Muscle group
Rear delts: exercises and how to train them
The rear delt is the most neglected part of the shoulder: presses barely load it. Face pulls and reverse flyes keep your shoulders balanced and healthy.
What these muscles do
The rear head takes your arm back and rotates the shoulder outward. It works in rows to the waist and chest, but the back drowns it out there. Dedicated work — bent-over reverse flyes, the reverse pec deck and rope face pulls — gives it volume of its own. The rotator cuff works with it, the muscles that hold the joint steady when you press.
Exercises with technique breakdowns
10 more exercises in the catalog
- Reverse Pec Deck Fly
- Cable Rear Delt Fly
- Seated Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise
- Bent-Over Low-Pulley Side Lateral
- Lying Rear Delt Raise
- Lying One-Arm Lateral Raise
- Barbell Rear Delt Row
- Cable Rope Rear-Delt Row
- Dumbbell External Rotation
- Cable External Rotation
They're all in the diary: find one by name in the bot or the app, and I'll remember the weight and reps.
How to train them
- Pull to your face and turn your hands out: at the end, fists by your temples, elbows above your hands.
- In reverse flyes don't squeeze your shoulder blades all the way — that shifts the work to the mid back.
- Put 2–3 rear delt sets into every upper-body day — they're short and barely tire you.
- If presses pull your shoulders forward, your rear delts aren't getting enough work.
Log your workouts — I'll show how many sets a week you give this group.