Muscular-Fitness

The rear deltoid muscles are often overlooked when training the shoulders although they really give a polished and rounded look to the shoulders when they are developed. There are number of rear deltoid exercises that will stimulate growth in the delts but usually you only need to do 3 heavy or high intensity sets for the rear delts at the end of your shoulder workout. If you always finish your shoulders workout by performing a few sets of rear deltoid exercises you may notice some immediate growth in the rear delts and this will complement your front and side deltoid development.

One of the most common and effective rear deltoid exercises is the seated and bent over dumbell lateral raise. Sit on the very end of a flat bench with your body bent as far forward as possible with your head facing down and raise the dumbbells up to each side and outward. When you get to the top of the movement with this rear delt exercise it’s ideal to crunch the rear delts by flexing them hard for just a second before lowering the weight.

Another popular rear delt exercise is the rear deltoid row machine. With your palms facing the floor grab onto the handle of the rear delt row machine and pull back hard but always keep you elbows high during this movement. Keeping your elbows high when doing this type of rear deltoid exercise places the majority of the resistance on the rear delts and not on the back muscles.

The cable rear deltoid exercise is an easy to perform movement that quickly allows you to adjust the weight if you want to do drop down sets to really blast the rear delts. Ideally you want to bend over and grab the cable with the hand and shoulder that is facing away from the pulley which will be near the floor. With your free hand place it on your opposite knee and lean forward. Pull the cable in the exact same manner as when you are performing the seated rear delt lateral raise. You might have to perform a few reps until you get the angle right and feel the resistance of the weight in your rear delt. This exercise can be performed with both hands on opposing cables at the same time while leaning forward or one hand at a time. I prefer to do this one hand at a time so I can really concentrate on each individual rear deltoid muscle.

Once you incorporate some rear deltoid exercises into your shoulder training routines you will not only increase the strength of the rear delts which will help you lift more weight when training your back muscles but you will add more overall mass to your shoulders and give them that really full look from the side and back. The rear delts look very impressive when developed especially since very few weight trainers and bodybuilders train them hard and often.