Cable Fly: How to Do It, Muscles Worked & 7 Variations

The cable fly is a chest exercise where you pull two cable handles together in a wide arc with a slight bend in your elbows. The cables keep pulling against you for the whole rep, which makes it a solid way to add chest volume after your main chest exercises.

Below you’ll find the setup, the muscles it works, what pulley height and bench angle really change, seven variations, and how many sets and reps to use.

How to Do the Cable Fly

1. Set the pulleys at about shoulder height, clip a handle to each cable, and pick a light weight.
2. Step into the middle with a handle in each hand. Take a split stance and lean slightly from the hips so the weight stacks are lifted off the rest. Your arms should be out to your sides.
3. Fix a slight bend in your elbows and keep that same angle for the whole set. If your elbows bend and straighten, you’re pressing, not flying.
4. Bring your hands together in a wide arc until they meet in front of your chest. Squeeze for a second.
5. Open slowly until you feel a stretch across your chest, with your hands roughly in line with your torso.

• Where to stop: I’d stop where your hands meet. Crossing them past that point is common, but I haven’t found any evidence it adds anything, and it’s easy to let your shoulders round forward.
• Standing is harder than it looks: In a study of a one-arm standing cable press, torso muscles, not the chest or shoulders, were what limited how much people could push (Santana et al., 2007). That was a press, but it’s a good reason to start light when you stand.

Muscles Worked During the Cable Fly

• Pectoralis major (main muscle): Bringing your arms across your body is the pec’s main job. It has an upper (clavicular) head and a larger lower (sternocostal) head.
• Anterior deltoid: It helps move your arms forward and across.
• Biceps: They hold your elbows in place. In a study of 17 trained men, biceps activity was 57 to 86% higher in the dumbbell fly than in the bench press, depending on the phase of the lift (Solstad et al., 2020).
• Serratus anterior, pectoralis minor and core: They steady your shoulder blades and your body, especially when you’re standing.

Your triceps do much less than in a press as long as your elbows stay fixed. In the same study, triceps activity was higher in the bench press. If you feel your triceps working in a fly, the weight is too heavy or you’re pressing.

Can You Target the Upper, Lower or Inner Chest?

Partly. You can change the angle of pull, but you can’t isolate one part of the muscle. I also couldn’t find a single study that tested pulley height or bench angle in a cable fly, so what follows comes from bench press research.

• Upper chest: In a study of 30 trained adults, the upper pec was most active at a 30° bench angle, and above 45° the front delts took over (Rodríguez-Ridao et al., 2020). A low-to-high or incline fly follows a similar line of pull.
• Lower chest: In 15 trained men, pressing on a decline bench (−15°) activated the lower pec more than an incline press (+30°), while the upper pec showed no difference (Glass & Armstrong, 1997). A high-to-low or decline fly uses the same idea.
• Inner chest: There is no separate inner chest muscle. Each pec fiber runs from your breastbone or collarbone to your upper arm, so bringing your hands together works the whole muscle. Squeezing hard gives you a better contraction, but it doesn’t isolate an inner region.

7 Cable Fly Variations

Variation	Setup	Hands finish	Leans toward
Standing	Pulleys at shoulder height	In front of your chest	Whole chest
Low-to-high	Lowest pulleys	Chin to eye level	Upper chest
High-to-low	Highest pulleys	In front of your lower chest or stomach	Lower chest
Incline	Bench at about 30°, lowest pulleys	Above your upper chest	Upper chest
Decline	Small decline, low pulleys	Over your lower chest	Lower chest
Single-arm	Chest-height pulley, one handle	Across your chest	Fixing side-to-side differences
Seated	Chest-height pulleys, back supported	In front of your chest	Whole chest, easier balance

1. Standing Cable Fly

This is the version in the steps above, and the one I’d learn first. Many people also call it the cable crossover. Keep your elbow bend fixed, your torso still, and stop when your hands meet.

2. Low-to-High Cable Fly (Upper Chest Emphasis)

1. Set both pulleys to the lowest position and take a handle in each hand.
2. Stand in a split stance with a slight lean. Start with your arms down and out to the sides, elbows slightly bent.
3. Sweep your hands up and in until they meet around chin to eye level.
4. Lower slowly along the same arc.

If you have to lean back to lift the weight, it’s too heavy. Full guide: low-to-high cable fly.

Know More: 14 Best Cable Chest Exercises And Workout Routine

3. High-to-Low Cable Fly (Lower Chest Emphasis)

1. Set both pulleys as high as they go.
2. Stand between the towers in a split stance with a slight forward lean and a fixed elbow bend.
3. Sweep your hands down and in until they meet in front of your lower chest or stomach.
4. Return slowly, with your abs braced so your lower back doesn’t arch.

More detail in the high cable chest fly guide.

4. Incline Cable Fly

1. Set both pulleys to the lowest position. Put an incline bench between the towers at about 30°.
2. Sit down, pick up one handle at a time, and lie back with your feet flat on the floor.
3. Start with your arms out to the sides at about chest level and a slight elbow bend.
4. Bring your hands together above your upper chest, then lower slowly.

I’d stay near 30°, since the press study above found the shoulders taking over past 45°. For a side-by-side look at bench angles, see our flat vs incline vs decline fly guide.

Know More: Upper Chest Cable Exercises For Bigger & Stronger Chest

5. Decline Cable Fly

1. Set both pulleys low. Put a decline bench between the towers with a small decline.
2. Hook your feet under the pads, pick up one handle at a time, and lie back.
3. Start with your arms out to the sides at about chest level and a slight elbow bend.
4. Bring your hands together over your lower chest, then lower slowly.

Decline benches differ between gyms, so use whatever small angle lets your hands finish over your lower chest without your shoulders rolling forward.

