🔙 Rear Delts (Rear Delt Fly)

What Is This Exercise?

🔙 Rear Delts (Rear Delt Fly) – this is Shoulder Raise a variation intended for shoulders muscles. The exercise is classified as Training Methods category. Suitable for beginner level athletes.

Primary Goal: Rear shoulder, posture.

📋 Step-by-Step

1. 1. Sit down or stand bent over. Back straight.
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2. 2. Dumbbells under the chest. Elbows slightly bent.
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3. 3. Spread the dumbbells out to the sides and up until your arms are parallel to the floor.
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4. 4. Shoulder blades squeeze together. Feel the rear delts working.
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5. 5. Slowly lower the dumbbells back.
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⚠️ Most Common Mistakes

• Dumbbells too heavy – back muscles take over.
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• Swinging.
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• Too high – traps start working.
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💪 Muscle Activation Table

🔄 How Does It Differ From the Basic Version?

Rear delts are often neglected, but they are essential for balanced shoulder shape and good posture. Most pressing movements work only the front of the shoulders.

🔙 Why Rear Delts Often Lag

The rear deltoid muscles are often weaker because most shoulder training focuses on the front and side delts, which are more visible. However, rear delts are important not only for appearance — they help maintain shoulder balance and proper posture, so strengthening them helps avoid imbalance between front and back. Weak rear delts can contribute to rounded-shoulder posture.

🧭 Correct Technique

• Position: bend forward with a straight back or perform lying chest-down on a bench.
• Arms: slightly bent at the elbows, dumbbells down.
• Movement: raise your arms to the sides until they reach shoulder height.
• Control: perform the movement slowly, pause for a second at the top.
• Return: lower slowly, do not let the dumbbells fall freely.

🔁 Sets and Repetitions

For rear delts, 3–4 sets of 12–15 reps with light or medium weight are suitable. Accuracy and muscle feel are more important here than heavy weight. This exercise can be combined with face pull and reverse fly, and on shoulder day supplement with lateral raise and front raise.

🛡️ Safety And Common Mistakes

• Too Much Weight — then the trapezius muscle performs the movement, not the delts.
• Torso swinging — raise your arms using muscle strength, without momentum.
• Arm extension — keep your elbows slightly bent.
• Raising too high — your arms should not rise above the shoulder line.
• If you feel sharp pain in the shoulder joint, reduce the weight or range of motion.

💪 What Muscles It Trains

The main working muscle is the rear deltoid. Assisting muscles: trapezius and rhomboids, which help squeeze the shoulder blades together. This exercise is important for shoulder balance, so it is worth including in every shoulder workout, not just occasionally.

Rear delts do not need heavy weight — lighter weight and more controlled reps are better. As you perform the movement, think about squeezing the shoulder blades back and contracting the muscle at the top, not about lifting the weight. This exercise is worth doing regularly, even if the rear delts are not the most visible muscle group.

This exercise can be performed with dumbbells, resistance bands, or on a machine — the principle remains the same: arms are raised out to the sides and back with slightly bent elbows. Choose the most comfortable variation for you and perform it consistently so the muscle gets regular load.