The Face-Down Wing Spread Sculptor

Trail Log · Movement Breakdown

You know those rear shoulder muscles that nobody ever trains because they're invisible from the front? The ones that make your shoulders look round and complete from the side but are chronically neglected because you can't see them in the mirror? Yeah, those. Reverse flyes are here to give them the attention they desperately deserve.

You lie face down on an incline bench with your chest and stomach pressed flat against the pad, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other. Your arms hang down in front of you, perpendicular to the bench angle, and your legs stay put with pressure on your toes. It's like you're a very determined bird lying on a very uncomfortable perch, but the setup is perfect for isolating those rear deltoids.

Maintaining a slight bend in your elbows — and this bend stays constant throughout, because bending and straightening your arms turns this into a different exercise entirely — you arc the dumbbells out to your sides like you're spreading wings. Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top, because that's where the rear delts really light up. Raise your arms until they're parallel to the floor, feel the contraction, and then slowly lower the weights back to the starting position.

This exercise builds the kind of balanced shoulder development that prevents the all-too-common forward-slumping posture that comes from doing too many chest presses and not enough rear delt work. It's the posture corrective disguised as a shoulder exercise, and it'll make you stand taller and move better without even trying.