Is Rear Delt Fly Push or Pull

Is Rear Delt Fly Push or Pull – Rear Delt Fly Explained

Introduction

The rear delt fly is an upper-body exercise that people often get wrong. Lots do it, but they aren't sure when to fit it into their workout plan. Some think it's a shoulder thing, so they do it on push day. Others put it on pull day because it feels like a back workout. Knowing if the rear delt fly is push or pull matters for how you balance your training, how well you recover, and how healthy your shoulders stay in the long run. This will break down the rear delt fly, looking at how it works, what muscles it uses, and how to schedule it so you know for sure where it fits.

Push vs. Pull: What's the Deal?

Whether something is push or pull depends on how you move and what your muscles are doing, not just what body part you're working. Push means you're moving weight away from your body, mostly using your chest, front shoulders, and triceps. Pull means you're bringing weight closer or pulling your arms back, using your back, rear shoulders, and biceps. This helps you plan your workouts and makes sure you train your muscles well without overdoing it.

Rear Delt Fly: What Is It?

The rear delt fly is an exercise that focuses on the back part of your shoulder muscle. People usually do it with dumbbells, cables, or a reverse pec deck machine. You move your arms out to the sides while leaning forward or sitting, trying to use your rear shoulders and not just swinging your arms or using your lower back.

What Muscles Are Working?

The main muscle is the rear deltoid, which is important for moving your arm back, out to the side, and rotating it. Besides the rear delts, you're also using your rhomboids, middle trapezius, and other muscles in your upper back to help pull your shoulder blades together and keep good posture.

How the Muscles Move

The rear delt fly makes your shoulder joint move your arms away from the middle of your body towards the back. This uses muscles that pull, not push. Also, your shoulder blades squeeze together as you lift your arms. Since you're pulling the weight back, not pushing it forward, it's a pull exercise.

image credit: FREEPIK

Why It's a Pull

The rear delt fly is a pull because it uses muscles that pull your arms back and squeeze your shoulder blades. Even though your arms are moving out, you're not pushing anything away from your chest, like in a chest fly. It's more like a rowing or face pull exercise. Your rear shoulders and upper back start and control the move, so it's def a pull.

Compared to Chest Flyes

People get mixed up because they compare it to chest flyes. They both have the arm moving out, but the direction and which muscles you're using are totally different. Chest flyes bring your arms together in front of you using chest muscles to push. Rear delt flies pull your arms apart behind you. So, rear delt flies should be on pull day.

Rear vs. Front and Side Shoulders

Your shoulder has three parts, and they all do different things. The front helps with pushing. The side helps with raising your arm out to the side. The rear helps with pulling and keeping your shoulder stable. If you just group all shoulder exercises together, you might not work your rear shoulders enough. Doing rear delt flies on pull day makes sense because that's what those muscles do.

Upper Back Activation

The rear delt fly also works your upper back, especially the rhomboids and middle traps. These are good for posture and keeping your shoulder stable, so it's a pull exercise that works with rows, pull-ups, and face pulls.

How It Fits into Pull Day

Doing rear delt flies on pull day helps back up bigger moves like rows and pull-downs. After those, rear delt flies focus on smaller muscles that help keep your shoulder balanced and prevent injuries. Put this at the end of your pull workout so it works those muscles without getting in the way of the heavy stuff.

Push, Pull, Legs

If you're doing a push, pull, legs split, push day is for chest, shoulders, and triceps, using pushing moves. Pull day is for back, rear shoulders, and biceps, using pulling moves. Rear delt flies use muscles that pull and squeeze your shoulder blades, so it goes on pull day. Putting it on push day could hurt your shoulders and make it harder to recover.

Common Mistakes

One mistake is thinking that all shoulder exercises are push. Another is just thinking about how your arm moves instead of what your muscles are doing. Some peeps also do the rear delt fly wrong, using their traps or just swinging the weight. If you have bad form, it can be hard to tell if it's push or pull, but if you do it right, it's def a pull.

Good Form = Pull

Use a smooth motion, light weight, and focus on pulling your elbows out and back. Keep your chest supported or leaning forward, and squeeze your shoulder blades at the top. This uses your pulling muscles, not pushing ones. If you do it this way, it feels like a pull.

Shoulder Health

Training your rear delts is good for your shoulders and posture. Regular life and too many pressing exercises can make your shoulders round forward and your rear delts weak. Rear delt flies fix this by working the muscles that pull your shoulders back. Do them on pull day so they get enough attention.

Different Types

You can do rear delt flies by bending over with dumbbells, using cables, or on a reverse pec deck machine. They all use the same pulling motion, so they're all pull exercises.

Compared to Face Pulls

Face pulls are pull exercises that work the same muscles as rear delt flies. They both hit your rear delts, upper back, and help with shoulder stability. The main difference is where your elbows are and how far you move. Since face pulls are pull exercises, it makes sense that rear delt flies are, too, because they work the same muscles.

How Often and How Many

Usually, people do rear delt flies with more reps and slow movements, like other pull exercises. Hitting your rear delts two or three times a week during pull workouts can help balance your shoulders without wearing you out. This fits with it being a pull exercise.

Why Not Push Day?

Putting rear delt flies on push day can mess up your recovery and take away from the main focus of the workout. Push day already works your shoulders a lot with pushing exercises, mainly the front part of your shoulder. Doing rear delt flies can overwork your shoulder and make you not workout that well. It's better to keep pushing and pulling separate so you can recover better and train harder.

In a Nutshell

The rear delt fly is a pull exercise because it uses muscles that pull your arms back and squeeze your shoulder blades. It works your rear shoulders and upper back, not the chest and triceps that you use for pushing. How it moves, what muscles it uses, and how you train it all say it belongs on pull day.

Conclusion: Is Rear Delt Fly Push or Pull

So, is the rear delt fly push or pull? It's pull. Stick it in your pull workouts with rows and other upper-back exercises. Knowing this helps you plan your workouts, balance your shoulders, and keep your joints healthy. If you train your rear delts with your pull routine, you'll have a better upper-body plan.