How To Grow Your Rear Delts FAST (4 Key Exercises You’re Not Doing)

Lets face it, when compared to the rest of our shoulder, most of us have underdeveloped rear delts, mainly because we either tend to neglect them or we just don't train them as effectively as we could be. Which is detrimental since the rear delts are not only the key to completing fully developed 3D looking shoulders, but have also been shown to play an important role in boosting shoulder stability and reducing injury potential as well. And although research indicates that it's true that many compound pulling movements like the lat pulldown and seated row will involve the rear delts quite a bit, EMG data shows that rear delt isolation exercises such as the reverse pec deck, for example, elicits far greater activation, simply meaning that rear delt exercises should definitely be added into your routine. But at the same time, adding in a few sets of a suboptimal exercise like Dumbbell reverse flys after your workout just isn't going to cut it. Instead, it's vital that you both choose the right rear delt exercises and perform them in a way that maximally activates the rear delts and while preventing other stronger muscle groups like the traps and lats from taking over and stealing its gains, which most people struggle with. In this video though, I'll show you exactly how to do so with a few key exercises you've likely never tried that not only train the rear delts optimally, but will help you minimize the involvement of other muscle groups as well. And then after this video, I want you to go out and try these exercises and come out with at least 12 that you feel a strong rear delt contraction with and can start using from now on. So with that in mind, let's start with exercise one. The first exercise is going to be the barbell high row, which when performed correctly, will effectively hit the rear delts with some involvement of the biceps as well. And for a variety of reasons, this exercise is going to do a much better job at developing the rear delts than something like reverse flys, for example, because by bending the elbows as opposed to keeping them straight, we biomechanically put the rear delts in a stronger position and can now also drive the elbows back behind the body more than we can with straight arms is one of the all important movement functions of the rear delt and the key to fully activating it. In addition, this also enables us to now work with much heavier loads, which is beneficial since research indicates that the deltoid muscle as a whole is roughly a 5050 mix of type 1 and type 2 muscle fibers and therefore is likely best stimulated by a mix of both heavier weight for lower reps, as we do with this exercise, and lighter weights for higher reps, as we'll do later on. Now, to perform it, grab a barbell with a wide grip such that your arms are at about 45 degrees out from your sides when standing. Next, set up how you would for a normal barbell row by slightly bending the knees and hinging at the hips until your back is almost parallel to the ground. Now, at the starting position, I want you to think about pushing your fists down into the floor in order to protract your shoulder blades, as this will help prevent your traps from taking over the movement. Then lift the weight up towards your upper chest with your elbows kept high. And as you lift up, all I want you to think about as you do so is driving the elbows up and back behind the body as much as possible. At the top position, your elbows should be at a 90 degree angle. Pause here briefly while contracting the rear delts before coming back down. And I would highly suggest using wrist straps for this movement as I find that it helps minimize biceps and traps involvement to better isolate the rear delts, and I'll leave a link in the description box down below to a pair that I personally use and recommend. And for this movement, you'll want to go relatively heavier with a moderate rep range of 6 to 12 reps and slowly increase the weight over time as needed. And in the event that this exercise is too taxing on your lower back, I'd suggest trying out the exact same movement but using a lat pulldown attachment, either done as shown here with a leg up for support, or alternatively on a seated row machine, as this is going to decrease the stress placed on your lower back. The next exercise, the dumbbell incline row, is another heavy movement that will effectively hit the rear delts. This exercise successfully incorporates the many movement functions of the rear delts with added external rotation to emphasize the rear delts even more, and it's been shown in research such as this EMG study by the American Council of Exercise, which analyzed a similar but less effective movement to elicit high rear delt activation when compared to other rear delt exercises. Now, to perform it, first set up a bench to an incline of roughly 30 degrees. This is crucial since if you set this too high, you'll be hitting more of the side delts and back muscles instead, and if you set it too low, it's going to prevent you from achieving a full range of motion. Next, grab a pair of dumbbells in each hand and then pull the dumbbells up with your elbows angled out to your sides rather than tucked in, as anatomical analyses indicate that this puts the rear delts in a stronger position and prevents the lats from taking over. This now, as you pull, you'll want to externally rotate your shoulders by turning your wrists outwards during each rep. Hold the top position briefly while fully contracting your rear delts before coming back down and again for each rep, I want you to think about simply driving the elbows up and behind the body in order to best activate the rear delts. Straps can also be used here as well to minimize the involvement of other muscle groups. And I'd suggest once again using relatively heavier weight for this movement and a moderate rep range of roughly 6 to 12 reps. The third at exercise is going to be the lion face pull to now hit the rear delts with lighter weight and higher reps. Now, although most of us know that the traditional standing or kneeling rope face pull is a great exercise for the rotator cuff and the rear delts, I find that for a lot of people, the traps, especially the upper traps, tends to take over the movement. However, by knowing that the upper traps are more active during upright exercises since they work as a postural muscle, we can modify the face pull by performing it laying on the ground instead of by doing this, we eliminate the effects of gravity and can decrease excessive activation of the upper traps. To now better isolate the rear delts and to perform it you're simply performing a regular face pull but lying on your back instead. A few key points though are to think about pulling with the elbows until they touch the ground while externally rotating the shoulder such that your hands almost touch the ground. As well, I'd suggest using relatively lighter weight for these and a high rep range of roughly 1015 reps. This last exercise, the rear delt cable pull is another great way to hit the rear delts with lighter weight and higher reps and is especially effective if you struggle with your neck traps or mid back taking over on other rear delt exercises. This is because with this exercise, the end range of the movement involves bringing the arm into hyperextension behind the body, which research has shown to be one of the primary functions of the rear delts and is a position where other muscle groups like the lats and the traps are very weakened. So to properly perform it, what you want to do is set up a cable to just higher than shoulder height, grab the ball of the cable with no handle, and then simply bring your slightly bent arm down and back behind the body at an angle of around 45 degrees away from your side. Keep your elbow locked throughout each rep and as you come down you want to externally rotate your shoulder by twisting your arm and hand outwards as you bring the cable down. Although the triceps will be involved to an extent, when done properly, you should feel a strong contraction in the rear delts, especially after you get to higher reps with it. I would however suggest experimenting with your arm angle and trying it out closer versus farther away from your sides in order to find what feels best for you. And similar to the last exercise, I'd suggest using relatively lighter weights and aiming for a higher rep range of roughly 15 to 20 reps. So here is a summary of the exercises I went through with the recommended number of sets and reps. What I'd recommend is rather than perform this as one workout on its own, instead you want to distribute these within a couple of your workouts throughout the week in order to allocate more weekly volume to your rear delts. So for instance, adding these two into your back workout and then these two into your shoulder workout, for example is a good way to go about implementing them. Regardless though, experiment with these first. Find what works best for you and stick with it as this is going to help you achieve the rear delt development that you're after much faster.

I hope that you were able to see from this video that in order to grow your muscles as fast as possible, you need to not only carefully consider the exercises that you're doing in the gym, but you also need to pay close attention to how you perform these exercises if you want to see the best results. And within my Built With Science programs, we've not only put careful thought and research into every exercise included in your routine, but we've also created in depth tutorials for each exercise so that you know exactly how to perform them optimally in order to build muscle as effectively as possible. To join today, simply head on over to builtwithscience.com and take the Starting Point Analysis quiz, which is just going to determine what program is best for you. Anyways, thank you so much for watching everyone. I hope you enjoyed the video. Please don't forget to show your support by giving the video a like leaving a comment down below as to what you'd like to see me cover. Next, subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications to the channel as well as this all really does help me out and I truly appreciate it. Thank you so much everyone. I'll see you next time.