The Reverse Pec Deck is a beginner-friendly machine strength exercise that targets the shoulders, with the traps, lats and middle back working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesShoulders
Secondary musclesTraps, Lats, Middle Back
EquipmentMachine
LevelBeginner
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Reverse Pec Deck
Set the seat height so the handles sit level with your shoulders and select a light load.
Sit facing the machine with your chest against the pad and your feet flat on the floor.
Take a handle in each hand with a pronated or neutral grip and hold a fixed bend in the elbows.
Sweep both arms out and back until they reach roughly shoulder height in line with your torso.
Hold the end position for a beat without shrugging or pushing your head forward.
Return the handles slowly to the start under control, then repeat.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Isolates the rear deltoid, a group that most pressing-heavy programs leave underworked.
Chest support removes the trunk stability demand of bent-over reverse fly variations.
Fixed path makes light, high-repetition shoulder work easy to standardize across users.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Driving the movement by squeezing the shoulder blades turns a rear-delt fly into a rowing pattern.
Letting the head jut forward as the arms open loads the neck and signals a load that is too heavy.
Bending and straightening the elbows through the rep converts the fly into a partial row.
Pulling the chest off the pad to gain range restores the trunk demand the machine was chosen to remove.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Reverse Pec Deck, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
