Muscle Ventures Video Analysis

The Freemotion cable cross machine is a very versatile cable pulley machine.  It is very effective for rear delt flyes because it allows you to cross your hands at the finish while still maintaining tension, thus providing a range of motion exceeding that of dumbbell flyes.

To prepare for rear delt flyes on the Freemotion cable cross, set the arms of the machine to 5 or 6, depending on your height.  Then, set a light weight, about 5 lbs. less than you would do on the dumbbells version of the exercise.  Finally stand facing the machine, about 12 inches back from the arms and grasp the cable handle of the machine arm opposite each hand.

The start position for this exercise varies from hands slightly crossed in front of you to hands crossed all the way to the elbows in front of you.  You then move your hands back with your arms straight in a flye motion until they have extended behind your back.  After that, you return through the same range of motion to the start position.  Throughout the exercise, your knees should be slightly bent.

My training partner, Nancy Arnold, and I (Bud) show two different variants of the exercise in our video analysis below, starting with arms crossed fully to the elbows and starting with arms only slightly crossed.  There are two major form breaks possible in the exercise.  The first is to rear back from your lower back to gain momentum.  The second is to not bend your knees slightly, making it possible to pivot back from your feet and gain momentum.

In each analysis, we show several reps of the exercise to illustrate how form evolves as fatigue sets in and illustrate what to do when there are form breaks. 

Bud (Quicktime, 3.2 MB; WMV, 3.9 MB)

Note that I perform the version of the exercise where you cross your arms to your elbows at the start, thereby increasing my range of motion.  We show several reps in the video clip with Nancy coaching me.  At one stage, I start to notably rear back.  Nancy remarks this, so I drop weight.

Nancy (Quicktime, 4.3 MB; WMV 5.2 MB) 

Nancy does not cross her arms to the extent I do at the start of the exercise.  However, her long arms allow her an extensive range of motion, and she extends her hands well back with her arms straight.  Her form starts to fade toward the end of the set, so she drops weight.