. The mid-level cable chest fly provides the most balanced engagement throughout the entire chest.

How far back should chest flys go?

During the lowering phase of your chest fly, continue extending until you feel a mild stretch through your chest muscles. Pain or pins and needles are signs that you’ve gone too far.

Why don’t I feel cable flys in my chest?

You might not feel cable flys in your chest for multiple reasons. Likely, it’s due to improper form, using too much weight, insufficient mind-muscle connection, or an incorrect cable angle.

Resources

Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.

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