The shoulder muscles include the large trapezius found on the collar bones, and the moderate sized deltoids. The "delts" consist of an anterior, lateral and posterior segment. The posterior portion is on the back of the shoulder and it is often referred to as the rear delt. Weight training exercises require attention to detail to be effective.
Function of Exercises
Every time you move your arm backward, you use your posterior deltoids. The function with exercises is to increase strength to perform this motion with more efficiency. This not only helps with sports like tennis, volleyball and baseball, but it also helps with daily life. Any time you reach your arms out and pull an object toward your body, you work your rear delts. This would be the case if you reach into a cabinet and pull out a bag of flour, for example.
Exercise Equipment
Reverse flys, collar bone cable rows, rear delt raises, lying rear deltoid raises and inverted rows all work the posterior deltoids. Every one of these exercises requires the use of fitness equipment. The only exception would be a bird dog. This exercise requires the weight of the body and it is performed from an all fours position on the floor.
Proper Form with Exercises
Knowing what exercises to do is only part of the game plan with rear delt training. You must also use proper form or else your progress will be limited. Take barbell rear delt raises, for example. Hold a barbell behind your upper thighs with your hands spaced shoulder-width apart and palms facing backward. Your feet should be about shoulder-width apart at this point and your arms should be fully extended. Keeping your upper body as still as possible, lift the bar up by bending your elbows and shoulders. Keep the bar close to your body as you do this. Once you have gone as high as possible, hold for a second. Slowly lower the bar back down and repeat.
Resistance with Exercises
The posterior delts are not large muscles, but they do need an adequate amount of resistance to experience growth. When doing exercises, aim for a resistance that you can lift eight to 12 times with good form. Generally three to five sets is satisfactory when doing your workouts. To insure you can meet your repetition and set ranges, consider using a spotter. To progressively increase your strength levels, increase your resistance by 5 to 10 percent every week.
Amount of Work
Working your posterior delts every day will lead to overtraining and the risk of injury. You also will not give your muscles enough time to rebuild. A good rule of thumb is to take at least one full day off before working the same muscle group.
Stretching Before Workouts
Going into a delt workout without the proper stretching routine can set you up for an injury. Dynamic stretches, which are performed in motion, can warm up your muscles and prevent injury. Perform stretches that include your rear delts like shoulder rotations, arm crossovers, spinal rotations with your arms out at your sides and arm circles.
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