Dumbbell Reverse Fly
The dumbbell reverse fly is a bent-over raise where you sweep your arms out to the sides from a hip hinge. It targets the rear delts, with the mid and upper traps helping as your shoulder blades move. Pick it for rear shoulder volume with nothing more than a pair of light dumbbells.
Muscles worked
The dumbbell reverse fly trains the shoulders, with traps helping.
Weekly sets for shoulders
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for shoulders, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the dumbbell reverse fly
- 01Hold light dumbbells and hinge at the hips until your torso is close to parallel with the floor, knees soft.
- 02Let the dumbbells hang under your chest with palms facing each other and a slight bend in your elbows.
- 03Raise your arms out to the sides in a wide arc until they're level with your torso.
- 04Pause briefly, then lower the dumbbells slowly back under your chest.
- 05Keep your torso still and your neck neutral throughout.
Coaching cues
- Reach out to the walls
- Lead with the back of your hands
- Torso stays locked
Common mistakes
- Standing up as you lift turns the movement into a shrug, so hold your hinge angle the whole set.
- Using too much weight forces a bent-arm row, so go light and keep the elbow angle fixed.
- Swinging the dumbbells up with momentum skips the rear delts, so pause at the top of every rep.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers isolation work toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Dumbbell Reverse Fly alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your dumbbell reverse fly free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.