To make your rear delts roar, follow these eight tips:
1. Do rear delts after back training that consists of lots of rows.
2. Train rear delts twice over the course of your training split.
3. Prioritize rear delts on shoulder day among the three delt heads.
4. Choose a solid mass-builder with challenging weights.
5. Do a second rear-delt exercise later in your workout.
6. Incorporate new rear-delt movements.
To train the rear delts, start by doing exercises that engage your core, depress your shoulders, and retract your head. Maintain this tension while pulling your band apart, keeping your arms straight or with an improved posture.
Target the single-arm bent-over row, which is an overlooked muscle group. Focus on controlling the movement and originating from your shoulders.
Top tips for performing the best rear delt exercises include choosing 3-5 exercises to add to your workout, warm up with mobility work, and use the full range of exercises.
Bench press is a popular choice for building strong and muscular pecs, but it can also be great for developing your front deltoids.
To build well-developed rear delts, focus on compound exercises that train your posterior delts. A good rule of thumb is to spend 80% of your time and energy on compound exercises that train your delts, and the remaining 20% on rear delt isolation exercises and machines.
Incorporating new rear-deltoid movements into your workouts can help you balance and prioritize your delts.
📹 How to Grow Your Rear Delts FAST (3 Simple Techniques)
I’m going to show you how to grow your rear delts fast with 3 simple tips that you can apply right away to your rear delt workout (in …
What is the most rear delt activation?
The results. After the tests, the researchers used equations to crunch the numbers (Tables 1-3; Figures 1-3). The dumbbell shoulder press was the most effective exercise for the anterior deltoid. The 45-degree incline row and bent-arm lateral raise were the best for the medial deltoid. Finally, for the posterior deltoid, the seated rear lateral raise and the 45-degree incline row were the best for the back of the shoulder. The Bottom Line: “There’s no one best exercise for the shoulders,” says John P. Porcari, Ph.D., head of the University’s Clinical Exercise Physiology Department. The shoulder is a complex joint, so one exercise can’t fully activate all three parts of the deltoid muscle. “You have to do more than one exercise for the shoulder and know which part of the deltoid each exercise targets,” says lead researcher Samantha Sweeney, M.S. “If you do front raises, shoulder presses, and lateral raises, you’ve hit the anterior deltoid, middle, and neglected the posterior deltoid.” You’re not getting a full workout.
How do I activate delts?
The results. After the tests, the researchers used equations to crunch the numbers (Tables 1-3; Figures 1-3). The dumbbell shoulder press was the most effective exercise for the anterior deltoid. The 45-degree incline row and bent-arm lateral raise were the best for the medial deltoid. Finally, for the posterior deltoid, the seated rear lateral raise and the 45-degree incline row were the best for the back of the shoulder. The Bottom Line: “There’s no one best exercise for the shoulders,” says John P. Porcari, Ph.D., head of the University’s Clinical Exercise Physiology Department. The shoulder is a complex joint, so one exercise can’t fully activate all three parts of the deltoid muscle. “You have to do more than one exercise for the shoulder and know which part of the deltoid each exercise targets,” says lead researcher Samantha Sweeney, M.S. “If you do front raises, shoulder presses, and lateral raises, you’ve hit the anterior deltoid, middle, and neglected the posterior deltoid.” You’re not getting a full workout.
What hits rear deltoid?
To work the rear delts, do exercises like reverse flyes and bent-over lateral raises. You can also activate the rear delts with the dumbbell row. You can do these exercises with dumbbells, bands, or machine handles. You don’t need heavy dumbbells for the dumbbell row. The goal is to do the exercise right. To get the most out of this, use a light or medium dumbbell and move slowly. Focus on the eccentric portion of the lift. You can do rear delt flyes with dumbbells, bands, or a machine. You can do flyes while standing or lying on an incline bench if you use dumbbells or exercise bands. You can also use an incline bench for the cable machine version, but you’ll need to drag a bench over and cross the pulley handles. Most people do the movement while standing at the cable machine because it’s easier.
Is it OK to not train rear delts?
One of the most important muscles to train is also one of the most overlooked. I’m talking about the rear delts. The rear deltoid muscle is important for a safe and effective strength training program. The rear deltoid muscles help your shoulders move and stay stable. Strengthening the rear delts also improves your performance in other upper body exercises.
How to activate rear delt?
We think about the wrist and the dumbbell. And how to make them wider. And away from our body, back behind us. That’s not enough. Remember, you’re missing the extension.
How do you train your rear delts effectively?
We can modify the face bolt by laying it on the ground. This eliminates the effects of gravity. This also helps to reduce the upper traps being activated too much.
