How to Do Reverse Dumbbell Flyes: Muscles Worked & Proper Form

Muscles Worked in Reverse Dumbbell Flyes

Primary muscles worked:

• Rear Deltoid
• Rotator Cuff

Secondary muscles worked:

• Trapezius

How to Do Reverse Dumbbell Flyes

1. Hold a pair of dumbbells, lean forward, and let your arms hang towards the floor.
2. With almost straight arms (just a slight bend at the elbow), slowly lift the dumbbells by raising your arms out to the sides.
3. Reverse the movement and lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Commentary

The reverse dumbbell fly is an isolation exercise for the muscles that horizontally extend your upper arms and thus trains many of the antagonists of common pressing exercises. Unlike exercises such as lat pulldowns or rows, the upper arm just barely moves closer to the origin of the lats, which means that the lats aren’t very active in this exercise.

This is an exercise where it is easy to cheat by using your hips, which takes away the work from the rear deltoid. Instead, make sure to pick a weight light enough to be able to perform the exercise correctly and with control.