If you’re looking for a way to take your shoulder workout to the next level, then consider adding some rear delt exercises. You see, rear delts are an important muscle group that is often overlooked in training programs. Not only are shoulder strength and do they help create the broad-shouldered look that many people desire, but they also play an important role in maintaining posture and shoulder health. So let’s take a look at five rear delt exercises you can add to your shoulder workout routines today!
Shoulder Muscles
Before we dive into the shoulder exercises, let’s quickly review the muscles of the shoulder. The shoulder is composed of three main muscles: anterior posterior deltoid muscles or front delt, medial side anterior deltoid side muscle or side delt and the other arm has posterior and rear deltoid muscles or rear delt.
The anterior deltoid muscle or posterior deltoid, is located on the front of your shoulder level your upper back shoulder blade, and upper arm. It enables the shoulder to rotate inwards, making it crucial for movements like front raises and pushups.
The medial or posterior deltoid, is located on the side of upper body and upper arm bone just below your shoulder and helps to abduct the front upper body and arm bone (raise it away from your upper body strength well). Side lateral raises are an effective exercise that target this muscle group.
Finally, the posterior or posterior deltoid of muscle is located on the upper back side of your shoulder and helps to hold your shoulder blades in place. It also enables you slightly bend upper arm bone overhand grip, using it to rotate your arm outward overhand grip, making it crucial for overhead pressing movements.
What is The Rear Delt?
The rear delt is the rear delt exercise the shoulder muscle and most important of the three shoulder muscles. As we mentioned, the best rear delt exercises to exercise it helps to hold stability ball of your shoulder blades in place and also enables you to rotate stability ball of your upper arm further outward, which makes it an essential part of any overhead pressing movement.
The rear delt mainly moves externally rotate the shoulder in horizontal abduction, involving internal and external rotation together, and shoulder extension when extending the shoulder level the arms behind the hips. Additionally, it helps in external rotation of the shoulder. During pulling exercises, the rear delts are active many pulling movements, and they also assist in stabilizing standing position of the shoulder during pressing movements, such as the overhead press.
Rear Delt Exercises
Dumbbell Incline Y Raise
Lie down on a bench set to an incline of 45 degrees. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms hanging straight down from your shoulders. Raise the weights up and out keeping your arms straight until they are fully extended. slowly lower back to starting position. Repeat for 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps.
Dumbbell Incline T Raise
This is a great exercise for targeting your rear delts. Start by setting up the front bench press up to an incline of 30-45 degrees and lying face down with feet on the floor behind you, and knees slightly bent. Grab dumbbells with an underhand grip, letting them hang directly under your shoulders. Contract your shoulder blades bringing your arms out to the sides keeping your arms straight until they are parallel with the floor. Slowly return to starting position and repeat for 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps.
Dumbbell Bent Over Rear Delt Fly
This is an excellent exercise for targeting the rear delts. Stand with feet hip width apart and hold dumbbells at feet shoulder width apart with your palms facing inwards in a neutral grip. Hinge at the hips bending forward until your torso is almost parallel with the floor. Keeping a neutral spine and elbows slightly bent, engage your rear delts to raise the weights up to about shoulder width apart in height. Slowly return to starting position and repeat for 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps.
Dumbbell Rear Lateral Raise With Head Support
Lie face down on a flat bench and hold a dumbbell in each hand allowing them to hang beneath palms facing inwards and palms facing towards you. Place your palms facing your forehead on the floor push your palms facing the bench for support. Engage your rear delts by raising the weights up laterally until they are level with your shoulders. Slowly lower back to starting position and repeat for 2-3 sets of 8-12.
Seated Dumbbell Rear Fly
Sit on the end of a bench with your feet hip width apart. Hold dumbbells in each hand with a neutral grip, then lean forward keeping your back flat in a hip width back-hinged position. Lower the weights down towards the ground, keeping your back straight line your elbows slightly bent and lift up and out to the side until they are aligned with your shoulders. Slowly return to starting position and repeat for 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps.