Why can’t I hit my rear delts?
Your rear delts may not be growing well because you’re not exercising correctly. But there’s another reason. You’re using too much weight when training your rear delts, which is allowing other muscles to take over. To avoid this, we’ll use a different exercise for the rear delts and focus on quality reps. This is the “better reverse fly” exercise. This is just one of several great shoulder exercises I’ll be including in an upcoming shoulder article. Look out for it!
How do you contract a rear delt?
Together almost to the point of cramping. Relax. To get the effect from the ACMs, do about 10 to 15 repetitions of the full stretch.
Why don’t I have rear delts?
Your rear delts may not be growing well because you’re not exercising correctly. But there’s another reason. You’re using too much weight when training your rear delts, which is allowing other muscles to take over. To avoid this, we’ll use a different exercise for the rear delts and focus on quality reps. This is the “better reverse fly” exercise. This is just one of several great shoulder exercises I’ll be including in an upcoming shoulder article. Look out for it!
Why are my rear delts lacking?
Your rear delts may not be growing well because you’re not exercising correctly. But there’s another reason. You’re using too much weight when training your rear delts, which is allowing other muscles to take over. To avoid this, we’ll use a different exercise for the rear delts and focus on quality reps. This is the “better reverse fly” exercise. This is just one of several great shoulder exercises I’ll be including in an upcoming shoulder article. Look out for it!
How do you isolate your rear delts?
To build mass and strength in your rear deltoids, do specific isolation exercises. Pull-apart and cable face pulls are great for building your rear delts, but there are plenty of other pulling exercises that help too. Try lat pulldowns and assisted pull-ups.
- References. Elzanie A, Varacallo M. Anatomy of the Shoulder and Upper Limb: Deltoid Muscle. Updated May 8, 2023. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing
- 2023 Jan-
Do rows activate rear delts?
To build stronger, bigger rear delts, do compound exercises like lat pulldowns, rows, and pullups and rear delt isolation exercises like the ones below. You don’t need to train your rear delts every day. You should train hard enough that you need at least a day’s rest between working the same muscle group twice. To build your rear delts, train them 2-3 times a week. Increase the reps or weights to overload the muscle. Push-ups don’t work the rear delts. The exercises below target the rear delts. Pull-ups and rows are good exercises for the rear delts.
📹 The ONLY 2 Exercises You Need for Rear Delts (NO, SERIOUSLY!)
What would you say if I told you there were only 2 rear delt exercises you need to do in order to get rounded shoulders?
Hi Jeremy! These tips are quite helpful, thanks! Can you make a article about upper chest? I have a very strong front delt causei had a very poor form when doing chest exercises. I increased my weight to early and my delts are now taking over, everytime i trying to work my chest. Even with light weight. I tried to change the position of my shoulder and push my chest up…nothing really helps. It’s very frustrating.
Love your vids! You asked, what area do you struggle with? There’s a spot on the inside of the knee, just below the inner thighs, that I can’t seem to get any exercises to work, no matter what I do. Inner thigh exercises work my upper inner thighs only, it seems. None of the other leg exercises make that one, small area sore, and frankly, it’s soft and pudgy though nowhere else on my legs is. Any tips would be appreciated!
I’m doing home exercise, unfortunately I cant since I dont have a proper chair. But apparently, if you do the wide row position while lifting like reverse fly as shown in the article, it seems to be effective. Felt it on my rear delt and thought I should share it (not sure HOW effective it is, but I felt it so it must’ve worked).
I’m surprised you didn’t even mention a certain problem, the retraction of the scapula. The function of the posterior deltoid is horizontal abduction, if you retract your scapula at the same time you will mainly use your rhomboids and transverse trapezius, so avoid that the scapulas move during the movement. The best is to keep the scapulas protruding or at least eccentric.
Another thing to note is that the insertion point of the rear delt is toward the front of the upper arm (deltoid tuberosity). So, including rotation throughout the movement (thumbs rotating out on the concentric) provides a more direct path for the fibres to contract in and allows a deeper stretch at the bottom.
I struggle finding exercises for glutes, but I also struggle to activate them when working out Edit:I’m also developing a knee injury related to fencing and discovered it might be because my glutes are underdeveloped so I’m not using the right muscles when executing the lunge, which impacts everything else like my en-guard position, walking and even going up and down stairs.
I would love to see a article about the back muscles in general. I have been in the gym for the last 6 months and I made noticable changes in all of the muscle groups except for my back muscles. I’m not sure if it is because I don’t know to flex them or there is still fat covering it or I don’t have enough muscle in there.
