Do you want stronger, more defined shoulders? Rear deltoid exercises build the back of the shoulder specifically, improving posture and providing better shoulder stability along the way. Here’s what rear delts are, and the best exercises for training them.
What Are Delts?
Delts (deltoids) are the shoulder muscles connecting your arm to your torso at the ball-and-socket shoulder joint. They enable arm movement in multiple directions and help protect and stabilize the shoulder joint. The deltoid has three parts — anterior (front), lateral (side), and posterior (rear) — and the rear portion is often the most neglected in a typical training routine, since it’s less visible and less directly worked by pushing exercises like bench press.
4 Best Rear Delt Exercises
1. Rear Delt Cable Fly (Reverse Cable Fly)
This exercise targets the posterior deltoids directly while engaging several supporting upper-body muscles. It’s a strong choice for building shoulder definition and improving posture.
Sets/reps: 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Common mistakes: bending the elbows too much, doing partial reps, and dropping the arms too low before pulling.
Variations: bent-over cable fly, single-arm standing cable fly, bent-over dumbbell reverse fly.
How To Do It
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, facing the cable machine, pulleys set above head height.
- Cross your arms and grab the opposite-side handles (left hand takes the right handle and vice versa).
- Step back from the machine to create tension in the cables.
- With a braced core, pull your arms back and out, squeezing your shoulder blades together until you feel the contraction in your rear delts.
- Return slowly to the start with control, keeping a slight bend in your elbows throughout. Repeat.
2. Rear Delt Dumbbell Fly
A hinge-position dumbbell exercise that isolates the rear delts. Good form matters more than weight here — go slow and controlled to make sure the rear delts are doing the work, not momentum.
Getting started: begin with light dumbbells for about 10 reps, and increase weight gradually as your form holds up.
Common mistakes: rounding the spine, fully straightening the elbows, using momentum to swing the weight up, and shrugging the shoulders toward the ears.
How To Do It
- Stand holding a dumbbell in each hand, feet hip-width apart.
- Push your hips back, bend your knees slightly, and hinge your torso forward, keeping your back straight — hold this hip-hinge position throughout.
- Let the dumbbells hang down with a slight bend in the elbows, palms facing each other.
- Raise the dumbbells out to the sides until they’re roughly in line with your shoulders.
- Lower with control back to the start.
3. Seated Rear Delt Fly
The seated position removes momentum from the rest of the body, isolating the rear delts more effectively — a good option if you have lower-back issues that make the standing hinge position uncomfortable.
Sets/reps: moderate-to-higher reps, roughly 8-12 per set.
How To Do It
- Place a pair of dumbbells on the floor in front of a flat bench.
- Sit at the end of the bench, feet together, dumbbells beneath your calves.
- Hinge forward at the waist, keeping your back straight, and pick up the dumbbells with palms facing each other — this is your starting position.
- Keeping your torso fixed forward and a slight bend in your elbows, raise the dumbbells out to the sides until your arms are roughly parallel to the floor.
- Avoid swinging your torso or bringing your arms back rather than out to the side.
- Pause briefly at the top, then lower with control back to the starting position. Repeat for your target reps.
4. T-Bar Row
A compound row that works the posterior deltoid alongside the lats, rhomboids and trapezius. It’s an efficient way to build overall back and shoulder strength in one movement, but it does carry a real risk of lower-back strain if done with poor form — this is not a movement to add heavy weight to before your form is solid.
Safety notes: keep a neutral spine throughout — don’t let your lower back round as you lift, and don’t use momentum or a jerking motion to move the weight. If you have a history of lower-back issues, consider a chest-supported row variation instead, which removes the hip-hinge position entirely.
How To Do It
- Load one end of a barbell and anchor the other end against a wall or landmine attachment.
- Straddle the bar near the weighted end and grip it with a V-grip handle in both hands.
- Hinge at the hips with a neutral spine — a slight, natural arch in the lower back, not rounded.
- Pull the bar up by squeezing your shoulder blades together, bringing the plate toward your chest.
- Lower with control back to the start, keeping your back and shoulders engaged throughout.
The Bottom Line
These four exercises cover the rear delts from multiple angles. Include one or two of them consistently in your shoulder or back training, prioritize form over weight, and the improvements in shoulder shape and posture will follow.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to train rear delts?
The rear delt cable fly, rear delt dumbbell fly, and seated rear delt fly are all effective, along with compound rows like the T-Bar row. Rotating between a few of these regularly works better than doing just one.
Why are rear delts hard to grow?
Rear delts are a relatively small muscle group that’s easy to under-stimulate, especially if you use too much weight and let larger muscles like the lats or traps take over the movement. They generally respond better to lighter weight with strict form and a genuine mind-muscle connection than to heavy loading.
Is it worth training rear delts specifically?
Yes. The rear delts are important shoulder stabilizers and are easy to neglect since pushing exercises like bench press mostly train the front and side deltoid instead.
How often should I train rear delts?
Most intermediate to advanced lifters see good results training rear delts twice a week rather than once, since this muscle group tends to recover relatively quickly and responds well to slightly higher frequency.
This article is for general information and is not a substitute for medical advice.