Prevent Shoulder Injuries
Contrary to popular belief, shoulders can handle heavy weights and are not fragile. However, it is important to learn proper lifting technique as bad technique can cause nagging pains in shoulder joints that can limit certain motions. I personally experienced three shoulder pops while lifting, which wasn’t serious but slowed me down until I recovered. It’s common to experience shoulder injuries while weightlifting for years.
It’s important to check your form periodically, even if you feel more skilled and comfortable at the gym. Everyone can experience bad form, even professional athletes like Mathew Fraser, who admitted to not properly using chest muscles when applying a simple squatting cue and it affected his form. This shows that even world champions need to make corrections to their form, and so should you.
Dealing with injuries is inevitable in sports, but how you handle them can make a difference. It’s important to consistently check your form and incorporate mobility and stability exercises, even if they may not be exciting. Are you consistently making the right decisions to prevent recurring injuries, or are you sticking to old habits that leave you with nagging injuries? This blog emphasizes the importance of consistency, so consider how you may need to adjust your approach.
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Traps Training
The trapezius muscles (traps) in upper body and back are primarily responsible for stabilizing the spine, moving the torso forwards and controlling the shoulder blades. Training the traps is important for any athlete or weightlifter because strong traps will improve posture, reduce injury risk, and better balance out your upper body muscles.
Improving your trap muscles through training can increase your dominance and provide protection for your head and neck. This can help prevent spinal or neck injuries and improve pulling and carrying strength. In terms of appearance, well-built traps work alongside the neck to signify strength and dominance, giving you a warrior-like look. Big traps can also intimidate opponents in battle. Grow your traps to prepare for any challenge.
Although there are exceptions, generally smaller muscles can be trained more frequently because they sustain less damage and central fatigue. The traps can be trained 2-3 times per week, but this is considered a higher frequency range. Progress can still be made with a lower frequency, but increasing frequency may lead to faster progress.
For better training results, it’s important to use high-frequency training by working on a muscle while it’s recovering. However, it’s crucial to ensure that you’re giving enough stimulus each time you train. Keep in mind that different muscles require varying frequencies of training. The more stressed a muscle is during exercises, the less often you should train it. Specifically, you can train traps more frequently than upper-back, pecs, quads, and hamstrings.
In general, smaller muscles can be trained more often because they sustain less damage and fatigue. For instance, the trapezius muscles can be trained 2-3 times per week, which is considered a high frequency range. However, progress can still be made with a lower frequency, but increasing it can result in faster progress. Please note that there may be exceptions to this rule.
Rear Delt FAQS
Are Dumbbell Rows Good For Rear Delts?
Absolutely. Dumbbell rows are a great way to hit the rear and posterior deltoids and develop strength, stability, and muscular balance in your shoulders. This exercise also works your upper back muscles, helping you build a strong and stable core for better posture and injury prevention.
What Is The Fastest Way To Build Rear Delts?
The fastest way to build rear delts is by focusing on compound exercises such as bent-over rows, reverse flys, rope face down pulls, reverse fly up, dumbbell bent over rear delt exercises, rows with rope face down, dumbbells hanging over rear delts, cable pull-throughs, and single-arm rear delt raises. It’s important to use progressive overload techniques like adding weight or reps over time to keep seeing progress with your rear delt workout these exercises.
Do Rear Delt Exercises Make You Look Bigger?
Rear delt exercises can make you look bigger if they are trained properly. By training muscle mass in your rear deltoids, you can create a 3-dimensional shoulder that looks impressive from above shoulder level to waist height at any angle. This rear delt exercise will help you achieve the sought-after V-shaped upper body, and give shoulder width and your shoulders a more balanced appearance above waist height.
Do Pull Ups Hit Rear Delts?
Pull ups work your latissimus dorsi muscles in the back, but they also involve other muscle groups like the biceps, forearms, and rear deltoids for stability and balance. So while pull ups don’t target the rear delts directly, they do provide some indirect stimulation to them. To hit the the rear delt muscle directly, you can perform specific rear delt exercises such pulling movements such as: barbell bent over rows back-over rear delt dumbbell, barbell bent over rows back, reverse flys, face pulls, rear delts fast, reverse fly back, and single arm rear delt raises.