I struggle with my calves. I cannot get the positioning of my foot right when it comes to targeting the medial and lateral aspect of the calves. And many a time when I do try, by the second set (12 reps per set), my left gives way and I can only feel the soleus contracting. I don’t find the strength to contract my gastrocnemius after that.
Hey Jeremy, I think something that doesn’t get talked about enough is MOBILITY. If you don’t have the shoulder mobility to properly get your elbows back, you’ll struggle to activate those rear delts. And since it’s fairly common for guys to have shoulder problems, they’ll limit the range of motion for their shoulders on things like bench press, which only further increases the problem. I think it’s worth pointing out more often how important mobility is! 🙂
I have a shoulder problem that never seems to go away. I believe it’s the rotator cuff but whenever I perform any sort of shoulder/back movement I always get twinges. It’s never got to the point where I can’t continue working out but no matter how long of a rest I give it (both in the gym and between workouts) it always reappears next time.
Lol. As a guy who has notoriously overdeveloped rear delts. Literally people stare because of my Boulder shoulders… you are missing the very best workout for rear delts and that’s the reverse fly. If I had to choose any workout that blew up my rears more than any, it’s that one hands down. And yes, go heavy.
The trapz doesn’t attach to the humerus so its completely nonsense that the problem with the rear fly is that the humerus aligns with the trapz. The problem is that it’s not a compound movement so not that great of an overload. And if you don’t do any wide grip rows that one rear fly a week isn’t enough volume.
“FAST ACTION” Q&A* – Leave your most burning question about this article or any other training, PT or nutrition question within the first 2 hours of this article’s release (AS A SEPARATE COMMENT!!) and I will pick 8 to get a detailed reply from me right here in the comments. Answers wi ll be posted within the first 24-48 hours of you leaving the question. Good luck!
jesus i remember being in my class… and I would come on your articles and try and locate specific muscles since u look amazing. glad you are still filming and that you are active. also, I got back to gym after 1.5 years, and these articles just wake some nostalgia that’s buried deep down.. keep it up mate
Gracias por todo tu conocimiento compartido eres un gran profesional y una persona muy cercana . Tengo una duda … cuando hay músculos acortados, desbalance muscular, falta de flexibilidad y estabilidad en algunas zonas del cuerpo como por ejemplo hombros, core ( estabilidad central ), escapulo humeral, coxo femoral, pie y tobillo, pectorales, que podemos hacer? . Sería posible hacer un vídeo con ejercicios correctivos y algo de biomecánica de los movimientos en ejercicios específicos por favor ? Gracias y un saludo Super Jeff 😅 😊
I follow Mentzer’s heavy duty workout and he recommended a superset of dumbell lateral raises + rear dumbell lateral raises, I found out I would get better results from cable lateral raises + cable face pulls, as the tension is more constant and the face pull is a compound move that involves all the moves of the rear delts
Hey Jeff, Love your work! Thank you for all that you do for this community. Having followed your work for many years, I made my own PPL workout program based on your advice and tips. But, I feel as if I’m always running out of time to complete my workouts. There’s always some corrective exercise or some minor muscle work that gets left at the end of 1.5 hours. How can I program my workouts to make sure that I hit most (if not all) muscles without having to spend hours at the gym?
Hey Jeff, I love your articles and have been inspired by Jesse’s transformation especially in relation to the changes that he was able to his posture. I know that you always stress the importance of the upper back and the importance that it has for shoulder health. I personally have a lot of issues with this due to an old lifting injury which has left my scapula weak and my upper traps tight and overcompensating for the lack of stability. I know that you have many articles discussing how to strengthen the the upper back and articles that also discuss how to fix a winged scapula and my understanding from those articles is to proritize flexibility first and then go into strengthening. My question is what is the progression of those two in relation to each other especially when trying to take away tension from the upper traps? Should I be doing both at the same time or prioritizing one over the other? I was also curios if you had any advice how how to prevent the upper traps from taking over especially in seratus work?
@athleanx …. If you see this: I have a question, more so in regards to physical therapy. For someone with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, which exercises do you recommend doing and which do you recommend avoiding? My physical therapist said no more overhead press and no more military press and gave me some exercises to do like face pulls and some stretches, so I’m doing what she said …. but I’m honestly a bit overwhelmed when I walk in to my garage gym. 🤔
I’ve wondered about certain changes you make from one article to another. Always curious if you read/ saw/ learned something that changed your mind on which is best. Obviously it’s often situational based on goals, but it would be nice for that to be related in the article. Example: in your perfect PPL series you do lawnmowers with nothing but the dumbell, but I noticed the same excersize in a recent article using the back of a seat for support. Is each one better for a specific purpose? Or is one better than the other in general? Or?… Also thanks for the great website; I appreciate your articles immensely!
