If you are looking to improve your upper body looks, focusing on the shoulders might just do the trick. Check out these 3 perfect exercises for stronger rear delts for an awesome shoulder workout. It was first shared by John Meadows.
John Meadows, “The Mountain Dog”, was a professional bodybuilder, trainer and nutritionist who died in 2021. He is famous for sharing gym tips, and workouts and showing how he trained to achieve his goals.
If you want to go even further, you can use Meadows’ 3 easy tips for massive shoulders – implement them every time you do a shoulder workout.
Without any further ado, scroll down to see the perfect 3 exercise shoulder workout for stronger rear delts.
Perfect 3 Exercise Shoulder Workout for Stronger Rear Delts
Source: Nigel MsipaWord about Rear Delt Fly
Use a rear delt fly machine to get a “phenomenal exercise for your rear delts.” Do it with a little bit of bend on your elbows and have your arms locked using only the rear delts to move the handles.
Depending on the machine, or your own body, you might feel more comfortable using a pronated grip or a neutral grip. Either way is fine.
Although this is not listed in Meadows’ list, he says he doesn’t appreciate how some online influencers talk about how this exercise does not target the rear delts. It does and is Meadows’ favourite exercise to begin a rear delt workout sessions.
1. Bent-Over Dumbbell Raise and Swing
The dumbbell raise can be done while bent over to get a similar mechanic of the rear delt fly, but using gravity and the dumbbell to create tension on your muscles.
Meadows says to annihilate your rear delts, do dumbbell raises with a full range of motion until failure and then, after you can’t raise the dumbbells up to your shoulder height, simply let your hands hang down and start swinging up and down. This is likely known as a partial range of motion of the dumbbell raise, only a third of the movement.
2. Dumbbell Rows on a Bench
The idea behind this exercise is that you get a full range of motion and can squeeze out the muscle at the top, something that might be harder for the 1st exercise mentioned in this list.
But you need to make sure you are contracting your rear delts for that mind-muscle connection.
3. Facepulls
This exercise is not ranked higher than the others, but Meadows enjoys this one for shoulder health. He prefers to do facepulls with a little bit of external rotation.
The way Meadows do this movement is with the rope attachment locked at the bottom of the machine, and pulling the rope up towards the face with some external rotation.
Click on the video to see the entire explanation from Meadows below.
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Training the shoulders to make them bigger can be challenging for a few reasons:
- Genetics: The size and shape of your shoulders are largely determined by your genetics. Some people may have a genetic predisposition for broader shoulders, while others may have narrower shoulders. This can make it more difficult to achieve significant gains in shoulder size through training.
- Shoulder anatomy: The shoulders are a complex joint that is made up of multiple muscles, tendons, and bones. Because of their complexity, it can be challenging to target all of the shoulder muscles effectively with traditional strength training exercises. For example, the anterior deltoids may be easily stimulated with overhead pressing movements, but the lateral deltoids and rear deltoids may require more targeted exercises to effectively stimulate growth.
- Overtraining: The shoulders are often worked indirectly through other upper body exercises, such as bench presses and rows. This means that they can be easily overtrained if not given enough rest and recovery time. Overtraining can lead to injury and can also prevent muscle growth.
- Lack of progressive overload: Progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress placed on the muscles over time, which is necessary for muscle growth. If you are not progressively increasing the weight, sets, or reps of your shoulder exercises over time, your muscles may not be receiving enough stimulus to grow.
To effectively train the shoulders and promote muscle growth, it is important to incorporate a variety of exercises that target all three heads of the deltoids, as well as the rotator cuff and trapezius muscles. It is also important to allow for adequate rest and recovery time between workouts, and to progressively increase the intensity of your workouts over time.
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Source: Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.Should You Workout Your Shoulders Every Day?
No, it is not recommended to work out your shoulders every day. The shoulders are a complex joint that is involved in many upper body movements, and they require time to recover and adapt to the stress placed on them during exercise. Overtraining the shoulders can lead to muscle fatigue, decreased strength, and an increased risk of injury.
The frequency of shoulder workouts depends on several factors, including your fitness level, training experience, and workout intensity. Generally, it is recommended to allow at least 48 hours of rest between shoulder workouts to allow for adequate recovery time.
If you are a beginner, you may benefit from working out your shoulders once or twice a week, gradually increasing the frequency as your fitness level improves. If you are an advanced lifter, you may be able to train your shoulders more frequently, but it is still important to allow for adequate recovery time and to avoid overtraining.
Ultimately, the frequency of your shoulder workouts should be based on your individual fitness goals, training experience, and recovery abilities. It is important to listen to your body and adjust your workout frequency and intensity as needed to avoid injury and promote muscle growth.
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Image Sources
- Best Rear Delt Exercises: Nigel Msipa
- how-to-build-capped-shoulders: Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.