TRX Rear Delt Fly (How To, Benefits, Muscles Worked)

TRX Rear Delt Flys are a dynamic exercise that targets your posterior deltoids, upper back muscles, and significantly contributes to your shoulder stability and overall upper body strength.

Often overlooked in many workout regimens, the rear deltoids play a pivotal role in maintaining shoulder health.

In this guide, I’ll teach you, step-by-step, how to do TRX Rear Delt Flys and explain their benefits. I’ll also provide a few coaching tips and a couple of alternatives in case you may need them.

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How To Do TRX Rear Delt Flys

Equipment Needed

• TRX Suspension Training Strap

Muscles Worked

• Rear Deltoids
• Rhomboids
• Trapezius (Mid and Lower Trap)
• Infraspinatus & Teres Minor

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Begin by adjusting the TRX straps to mid-length. Stand facing the anchor point, hold a handle in each hand with your palms facing each other. Lean back slightly, extending your arms fully in front of you at shoulder height.
• Make sure your feet are hip-width apart, with your weight primarily on your heels. This is your starting position.
• Brace your abdominal muscles as you prepare to start the movement. This will help maintain your balance and protect your lower back throughout the exercise.
• Keeping your body straight and your arms fully extended, slowly spread your arms apart in a ‘T’ shape. Remember to keep your wrists firm and straight.
• As your arms reach their maximum spread, squeeze your shoulder blades together. You should feel a strong contraction in your rear deltoids and upper back.
• Slowly reverse the movement, controlling the return with your rear delts and upper back muscles rather than allowing the straps to yank your arms back. This ensures that your muscles, not momentum, are doing the work.

Coaching Points

The key to effective TRX exercises is control and stability. So keep your movements slow and your body stable.

One of the most important aspects of TRX exercises is maintaining correct body alignment. Keep your body straight from head to heels throughout the movement. Any bending or sagging in the middle can lead to less effective muscle engagement and potential injury.

Benefits of TRX Rear Delt Flys

Targeted Muscle Work

The primary muscles worked in TRX Rear Delt Flys are the rear deltoids (shoulders), but they also engage the muscles of the upper and middle back. This helps to improve muscle strength to areas that are often overlooked.

Improved Shoulder Health

Strong rear deltoids can lead to better overall shoulder health. They help balance the shoulder muscles, prevent injuries, and can also correct or prevent the forward shoulder posture that develops from too much chest and front shoulder work.

Core Engagement

Almost all TRX exercises engage the core to some degree, and the TRX Rear Delt Fly is no exception. During this exercise, your core helps stabilize your body, thereby improving balance, posture, and overall core strength.

TRX Rear Delt Fly Alternatives

Need an alternative for TRX Rear Delt Flys? Here are a couple of exercises that you may be able to use as a substitute.

Dumbbell Rear Delt Flys

Dumbbell Rear Delt Flys is a great alternative because it mimics the motion of the TRX version, but uses dumbbells for resistance instead of your body weight.

To perform this exercise, bend over at the waist with a dumbbell in each hand, then raise the weights out to the sides, keeping your arms slightly bent. This exercise targets the rear delts and upper back similar to the TRX version, and the resistance can be easily adjusted by changing the weight of the dumbbells.

Face Pulls

Face Pulls are an excellent alternative because they target the rear deltoids and upper back muscles, much like TRX Rear Delt Flys.

Using a cable machine or resistance band, you pull the handles or band towards your face, separating your hands and engaging the rear delts. Face pulls can be easily modified to adjust the difficulty level, making them suitable for all strength levels.

More Links and Info

Need more Upper Body Strength Exercises? I have a growing collection of guides in my Exercise Library – all available for free.

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