Chest · Cable
Cable Standing Single Arm Fly
How to do the cable standing single arm fly, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Cable
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- HorizontalPush
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Set a single cable handle at chest height and stand sideways to the machine, gripping the handle with the arm farthest from the stack. With a slight bend in the elbow, sweep your arm across your body in a wide arc until it reaches the midline, squeezing your chest. Control the return for a stretch, then repeat before switching sides.
- 1Chest contracting as you sweep the handle across your body
- 2A slight, fixed bend in the elbow so the pec does the work
- 3A controlled stretch across the chest on the return
Common mistakes
- Don't rotate your torso or use body weight to pull the cable
- Avoid bending the elbow more as you fatigue; keep the angle fixed
- Don't load so heavy that you rely on momentum
Muscles worked
The cable standing single arm fly mainly works the mid chest, with the upper chest, lower chest, front delts, and internal rotators assisting.
- Mid ChestPrimary
- Upper ChestSupport
- Lower ChestSupport
- Front DeltsSupport
- Internal RotatorsSupport
- BicepsMinor
- ForearmsMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
- Lower AbsMinor
- ObliquesMinor
Kovo programs the cable standing single arm fly for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More chest exercises
- How to do the archer push-up
- How to do the assisted dip
- How to do the resistance band chest flyes
- How to do the resistance band push-up
- How to do the barbell bench press
- How to do the paused bench press
Last reviewed June 2026.