What you'll gain
Isolates the rear deltoid, a group that most pressing-heavy programs leave underworked.
Chest support removes the trunk stability demand of bent-over reverse fly variations.
Fixed path makes light, high-repetition shoulder work easy to standardize across users.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- 1
Set the seat height so the handles sit level with your shoulders and select a light load.
- 2
Sit facing the machine with your chest against the pad and your feet flat on the floor.
- 3
Take a handle in each hand with a pronated or neutral grip and hold a fixed bend in the elbows.
- 4
Sweep both arms out and back until they reach roughly shoulder height in line with your torso.
- 5
Hold the end position for a beat without shrugging or pushing your head forward.
- 6
Return the handles slowly to the start under control, then repeat.
Common Mistakes
Driving the movement by squeezing the shoulder blades turns a rear-delt fly into a rowing pattern.
Letting the head jut forward as the arms open loads the neck and signals a load that is too heavy.
Bending and straightening the elbows through the rep converts the fly into a partial row.
Pulling the chest off the pad to gain range restores the trunk demand the machine was chosen to remove.
About This Exercise
The reverse pec deck reverses the pec deck to train the back of the shoulder. You sit facing the pad with the handles at torso height and sweep the arms outward and back with the elbow angle fixed. The posterior deltoid does the horizontal shoulder abduction, with the trapezius and mid-back muscles assisting near end range. The chest pad is what makes it useful. It removes the trunk stability demand of a bent-over reverse fly, and the cue is to move at the shoulder socket rather than squeeze the shoulder blades together. In a catalog this clip serves the rear-delt and posture segment: shoulder accessory slots, machine equipment filters and upper-body balance content that must show arm movement rather than scapular retraction.
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Reverse Pec Deck
Chest-supported machine fly performed in reverse, opening the arms backward to load the rear deltoids.
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Specifications
Built for
- Rear-delt accessory slots in pull and upper-body app workouts
- High rep rear delt sets that stay stable once the weight gets light
- Posture and shoulder-balance content for desk-bound users
- Warm-up sequences before heavy pressing in program builders
Muscles Worked
Details
License Includes
Machine Lateral Raise
$4.99A seated machine lateral raise that isolates the side of the shoulder by lifting both arms against fixed pads.
Machine Plate Loaded Front Military Press
$4.99A plate-loaded seated press that trains the front delts through a fixed overhead path — a stable alternative to the standing barbell press.
Smith Machine Seated Overhead Press
$4.99A seated overhead press inside a Smith machine, driven from eye level to lockout with the back on a bench.
Arnold Press
$4.99A seated dumbbell press that starts with the palms facing you and rotates them forward as the weight goes overhead.
Band External Rotation
$4.99A banded rotator cuff drill that turns the forearm outward with the elbow pinned to the ribs, isolating the external rotators.
Band High Face Pull
$4.99A high-anchor band pull to the face that builds rear-delt strength and balances out heavy pressing work.