Deltoid is a very important muscle group that is located in our shoulder and with the help of our deltoid muscles, we can easily move our arms freely. A pair of big and muscular shoulder is a dream for almost every fitness enthusiast because not only they make you look broader and attractive but also this muscle group can help you in many compound movements like deadlift and bench press. For this reason, most gym-goers love to hit the deltoid muscles but the rear delt is often overlooked because many of you don’t know what are the best rear deltoid exercises that you can hit to target the rear delts too.
Also Read: Best Chest Exercises for Maximum Pec Development!
Without the rear delt, only front or anterior and side delts can’t give you the 3D and big shoulders. Without further ado, let’s know these 5 best rear deltoid exercises that are more than enough to make your rear delts muscular and bigger.
Face Pull
Rope Face Pull or simply, Face Pull is one of the most popular and best rear deltoid exercises that you can’t ignore if you want a strong and muscular set of rear delts. The most amazing thing about Face Pulls is that not only you can target your rear delts with it but also your lower traps as well as rhomboids will get enough tension. Funny thing is, most people also neglect the lower traps but with this only exercise, one can hit both the rear deltoids and the lower traps.
Keep in mind, Face Pulls may look easy to perform but it is no way a beginner-friendly exercise. If you are totally new to this exercise, seek assistance from your trainer and start with lightweight in order to master the form first. With poor form, the chances of injury with this exercise is really high and you may face injuries in your shoulder joints. So, it’s better to use lightweight and learn the form first from the trainer.
Rear Deltoid Machine Fly
If you look closely in your local gym, there should be a machine specifically for training the rear deltoids. That machine is your new friend in the gym now because it can help you to gain muscles in your rear delts to make them bigger and stronger. It is similar to a Pec Deck machine where we sit and perform the Machine Fly to target our chest. Only difference is that you have to sit oppositely in the rear delt machine and perform the Machine Fly to create tension on your real deltoids.
For this reason, if your local gym doesn’t possess the rear delt machine, you can use the pec deck machine to perform the same exercise by sitting oppositely. It is popularly known as “Reverse Pec Deck” since you have to do it in the reverse position. This exercise or the original Rear Delt Machine Fly – whatever you perform, is similar to each other and one of the best rear deltoid exercises out there. Beginner-friendly, safe, easy-to-perform and what more can you wish for?! For beginners, this exercise is highly recommended to start their initial training for rear deltoids.
Dumbbell Rear Deltoid Lateral Raises (with Head Support!)
The name of this exercise is kind of too big to remember but don’t worry, just like its name, the exercise also has a big impact on your rear portion of the shoulders like specifically rear deltoids. We all are well aware of this fact that Dumbbell Lateral Raise is the staple exercise to train our side deltoids but most of us never imagined just like this; if we try it for our rear deltoids, it will do wonders too! That’s when this exercise officially comes into play.
The Rear Lateral Raises with dumbbells is not a very stable exercise to perform in that bending position which is why, when you bend to perform the exercise, you need to support your head on an incline bench to provide your body the perfect stability it needs. With that support, you can easily perform the lateral raises to target your rear delts. Undoubtedly, it is one of the best rear deltoid exercises that you can include in your shoulder workout routine to get bigger, muscular and stronger rear delts.
Standing Reverse Cable Fly
Standing Cable Fly or simply, Cable Fly is one of the greatest exercises for building chest and we all know that, right? Similar to Reverse Pec Deck, you can also perform Cable Fly in a reverse position which is called Reverse Cable Fly. This exercise can help you to build not only a strong and muscular pair of rear deltoids but also muscular rhomboid and lower traps. That means, along with your rear delts, your whole upper back will also be targeted greatly.
As you can see, the muscles this exercise targets are same like Face Pull. But, Reverse Cable Fly can create better tension on the rhomboid muscle while Face Pull is better for lower traps. It is advisable to first get accustomed with Rear Delt Machine Fly or Reverse Pec Deck exercise in order to easily master the form of Reverse Cable Fly to avoid unnecessary mistakes and injuries.
Best For You: 10 Best Exercises for Back (Hit Every Muscle!)
Incline Rear Deltoid Dumbbell Rows
And finally, the last exercise in our list of best rear deltoid exercises is Incline Rear Deltoid Dumbbell Rows. We have seen many athletes performing dumbbell rows in an incline bench. That exercise is for back muscles but if you look closely, the exercise can also put serious tension on your real deltoids. With some help from mind-muscle connection and some changes in the execution of the exercise, this can be a hell of a real delt exercise.
All you need to do is to set the bench at 45° inclined position and lie on your chest on the bench as you do for Incline Dumbbell Rows and then start rowing as usual but this time, pull the dumbbell with all your rear deltoids’ power and squeeze after pulling – this will maximize the tension on your rear delts along with your back muscles. Furthermore, creating mind-muscle connection with the rear deltoids while doing this exercise will also improve the muscle activation. You have to focus and feel the rear deltoids working while performing this exercise more than the others because it is not an isolation movement like other exercises but if you can execute it properly, you can get pretty good results with it.
Also Important: 5 Best Exercises for Abs That You Only Need!
The Bottom Line
Therefore, these are the top 5 best rear deltoid exercises that you should include in your shoulder day if you wish to get big, round, 3D and muscular shoulders with greatly defined rear deltoids. You don’t need to include all these 5, even 3 or 4 exercises from this list would be enough if you perform them with right form and if your nutrition is on point. Hopefully, you found this article about best rear deltoid exercises helpful enough. If you really did then don’t hesitate to express your valuable thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for visiting and appreciating our work.