Suspension chest fly
A wide arc on suspension straps, elbows fixed. Chest isolation using the same rig as a suspension press.
TrainsChest
NeedsSuspension trainer
The movement
2 stages
Hands together
01 Hands together
Stand tall against the straps with both arms reaching together in front of the chest.
02 Arms wide
Open both arms all the way out until the chest sinks between the hands, elbows keeping the same slight bend.
How to do it
Setup
- Grab the handles and face away from the anchor point, one handle in each hand.
- Walk your feet back and lean forward until your body forms a straight line from heels to head, arms reaching together in front of your chest.
- Set a slight bend in your elbows and lock that angle for the whole set.
Execution
- Open both arms out to the sides in a wide arc, letting your chest sink down between your hands.
- Go until your arms are out wide and you feel a stretch across your chest.
- Sweep your hands back together in front of your chest, squeezing hard as they meet.
BreathingInhale as your arms open, exhale as you bring them together.
Getting it right
Form cues
- Keep the slight elbow bend locked the entire time.
- Lead the arc with your upper arms, not your hands.
- Hold your body in one straight line from head to heel throughout.
Common mistakes
- Bending your elbows as your hands come together, which turns the fly into a chest press.
- Letting your hips sag or pike, which loses the plank the exercise depends on.
- Standing too upright, so the straps never load the chest.
Worth knowing
- Keep tension on the straps for the whole set. Losing tension at the wide position drops your weight onto a stretched shoulder.
General guidance, not medical advice. See how Setkit works.
Notes
A fly is the one chest movement where the elbow never straightens or bends further, so the shoulder has to do the entire job of moving the arm. Suspension straps put that isolation on an unstable base. Every degree the handles swing has to be controlled by the same muscles running the rep, which is a different demand than a fly done against a fixed dumbbell or bench.
The straps also make the resistance easy to scale without any weight to load. Walking your feet further from the anchor increases the lean, and a steeper lean increases how much of your bodyweight the chest has to move through the arc. Step forward whenever a set gets too hard, and back whenever it goes stale.
The fixed elbow is still the whole technique, exactly as it is on a bench. If your elbows bend as your hands come together, the straps have turned into a wide, awkward chest press, and the chest stops finishing the rep alone. Set the bend before the first rep and hold it there.
Keep the same body brace the suspension chest press demands, even though the arms are doing something different here. A sagging hip or a piked hip both mean the plank has broken before the chest has, and neither shows up as an easier fly. It shows up as a worse one.