Hey Jeff, I’m not sure if you’ve covered it in previous articles yet but I’m wondering if supplementing with glucosamine sulfate is necessary, and if so, for whom – which types of lifters? I’ve heard conflicting information – some people say you don’t need joint supplements, they aren’t necessary and have little to no benefit, and others have said they are absolutely necessary and you should take them as soon as you start weightlifting and not wait until you’re 40 with joint pain.
Thank you for the vid. Please, teach us how to achieve it (rear delts + mid delts) with bands. Due to the mobility capabilities, that’s my current gym. Today I am trying working out rear delts by doing anchoring in door hinges and simulating a cross reverse cable fly with my arms at 45 degrees angle. For mid delts I am both anchoring the bands at foot level and upper leg level to try to work at diferent muscle extentions. Front delt is just overhead press with a heavy band. Also please, tell me what do you think about myo-reps.
Hi Jeff, how to assess a good workout ? I am not able to gauge on how much i need to push a muscle to, in a single session, using soreness after as an indicator. Should i keep a benchmark exercise towards the end of my routine as a benchmark for a certain weight and certain rep range, that if i’m not able to meet, then conclude that i have adequately fatigued my target muscle ?
What’s the best way to fix muscle imbalances? My left bicep and shoulder are definitely weaker than my right and it may be partially due to a past injury. In any case, my left arm gets fatigued much faster with bicep curls and shoulder raises, so wondering how to train to reduce this imbalance. Thanks!
Does increasing the reps (to around 20) with same weight have similar effects to increasing weight around reaching 12-13 reps? I find increasing weights after reaching higher rep ranges makes me available to lift my next higher weight with better form almost everytime, rather than going higher early.
1:58 if I weight 152 with body percentage of 13 I workout 3x a week for about a hour and a half. Right now I’m eating around 2800 calories.350 carbs 67 fat and at least 180 protein. But I’m not gaining weight. which should I increase for bulking im 5’3 37 years old I walk àlot at my job so I’m very active
Hey there Jeff, I have a question for ya. First off lemme say I’ve been following you for years and thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom. So lately I’ve been seeing alot of younger kids in the gym bench pressing with this crazy stupid arch in their backs. I’ve even seen girls doing it wtf is all that?? I looked through your older articles to try an find some info on it but there’s nothing… so what’s the deal. Is that even safe??
Is this program good? Push: Bench press: 3 X 10-12 7.5 X 12 10 + 3.75 X 8 15 x 8 Incline bench press: 3 X 10-12 14 X 8 14 X 8 16 X 8 Shoulder press: 3 X 8 10 X 8 12 X 8 12 X 12 Hammer curl: 3 X 8-12 10 x 10 10 x 10 10 x 12 Egyptian lateral raise: 3 X 20-30 Dumbell: 8 X 12 8 X 10 8 X 10 Superset: Tricep pushdown + overhead extension: 10 X 12 7.5 X 8 10 X 12 7.5 X 10 10 X 10 7.5 X 10 ——————————————————————— Pull: Seated row: 3 X 10-12 Machine: 35 x 12 42 x 12 49 x 10 Lat pulldown: 3 X 10-12: Machine: 28 x 12 35 x 12 42 x 12 Bicep Curl: 3 X 6-8 8 x 10 8 x 12 8 x 12 Brachialis: 3 X 8-10 8 x 12 8 x 12 8 x 12 barbell rear delt row: 5 x 12 10 x 12 12.5 x 12 Rowing: 3 X 10-12 10 X 12 10 X 12 10 X 12 Superset: Face pull from high to low 3 X 8-10 10 x 12 10 x 12 10 x 10 X Chest supported row: 3 X 8-10 6 x 12 6 x 12 6 x 12 ——————————————————————— Legs: Leg press: 30 x 12 44 x fail 51 x fail Leg extension: 14 x 12 21 x 12 28 x 12 Calves: 0 x 12 5 x 12 7.5 + 1.25 x 12 Forearm curl: 3 x 8-10 8 x 14 10 x 14 10 x 14 Reverse curl: 3 x 8-12 4 x 12 6 x 12 6 x 12 Squats: 5 x 12 7.5 + 1.25 x 8 7.5 + 1.25 x 8 Abs roller 3 sets x 12 Or Plank: 2 minutes
For those that train at home, what are good strategies to increase resistance with bands? I know to some extent you can shift stance / lengthen the pulling distance, but it seems that has a limit. Is the simple answer just bands of different widths? Any other suggestions? And do you consider tubing as essentially equivalent to bands?
