Rear delts

[anthrax]

Any ideas to hit the rear delts?

OK, let me elaborate a little more:
I've used and abused the typical chest and front delts routine which ended up with rounded shoulders, rotator cuff problems among other issues

So I'd like to correct this muscle imbalance and strengthen the rear deltoids

I'm already doing Bent over lateral raise (though I don't like it), seated rows, rear delt machine and face pulls

 

[mrhoon]

The exercise I've found to work best for me is the bent dumbell row, balancing on a bench, you bend 90 degrees at the waist. Using really heavy weight its easy to get other muscles "to help", but I focus on my elbow moving only. From strech position, my hand only acts as the hook on the weight, my shoulder is the pivot point(does not move), back straight and my elbow moves up, like being pulled on from the ceiling. If the movement is correct, the dumbell should come up to your side between your lower ribcage and your hip. If you are moving too many "helper muscles" it will come more into your chest. For me this really blasted the rear head. Even when I'm soft and round my rear delts pop out to be seen.

 

[DaPit26]

rear delt row (using a strait bar), reverse flies. my favorite is lying facing on an incline bench at a 50 degree to 75 degree angle and doing flies and pulls. Or laying face down on the flat bench and doing laterals like that. Or sometimes on the flat bench I'll lie face down and use a strait bar pulling it toward my chest.

 

[redguru]

Any ideas to hit the rear delts?

OK, let me elaborate a little more:
I've used and abused the typical chest and front delts routine which ended up with rounded shoulders, rotator cuff problems among other issues

So I'd like to correct this muscle imbalance and strengthen the rear deltoids

I'm already doing Bent over lateral raise (though I don't like it), seated rows, rear delt machine and face pulls

Rear delt barbell rows. Keep you arms out to prevent lat involvement.

 

[Tom Treutlein]

Don't bother trying to do a row just for them. Unless you're a bodybuilder trying to bring up a lagging bodypart, your best bet is to focus on bentover rowing. Do them with a bar. No machines. No sitting down. Get as close to 90 degrees as you can.

 

[muscelove]

Tom your explanation has me confused. Sitting down with a bar? i dont see how it can be performed

 

[Madcow2]

Tom your explanation has me confused. Sitting down with a bar? i dont see how it can be performed

I think it says "no sitting down".

BUt yeah - get your barbell row comparable to your bench. Do it right and not like a typical humping baboon you see standing almost upright in the gym. Here is a good read and pics: http://www.midwestbarbell.com/totalelite/index.php?showtopic=498&view=findpost&p=9976, if you don't want to pull each rep from the floor at least do them strict as close to 90 as you can and still accelerate the concentric portion.

Learn to love pressing overhead - do it standing with a barbell. Pushpress is also great.

Think about snatch pulls from the hang position (just above knees) as well as snatch high pulls (this can really tax the delts). Videos: http://www.uwlax.edu/strengthcenter/videos/video_index.htm

In the mean time, including some rotator work for is a good idea. Do whatever isolation you choose but it's unlikely to matter until you can get your other big lifts and rows comparable to your bench. If you can strict bench 2 times as much as you can strictly row then it stands to reason you are going to be dramatically overdeveloped up front and have issues with shoulder integrity. Plus, lats are really important to a big bench so it will pay off regardless.

 

[Tom Treutlein]

Plus, lats are really important to a big bench so it will pay off regardless.

I've heard this before. Why is this, exaclty? I know that the lats come into play at the bottom portion of the lift. Is that the main thing?

 

[blut wump]

All I've done this year is bent rows, military press and power cleans for my rear delts area. You could also count in power shrugs and deadlifts, I guess, but these have given me more all-round shoulder growth than I've ever had from laterals and reverse flyes.

At the moment, I'm a firm believer in sticking with the larger compound movements over any number of smaller, isolation exercises.

 

[lavi]

im curious, how do military presses, power shrugs, and deads work the rear delts?

thanks