Muscles Worked in Standing Resistance Band Chest Fly
Primary muscles worked:
Secondary muscles worked:
How to Do Standing Resistance Band Chest Fly
- Attach the band to a door or something similarly stable around chest level.
- In a standing position, grab the band with one hand and move away from the anchor point until you feel a stretch and resistance in your chest muscles.
- Pull the band in front of your body at chest height with a slight bend at the elbow.
- Contract your chest muscle before returning to the starting position with a controlled movement and repeat for reps.
- Switch to the other side of your body and perform the above steps again.
Text and graphics from the StrengthLog app.
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Standing Resistance Band Chest Fly
The resistance band chest fly is an isolation exercise for the chest and front deltoids. Compared to dumbbell chest flyes, the resistance curve in band chest flyes is more evenly distributed, and you have more of a constant load on your chest muscles throughout the whole range of motion.
Which Muscles Do the Standing Resistance Band Chest Fly Work?
The standing resistance band chest fly works your chest muscles primarily and your front deltoids secondarily.
You can alter which muscles you target slightly by fastening the resistance band at different heights. By using a high position and performing the exercise in a downward motion, you will emphasize your lower chest. By using a low position and performing the exercise in an upwards motion, you will emphasize your upper chest.
Benefits of the Standing Resistance Band Chest Fly
- Accessible. All you need to perform this exercise is a resistance band and somewhere to attach it. This makes the exercise very accessible.
- Constant tension. Resistance bands offer almost constant resistance, increasing the time under tension for your chest muscles.
- Bigger and stronger pecs. The standing resistance band chest fly is a good isolation exercise for the chest muscles, and by incorporating it into your workout routine, you can start building stronger and bigger pecs.
Standing Resistance Band Chest Fly: Proper Form & Technique
Positioning
After grabbing the resistance band in your hand, move away from the anchor point until you feel a stretch and resistance in your chest muscles. Keep your chest up, stand with your feet about shoulder-width, and brace your core.
Movement
Extend your arm out to your side at chest height, and keep a slight bend in your elbow. Push your hand forward until it’s in front of your chest, and make sure to keep your wrist and elbow in the same position the entire time.
Remember that it should be your chest muscles doing the work, so keep the rest of your body as still as possible.
Common Mistakes in the Standing Resistance Band Chest Fly
- Not keeping proper form. Remember to have a proud posture and keep your shoulders down and back during the entire movement. Not keeping form shifts the focus from the targeted muscles and makes the exercise less effective.
- Moving too fast. You should keep the movement slow and controlled to make this exercise effective. Moving too quickly will probably make the exercise less effective, and the resistance band will probably start to wobble and make the resistance uneven.
Standing Resistance Band Chest Fly Variations
1. Standing Cable Chest Fly
The constant tension in the cable chest fly is similar to the resistance band version. It’s easier to adjust the resistance with the cable version though, and the movement might feel a bit smoother than the banded version.
2. Machine Chest Fly
The machine chest fly offers a more guided and stable movement, and supports your body, and isolates the chest muscles more directly. This might be a good alternative for the beginner lifter or for anyone that wants to be able to focus 100 percent on the working muscles.
3. Dumbbell Chest Fly
The dumbbell chest fly is a classic chest exercise that only uses a bench and a pair of dumbbells. Because of this, the dumbbell fly is an accessible chest exercise that you can do in most gyms and even in home chest workouts.
A drawback of the dumbbell chest fly is that the resistance curve is not as evenly distributed as in the cable chest fly, and your chest muscles are mostly loaded in the bottom position.
How Many Sets and Reps Should You Do in the Standing Resistance Band Chest Fly?
How many reps you should do of an exercise depends on your goal: do you mainly want to increase your strength or build muscle?
Generally, a lower rep range of around 1–5 reps is effective for strength gains, and a medium-to-high rep range of about 8–15 reps per set is effective for muscle growth.
For the resistance band chest flyes, using heavy weights and low reps would not be recommended. You’ll need a very stiff resistance band, and the movement will probably feel weird. Apart from that, it’s a delicate exercise that isn’t very suitable for maxing out.
How many sets you do of an exercise depends on your training experience, how many times you work out in a week and your other training. Still, around ten sets per week for a given muscle group is a good starting point, and you can go even higher when you are used to training or if you stop your sets short of failure.
Read more: How Many Sets per Muscle Group per Week?
To keep track of how many sets and reps you’re doing for each muscle group, it can be a good idea to write down your workouts. This can be done in our free workout log app StrengthLog, which you can download by tapping the buttons below:
