The rear delts, also known as the posterior delts, are an important muscle group that make up the shoulders and upper back. They are the muscle group responsible for holding the shoulders backward to prevent a hunched position.
Here are the five best rear delt exercises you should focus on. Whenever you focus on the shoulders or lay muscles, you can include some of these movements in your routine:
1) Face pulls
This is one of the most common rear delt exercises.
Fix the rope on the cable machine at the same level as your chin/nose. Hold the rope by its ends, and pull it towards your forehead. Your posterior delt muscles should be pulling the weight, and elbows should flare. Hold the position for two seconds. Make sure you squeeze at the top, and slowly return to the neutral position.
2) Rear delt machine
Not every gym has this machine, but if yours does, you should take advantage of that.
Adjust the seat to a level where your feet touch the ground and can provide you with the support needed. Hold the horizontal handles and face the machine. Your chest should be pressed against the seat, your arms slightly bent from the elbows and your feet should be firmly on the ground. Push your hands backwards, and squeeze your rear delt muscles. Hold the position for a second, and return to the neutral position.
3) Bent-over dumbbell fly
You can do this movement by standing up or sitting down, whichever is comfortable for you.
Hold a pair of dumbbells that are easy to lift. Bend forward from your hips; keep your back straight, and your upper body should be parallel to the ground. Bring the dumbbells in front of you, and push your arms backwards, doing a reverse fly. The rear delt muscles and smaller back muscles get activated during this motion and help in strengthening the muscle group.
4) Wide grip inverted row
This is one of the best rear delt exercises to work on the entire muscle group, even the back muscles.
Set up a barbell at your hip level. Hold the barbell, and slide underneath it. At that point, your legs should be extended forward, with your palms facing forward. Pull yourself towards the barbell in a rowing motion, and let go slowly. Continue this motion for multiple repetitions to activate the rear delt muscles.
5) Cable lateral extensions
This is another common rear delt exercise.
Set up the cable machine at shoulder level or above. Stand facing the machine, and hold the left cable with the right hand and the right cable with the left. Stretch your arms backwards while holding the cables. At the top position, your arms should be slightly behind your upper body and the cables should make a cross in front of you. Keep your arms slightly bent from the elbows.
Bottom line
It’s imperative you incorporate some of the best rear delt exercises mentioned above into your workout routine. The more you work on your rear delts, the better it will be for your trap muscles as well.
In fact, having significant trap muscles can make you look big, as it enhances your shoulders and back at the same time.
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