Reverse Fly with External Rotation
Trains the Shoulders, Infraspinatus and Teres Minor.
- Equipment
- Dumbbell
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Sit on the end of a bench with a light dumbbell in each hand, or stand and hinge forward at the hips.
- Lean forward so your chest is close to your thighs and let the dumbbells hang below you, palms facing each other.
- Set a soft bend in your elbows and hold it.
- Raise both dumbbells out to your sides in a wide arc until your arms are level with your shoulders.
- At the top, rotate your forearms upward so your thumbs point toward the ceiling — this is the external rotation the name refers to, and it is the part most people leave out.
- Reverse the rotation, then lower the arms under control back to the start.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the rotation and doing a plain reverse fly. The rotation at the top is the entire reason to choose this variation over a normal rear delt raise; without it the infraspinatus and teres minor are barely involved.
- Rotating from the wrist rather than the shoulder. The whole upper arm should turn, not just the hand.
- Loading it like a rear delt exercise. The rotation component only works at a weight the external rotators can actually turn, which is much lighter.
- Bending the elbows to lift more. Fix the elbow angle at the start; a changing angle means the load is being pressed rather than raised.
Muscles worked
Primary
- Shoulders
- InfraspinatusRotator Cuff
- Teres MinorRotator Cuff