We count down the days until leg day, and if it’s upper body day, we can guarantee you’re training back and bi’s – but isn’t it time the shoulders got a bit more attention? More specifically, a small but mighty muscle called the rear delts?
If you’ve never given them much thought, don’t worry. In this article we’ll tell you everything we know about these mighty shoulder muscles, as well as detailing the best rear delt exercises to add to your workout.
What Are The Rear Delts & Where Are They Located?
Simply put, the rear delts (or posterior deltoids) are the muscles in the back of your shoulders. Making up one-third of the shoulder, the rear delts are responsible for arm extension and external rotation (think the gesture you make with your hands when you say ‘I don’t know’) [1]. They are essential for efficient shoulder movement and posture, supporting the muscles in your back.
Exercises that hit the rear delts are pulling or rowing movements. If you are a powerlifter trying to increase your chest press, a bodybuilder chasing the V shaped top half, or a CrossFitter performing muscle ups, you will need your rear delts. Why? We’ll go into that more in a moment.
Why Should I Train My Rear Delts?
The rear delts are one of the most undertrained muscles in our body. Despite the fact they make up one whole third of the shoulder muscle heads, its close counterparts, the front and mid delts, usually take the limelight.
But it’s time to start giving some serious attention to the rear delts. Not only do defined delts look great, but they’re the key to correcting poor posture and an important muscle in pulling movements.
We’re not pointing fingers, but If you’re guilty of doubling up on chest day, you might just be overtraining the frontal plane. And no one wants great pecs but a hunched back, do they?
Benefits Of Including Rear Delt Exercises In Your Workouts:
Sculpted Shoulders
The shoulder is made up of three parts (the front delts, side delts and rear delts). Many seek out well-rounded shoulders, but spend their time focusing on just the front and side delts, forgetting the rear delts altogether. If you’re chasing ‘boulder shoulders’ you need to give each part of the shoulder equal attention.
Improved Posture
Sitting hunched over a computer or driving a car – we’re all guilty of poor posture and spending too long sitting down. Over time, this leads to kyphosis (forward rounding of the upper back). We’ll let you in on a secret: having strong rear delts helps to keep the shoulders pulled back, promoting better posture.
Shoulder Stability
They might be small, but the rear delts play a big role in supporting the other upper body muscles. They help lift your arm in a lateral raise, prevent shoulder rotation during a bench press, and provide stability during pull ups. Whether you’re a bodybuilder, powerlifter, or hybrid athlete, we can’t stress enough how important these muscles are. Without them you would soon find yourself struggling to do many movements – so it’s time to start paying more attention to them!
The 6 Best Rear Delt Exercises
So you’re ready to train your rear delts, but how do you do it? We’ve put together a list of our top posterior deltoid exercises to build size and strength:
Rear Delt Fly
Face Pulls
Barbell Row
Suspended Inverted Row
Single Arm Dumbbell Row
Close Grip Lat Pull Down
1. Rear Delt Fly
If you’re serious about growing your delts, the rear delt fly – or reverse fly – is the exercise you don’t want to skip. This isolation exercise specifically targets the rear delts, whilst incorporating the lats, traps, and rhomboids as secondary muscles and stabilizers in the back.
The rear delt fly is often performed using dumbbells, however, numerous studies have found that using the rear delt fly machine – or ‘Pec Dec’ – increases muscle activation in the rear delts, making the machine variation our preference [2] [3].
How To Use The Rear Delt Fly Machine
Sit on the rear delt machine with your chest against the pad (as if you are sitting backwards in a chair).
Feet should be flat on the floor, with the handles at shoulder height in front of you (adjust the seat if necessary).
Take hold of the handles in a neutral grip, arms outstretched but not locked out. [4]
Bring the handles back, until they are roughly in line with your shoulders.
Pause, and then slowly return to the starting position, stopping just before the plates touch the weight stack, before repeating the movement.
Tip: As this is an isolation exercise, we recommend working with lighter weights for higher reps for this exercise (10-15 reps).
2. Face Pulls
Face pulls are an extremely effective rear delt exercise to challenge your back, arms, and core. They target the traps, rhomboids, and, most importantly for us, the rear delts.
Face pulls involve a horizontal pull (moving weight from out in front of you into the midline), a movement plane that is not too common across other exercises, but is very efficient at activating the rear delts, which is why we think it deserves a place in our rear delt workout list [5].
How To Do Face Pulls For Rear Delts:
Attach the rope extension to the cable machine, and move the cable so it sits just above head height.
Take the two ends of the cable in both hands, thumbs on top of the cable, palms facing down.
Take a couple of steps back, until your arms are fully extended up in front of you. Feet should be shoulder-width apart.
Lean back slightly, and engage your core.
Pull the rope towards your forehead, aiming to get the handles towards your ears, letting the elbows flair out to the side, level with your wrist and hands.
Pause, squeeze your rear delts, then reverse the movement, slowly extending the arms back to the starting position.
Note: You can also use a supinated grip (thumbs pointing down, pinky fingers on the top of the rope). This allows for more rotation at the end of the movement, making it even more beneficial for the rear delts.
If you struggle with balance during this movement, try taking a staggered stance. Or, come down to your knees, and perform the movement with one, or both knees on the ground. You’ll still work the rear delts, but with less pressure on the lower back and core, improving overall stability.
3. Barbell Row
The king of movements when it comes to building back size and strength, the barbell row is a compound exercise (recruits multiple muscles), primarily targeting the rear delts and traps, lats, and rhomboids. Not only does that make it great for building your rear delts, but it’ll take your core stability and grip strength up a notch, benefiting other lifts too.
How To Do A Barbell Row For Rear Delts:
Set up as if you are about to deadlift:
Stand with your mid-foot under the bar, feet shoulder-width apart.
Squat down, placing your hands on the bar in an overhead grip, thumb width outside of legs. Keep your back flat, chest up, head and neck in line. Focus your eyes just ahead of your feet.
Lift the bar as you stand, until you are standing fully upright, holding the bar.
Now, you are ready to perform the barbell row:
Stand tall, chest up, core engaged.
Hinge over, pushing your bum back, bending your knees slightly, moving the bar down your thighs until the bar reaches your kneecaps and your chest is at a 60-degree angle with the ground.
Start the row: pull the barbell upwards towards your belly button, driving the elbows back, squeezing the shoulder blades.
Pause, then bring the barbell back down to the starting position. Repeat.
Tip: Feeling it in your traps rather than rear delts? Make sure you aren’t too upright when performing the row. This could cause the row to turn into more of a ‘shrug’, therefore emphasizing the upper traps.
Reduce the load and ensure your torso is almost perpendicular to the floor. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and perform controlled reps, focusing on squeezing your rear delts at the top of the movement.
4. Suspended Inverted Row / TRX Row
The suspended inverted row is a horizontal pulling exercise usually performed with the TRX or rings. This is a bodyweight exercise, but don’t underestimate its effectiveness – it will fire up your lats and rear delts [6]! If you struggle with form or lower back pain during the barbell row, this minimal equipment exercise is a great alternative.
How To Do A Suspended Inverted Row For Rear Delts:
Attach the rings or TRX to a bar and set the handles to chest height.
For ultimate rear delt activation, take the handles in a pronated grip (A.K.A overhand grip: knuckles facing up, palms down). This is slightly more challenging than a neutral grip, but will target the rear delts more specifically [7].
Walk back from the rig until arms are fully extended, leaning back slightly.
Pull your chest towards the handles, squeezing your shoulder blades together, driving the elbows up and back. (Squeeze your glutes and keep your core engaged throughout, making sure not to sag your hips.)
Pause for 2 seconds, focusing on squeezing the rear delts then lower body back to the starting position.
Tip: This exercise can be made challenging for all levels by altering the foot placement. Performing this exercise in a standing position will be the easiest level, whilst walking the feet forward to a horizontal position makes it harder.
Still too easy? Try adding a box and elevating your feet to further increase the intensity [8].
5. Single Arm Dumbbell Row
Our favourite rear delt dumbbell exercise is the single arm dumbbell row. This unilateral exercise isolates one side of your body, allowing for more targeted stimulation of the muscles [9].
How To Do A Single Arm Dumbbell Row For Rear Delts:
Set up the weight bench in the flat position. Select a moderate-to-heavy single dumbbell.
Holding the dumbbell in one hand, kneel on the bench with the opposite leg, placing the non-rowing hand on the bench. The other foot should be firmly planted on the ground.
Keeping a flat back and engaged core, ‘row’ the dumbbell up, driving the elbow backwards until the dumbbell is in line with your chest.
Pause, then slowly lower back to the starting position. Repeat.
6. Close Grip Lat Pull Down
The lat pull down is most famous for targeting the lats, but did you know the it also activates the biceps, traps, and rear delts? Which of these muscles are activated more, or less, can be altered by placing around with grip placement.
Research shows that performing the lat pull down with a close grip is most effective at targeting the rear delts [10]. This is likely due to the closer grip position requiring the lifter to lean back slightly and pull the handle in at an angle, increasing the range of motion in the lats and involvement of the rear delt muscles, making it a great inclusion in your delts workout.
How To Do A Close Grip Lat Pull Down For Rear Delts:
Attach the v handle attachment to the lat pull down machine.
Take a seat, adjusting the pads so your feet are flat on the floor, with the pads resting on your thighs. Select an appropriate weight that allows you to control the movement and avoid ‘swinging’.
Stand up and take hold of the handle in both hands. Return to a seated position, arms straight above you.
Engage your core and pull the handle down towards your upper chest, driving the elbows down.
Pause, squeezing the rear delts, then reverse the movement, making sure to control the weight and extend your arms fully at the top. Repeat.
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What’s The Best Rear Delt Exercise?
To train the rear delts most effectively, it’s important to use a combination of isolation and compound movements. Compound exercises – like the barbell row – will work the delts, along with other muscles, whilst isolation movements – such as a rear delt fly – will specifically target the rear delts to accelerate hypertrophy in that area.
If you are committed to seeing progress, we recommend training your rear delts at least twice a week [11]. Whilst we aren’t recommending you do all these exercises in one session, you should aim to include a couple of these rear delt exercises in your pull or upper body workout days, alongside your normal exercises. Try to vary the exercises you select to further increase hypertrophy [12].
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Conclusion
The rear delts are, ironically, one of the most important, but most undertrained muscles. But if you are looking to build serious size and strength in your shoulders, the rear delts are a muscle you shouldn’t forget to train. Include these rear delt exercises regularly and you will start to see differences across your lifts, posture, and appearance.References
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WRITTEN BY: Alex Kirkup-Lee
Alex is an inhouse Content Writer for Gymshark’s Health & Conditioning categories. A qualified Personal Trainer, CrossFit Level 1 and Functional Fitness Coach, Alex is experienced in training clients from a range of sporting backgrounds. With a passion for functional training, her favorite workout is anything that includes deadlifts, rowing, or wallballs.
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References:
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Snarr, R.L., Nickerson, B.S. and Esco, M.R. (2014) Effects of hand-grip during the inverted row with and without a suspension device: An electromyographical investigation, European Journal of Sports & Exercise Science. Available at: https://www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com/abstract/effects-of-handgrip-during-the-inverted-row-with-and-without-a-suspension-device-an-electromyographical-investigation-7943.html.
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