Rear Delts
5 exercises that train the rear delts directly, compound lifts first. Pick one or two that suit your gym and train them hard and consistently. Steady progress on a few lifts beats rotating through all of them.
Surpass gives every set a target based on last time, so you know when to add weight.
A band exercise where you pull a band apart from arm's length to your chest. It trains the rear delts and upper back with almost no setup or recovery cost. Good as a warm-up before pressing or as high-rep accessory work for anyone.
A bent-over or chest-supported exercise where you raise dumbbells out to the sides. It targets the rear delts and helps balance pressing work. Good for most lifters looking to build shoulder balance and posture.
The face pull is a cable pull toward your face using a rope attachment set at about head height. It trains the rear delts and upper back, and is a common accessory for shoulder balance in pressing-heavy programs.
The rear delt fly is a bent-over dumbbell raise where you lift the arms out to the sides. It isolates the rear delts and upper back muscles that pressing neglects, and suits anyone looking for better shoulder balance and posture work.
The rear delt machine, or reverse pec deck, has you face the pad and sweep your arms back to train the rear shoulders and upper back. It is one of the easiest ways to load the rear delts directly and suits anyone wanting better shoulder balance and posture.
These exercises work the rear delts as a secondary muscle, which counts toward your weekly work but not as much as a direct set.
Direct weekly sets for the rear delts in each free program. Secondary work is not counted.