I’m 50 years old, turning 51 in a couple of months. Last year I lost my track exercising and I ended up in the worst shape of my life, specially talking about mobility. Is there an specific program that you guys suggest to get back in shape. I want to believe that my fitness background is gonna help me to make the process easier.
Hey Jeff, I’ve been having some pain on the right side of my back near my lower trap and in between the spine and shoulder blade area. It’s not terrible pain and hasn’t stopped me from my workouts or day to day activities, but it hasn’t gone away for what seems like about 2-3 months. I get the pain whenever I do motions where I’m rotating me neck to the right side of my body, especially if I look up and back, then rotate my neck to the right coming forward. It feels like a little pinch of a nerve or muscle or something in my back that is agitated whenever putting my neck through those motions. Any idea what the issue could be and how to fix it? I am 19, 205lbs, been an athlete my whole live, in great shape, and pain isn’t anything new to me I normally just fight through it lol
Hi Jeff! I’m a 15 years old boy and, as a teenager, I’ve been wondering if eating 1500-1700 kcal a day is okay for me. I consider my diet very healthy, but i don’t think it’s enough, mostly because I’m worried with my growth and body development. I got some info for you below, if you need: Weight: 144lbs Height: 5’7 Liked exercises: deadlifting, pull-ups, push-ups Hope you can help me with this, because i’m unsure of how many calories i should eat and about how i should eat, and if 7% of bf is okay for me. Gotta convince my dad to let me eat the amount of food that i need. Been a huge fan since I was thirteen. Regards from Germany!
What would you say about Mike Metzner’s Statement that overtraining is the biggest threat to muscle growth? He had insisted that a muscle should not be trained with more than 4-5 sets per week. In addition, he adds that most people don’t see results because they are overtraining. I am currently using an upper / lower split program I created. Bar from the legs, I have divided all muscles into corresponding zones that I target on separate days. Although, different parts like upper/mid-chest, or front vs side delt, the muscle is still one, and at the end, I fear the total for e.g. chest is around 15 to 20 sets. Though different parts of them were targeted on separate days, is this way still contradictory to Mike Metzner’s idea? Is it still too much (overtraining)? Note: Regardless of the separation I train with a lot of intensity, and spend between 45 to 55 minutes per workout. 3 to 4 times a week with 3 days of resting. And at least one between the upper parts.
Welp, this probably wont be seen but when ever i do face pulls and motions similar to this article my tennis elbow screams. Is there a PT way to fix this or do i literally have to live with the pain. I get it in both elbows. i also work as a mover constantly carrying heavy shit. So rest kind of isnt really an option, which is the only prescription i have heard for it.
If you want crazy rear delts do this – take a dumbbell, stand straight or bend slightly forward and with a straight arm, push back behind you and towards the roof. Second awesome exercise is reverse peck deck, BUT during the whole movement your shoulder blades should remain pulled forward, it makes all the difference. These work! I am talking from experience, try them out and feel free to tell me how you did.
The muscle OVER the joint does the work .. 1:29 and 3:12 your side delts at over the joint, not much so the rear. 2:18 your high bar rows with elbows going back, does focus mostly rear delt involvement, and one can do that same motion bent over with dumbbells. That’s how I won National titles in the 80/90’s.
You did a article about 3-4 weeks go about the ability to build muscle naturally vs people taking stuff to help them. You said that if you take something, like steroids for example, there’s always a price to pay, or something to that effect. Is there anything you can take that’s safe but will still help? Obviously it wouldn’t do as good a job as steroids, but even just a little would help right?
does having one arm lat trap etc bigger than the other that bad i mean i only did dumbell curls and tricep extensions on 1 arm for almost more than a year and now i preform my excercises in a weird way where i have to squeeze the right first then the left of the muscle im training when it comes to pull ups and push ups and i rlly cant correct it or fix it
Request⚠️Thumbs up👍 this comment if you wish Jeff & Jesse to provide us the following suggested and recommended articles: Playlist: “Muscle Marker” article: Bodyweight Rows (Inverted Rows) Grips and Grip Width variations (and the muscles they target) Playlist: “The Best Band Exercises for Every Muscle” article: Build Big Forearms with Bands (no weights!) article: Build Big Abs & Obliques with Bands (no weights!) (New) Playlist: “The Best Gymnastic Rings Exercises for Every Muscle” articles: Build Big Forearms, Abs & Obliques, Chest, Back, Shoulders, Triceps, Biceps, Legs, etc with Rings (no weights!) Only OG Athlean-X Bodyweight Wednesday die-hard fans are allowed to like this comment 💪