Know More: Lower Chest Cable Exercises For Bigger & Stronger Chest

6. Single-Arm Cable Fly

1. Attach one D-handle to a pulley at about chest height.
2. Stand side-on to the machine with the working arm closest to the stack, holding the handle with a slight elbow bend.
3. Keep your torso square and don’t twist.
4. Sweep your arm across the front of your chest, pause, and return slowly.
5. Do the same number of reps on both sides.

Working one side at a time shows you if one arm is weaker. See the single-arm cable fly guide for more.

7. Seated Cable Fly

1. Set the pulleys at about chest height and sit on a bench with a back pad between the towers.
2. Take a handle in each hand with your arms out to the sides and a slight elbow bend.
3. Keep your back against the pad and your head up.
4. Bring your hands together in front of your chest, then open slowly.

Sitting takes balance out of the movement, so it’s a good way to learn the exercise. No cable station? The machine chest fly is a close match.

Cable Fly vs Dumbbell Fly vs Bench Press

Versus the bench press. A University of Wisconsin-La Crosse master’s thesis, reported by ACE, tested nine chest exercises in 14 trained men using five reps at 80% of their one-rep max. Pec activity came out at 100 for the bench press, 98 for the pec deck, and 93 for a bent-forward cable crossover, and those three were not significantly different. The incline dumbbell fly scored 69, which was significantly lower. It measured pec activation only, not muscle growth, and 14 men is a small group. My takeaway is that a hard cable fly loads the pecs well, but you’ll still use far less weight than on a bench press, so I’d keep pressing as the main lift.

Versus the dumbbell fly. A cable keeps resisting when your hands are together, while a dumbbell fly gets easier near the top because gravity pulls straight down. In the 17-man study mentioned earlier, the bench press produced 8 to 81% more activity than the dumbbell fly in the pecs, front delts and triceps, depending on the phase, while the biceps worked harder in the fly. The authors concluded both exercises can be used, with the bench press emphasized (Solstad et al., 2020). I didn’t find a head-to-head study showing cable flys build more muscle than dumbbell flys. Our dumbbell chest fly guide covers that side.

Cable Fly Benefits (and Limits)

• Easy to adjust: You can change pulley height, bench angle, handles, and one arm or two in seconds.
• Steady resistance: The cable keeps pulling through the stretch and the squeeze, though it still feels different depending on your arm position.
• Good for fixing imbalances: The single-arm version shows you which side is lagging.
• Limit: You can’t load it like a press, and no study I found shows it beats pressing for growth. Treat it as an accessory.

Common Cable Fly Mistakes

• Going too heavy: Your elbows start bending, your torso swings and the reps stop looking the same. Drop the weight until every rep matches.
• Bending and straightening the elbows: That turns the fly into a press. Lock a slight bend and keep it.
• Stretching too far: I’d stop when your hands are about in line with your torso. Past that, you’re mostly stretching the shoulder joint, not loading the chest better.
• Rolling the shoulders forward: Keep your chest up and your shoulder blades set, especially as your hands meet.
• Letting the weight snap back: Control the opening phase instead of letting the stack pull your arms out.

Sets, Reps and Where to Put It

Level	Sets	Reps
Beginner	2	10–15
Intermediate	3	10–15
Advanced	3–4	8–15

These are common coaching ranges, not numbers from a cable fly trial. Choose a weight that lets you finish every rep with good form and stop a couple of reps before form breaks down. When you reach the top of the range on every set, add a little weight.

Do it after your presses, as an accessory or finisher. One or two chest days a week is plenty, and if you train chest twice, swap the variation between sessions.

FAQ

Is the cable fly better than the dumbbell fly?

Neither has been shown to build more muscle. Cables give steady resistance and quick angle changes. Dumbbells are simpler and work well when gravity is pulling in the right direction. I’d use both over a training block.

Should I do the cable fly before or after the bench press?

After, for most people, so you’re fresh for the heavy lift. Doing it first is an option, but expect to press lighter.

Can beginners do the cable fly?

Yes. Start light, keep the elbow bend fixed, and don’t stretch further than you can control. The seated version is the easiest to learn.

Can I do the chest fly without a cable machine?

Yes. Try the resistance band chest fly, the machine chest fly or the incline dumbbell fly. Our chest machines guide has more options.

Takeaway

The cable fly is a useful chest accessory when you keep your elbow bend fixed and control the stretch. Use pulley height and bench angle to vary the angle of pull, press first, and add weight slowly.

Last updated: October 2026.

References

1. Solstad TE, Andersen V, Shaw M, Hoel EM, Vonheim A, Saeterbakken AH. A comparison of muscle activation between barbell bench press and dumbbell flyes in resistance-trained males. J Sports Sci Med. 2020;19(4):645-651. PMID 33239937.
2. Rodríguez-Ridao D, Antequera-Vique JA, Martín-Fuentes I, Muyor JM. Effect of five bench inclinations on the electromyographic activity of the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and triceps brachii during the bench press exercise. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(19):7339. PMID 33049982.
3. Glass SC, Armstrong T. Electromyographical activity of the pectoralis muscle during incline and decline bench presses. J Strength Cond Res. 1997;11(3):163-167. doi:10.1519/00124278-199708000-00006.
4. Santana JC, Vera-Garcia FJ, McGill SM. A kinetic and electromyographic comparison of the standing cable press and bench press. J Strength Cond Res. 2007;21(4):1271-1277. PMID 18076235.
5. Schanke W. Electromyographical analysis of the pectoralis major muscle during various chest exercises. Master’s thesis, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; 2012. Thesis record. Summary: ACE-sponsored research: top 3 most effective chest exercises.