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Cable · Chest

Cable Fly: Constant Tension Through the Whole Range

Unlike a dumbbell fly, a cable keeps tension on your chest at every point of the movement, including the very top.

· 2 min read

Cable Fly demonstration

A cable fly's main advantage over a dumbbell version is that the cable keeps real tension on your chest through the entire range, including the top of the rep where a dumbbell fly goes slack.

How to do it

  1. 1Set both pulleys above shoulder height — for a standard fly, or adjust lower or higher to shift the emphasis.
  2. 2Step forward with a slight lean — one foot ahead of the other for stability, arms out to your sides with a slight elbow bend.
  3. 3Bring your hands together in an arc — leading with your wrists, squeezing your chest at the front of the movement.
  4. 4Pause and squeeze — hold briefly with your hands together in front of your chest.
  5. 5Return under control — let your arms open back out to the sides, keeping the same slight elbow bend.

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Sets and reps

3 sets of 12–15 reps, using a weight that lets you keep the elbow bend fixed and the movement smooth throughout.

Common mistakes

  • Turning it into a press. Bending the elbows more as the weight gets heavy shifts this from a fly into a press. Keep the elbow angle roughly fixed throughout the set.
  • Using too much weight. This is a chest-isolation exercise, not a strength lift — going heavy usually means recruiting the shoulders and losing the stretch-and-squeeze pattern that makes it effective.
  • Stopping the arc early. Not bringing your hands all the way together skips the peak contraction at the front of the movement.

Safety note

Keep a slight, fixed bend in your elbows throughout — locking them straight puts unnecessary strain on the elbow joint under tension.

The constant cable tension is the whole point of choosing this over a dumbbell fly — let the arc, not the weight, do the work.

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