Pec Deck Fly

How to do the Pec Deck Fly

1. 1Set the seat so the handles line up with your chest, then sit with your back against the pad.
2. 2Take the handles with your arms out to the sides and a slight bend in your elbows.
3. 3Bring the handles together in front of your chest.
4. 4Let them open back slowly until you feel a stretch across your chest, keeping your back on the pad.

Muscles worked

Common mistakes

• Letting the arms go too far back — stop at a strong chest stretch; forcing more range loads the front of the shoulder.
• Shrugging forward — keep your shoulders down and against the pad as the handles meet.
• Bending the elbows to finish — keep the same elbow angle so it stays a fly, not a press.

Where it fits in a workout

Use it after your chest presses, or before them to tire the chest first.

How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.

Logging the Pec Deck Fly in SetGrip

SetGrip logs the Pec Deck Fly as weight and reps; log the pin setting.

Variations and alternatives

When to talk to someone

• Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
• Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
• Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.

More exercises

• All chest exercises
• All machine exercises
• Machine chest exercises
• Band Rear Delt Fly
• Low to High Cable Crossover
• Mid Cable Crossover
• Single Arm Bent Over Cable Fly
• Decline Cable Fly
• Decline Single Arm Cable Fly

Sources

1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
4. CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)

Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.