Towel Fly

So-called fly exercises are popular exercises for isolating the chest muscles as much as possible. The primary function during this exercise is bringing the upper arms forward through the action of the pectoralis major. Because the arms maintain the same curvature throughout the movement, the triceps are required much less than during the bench press. The biceps must remain under tension continuously to keep the arms slightly bent.

Flyes are often performed with dumbbells, machines, or cables. The towel fly is a way to perform this exercise using body weight as resistance.

Towel Fly execution

1
Place two folded towels on a smooth surface. Position them slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. A third folded towel or cushion in the center may be useful for safety reasons.
2
Assume a push-up position with your hands on the towels.
3
Slowly and in a controlled manner, push your hands outward.
4
Lower yourself until your ‘point of no return’. This point is different for everyone, so you may need to find it through trial and error.
5
Pull your arms back inward forcefully by pushing inward from the elbows and allowing the hands to follow.

Towel Fly

Active muscles:

Pectoralis major (chest muscle)
Anterior deltoid (front fibers of the shoulder muscle)
Serratus anterior
Coracobrachialis (coracobrachialis muscle)

Stabilizing muscles:

Rotator cuff (stabilizing shoulder muscles, supraspinatus, subscapularis, teres major, teres minor)
Biceps brachii
Serratus
Trapezius
Triceps brachii
Latissimus dorsi
Core muscles

Flyes are often performed with dumbbells, machines, or cables. The towel fly is a way to perform this exercise using body weight as resistance.

Towel Fly technique

If desired, experiment with different towels, folded or unfolded. Layers of a towel sliding over one another can make the exercise difficult or even impossible.

The exercise does not necessarily have to be performed with a towel. Dumbbells are also an option and, moreover, are closer as an exercise to the dumbbell and cable flyes. They are also more comfortable for the wrists because of the more natural position. However, the lack of lateral resistance can cause you to lose balance more quickly. You can optionally combine them with towels placed as brake blocks at the widest point of the hands.

With towels used to slide on, you always experience resistance from friction between the towel and the floor when the hands are pushed outward. This means that the shoulders have to work harder to actively push outward, while the chest muscles have to work less hard to brake this movement. On the way back inward, that same friction causes the chest muscles to work harder again.