Fly (exercise)

A fly or flye is a strength training exercise in which the hand and arm move through an arc while the elbow is kept at a constant angle.

[1] Due to this leverage, fly exercises of all types have a large potential to damage the shoulder joint and its associated ligaments and the tendons of the muscles connecting to it.

[4] The movement is performed lying on the back on a bench, starting weights extended above the chest, meeting at the midsagittal plane.

If using a cable machine, the body leans forward to counterbalance the weight moved, with the feet braced and the elbows are positioned slightly below shoulder height.

In flies the shoulders are sometimes externally (laterally) rotated to point the elbows down to shift emphasis away from use of the anterior deltoid as a transverse adductor.

Recordsetter World Record holder Jason Faulkner (Incredible Faulk) is featured in a video Completing 47 lifts with 65 Lb.

Arms are moved through the transverse plane in an arc until parallel to the ground (or the limit of the range of motion of the shoulder is reached), then returned to the starting position and repeated.

[6] If the lifter drops their elbows closer to their hips (rather than bringing them outward) the latissimus dorsi will come into play and deemphasize the use of the aforementioned muscles that cross both joints, as the lats bypass the scapulae and attach directly to the lumbar fascia.

Arms are kept straight or slightly bent, and raised through an arc of movement in the coronal plane that terminates when the hands are at approximately shoulder height.

By bending at the waist or leaning against a bench, the line of pull created allows the lateral deltoid to be isolated to a higher degree.

The muscles which can be used to "cheat" in this movement are primarily the serratus anterior and the upper fibers of the trapezius, both of which elevate and upwardly rotate the scapulae.