The incline cable chest fly is an isolation movement that uses a cable stack and an incline bench to target the upper portion of the pectoral muscles. It is common in upper-body and chest-focused muscle-building workouts, often after pressing movements like the barbell or dumbbell bench press or as a finishing movement at the end of the workout. It is often used in combination with other flyes to target the chest from different angles.
Benefits
- Unlike dumbbells, cables provide constant tension, including at peak contraction
- Can quickly switch weights for dropsets
- The line of resistance from the cables targets the muscles of the upper pectorals
- Stretches the chest muscles under load which can lead to greater muscle gain
- Type: Strength
- Main Muscle Worked: Chest
- Equipment: Cable
- Level: Intermediate
Chest
Directions:
- To get yourself into the starting position, set the pulleys at the floor level (lowest level possible on the machine that is below your torso).
- Place an incline bench (set at 45 degrees) in between the pulleys, select a weight on each one and grab a pulley on each hand.
- With a handle on each hand, lie on the incline bench and bring your hands together at arms length in front of your face. This will be your starting position.
- With a slight bend of your elbows (in order to prevent stress at the biceps tendon), lower your arms out at both sides in a wide arc until you feel a stretch on your chest. Breathe in as you perform this portion of the movement. Tip: Keep in mind that throughout the movement, the arms should remain stationary. The movement should only occur at the shoulder joint.
- Return your arms back to the starting position as you squeeze your chest muscles and exhale. Hold the contracted position for a second. Tip: Make sure to use the same arc of motion used to lower the weights.
- Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Variation: You can vary the angle of the bench in order to target the upper chest at slightly different angles.