The normal Bent-Over Lateral Raise is a good exercise for rear delts...
...as long as you have the muscle control and focus needed to really make sure you're getting the contraction in the actual rear delts and not letting the larger, stronger muscles of the upper back take over.
What we're going to do with the exercise is FORCE the rear delts into an optimal peak contracted position and give you the time and opportunity to make sure it happens.
One of the problems with rear delt lateral raises is the instability of the dumbbells.
When it comes to developing the rear delts, because of the propensity of the larger upper back muscles to take over, you actually want to minimize instability. This can be pretty effectively done by using a flye machine facing backwards.
If you don't have that, or if you want something even BETTER, try this.
You'll need to use a power rack for it as you're going to be using the safety rails as stoppers to brace your wrists against.
Set the rails to about 3 inches below waistband height. You can always adjust this as you experiment with the exercise.
Grab a pair of LIGHT dumbbells (and do I mean light...I'm only using 10 lb dumbbells here and that was plenty).
Get in the bottom position of the rear delt lateral raise.
Now...I've got one more trick for you...
Instead of performing the raise with a neutral wrist position, I want you to do a wrist extension first. Basically, just bring your knuckles upwards. This helps take the upper back muscles out of the movement.
As you come up in the lateral raise, try to transcribe a wide arc with the dumbbells, as though using them to wipe the inside of a large bowl.
Come all the way up until your wrists contact the underside of the rails.
Now the REAL fun begins...
Keep contracting the rear delts against the solid bracing of the rails....while you're also holding the weights up. This is called an Overcoming Isometric (where you're pushing against an immoveable object).
Now, it gets worse...
To achieve a true MAXIMUM contraction, while you're holding your wrists against the rails, bring your chest down towards your knees a little more, using the bracing against the rails to keep forcing your wrists up. The bracing helps tamp down the instability of that peak contracted position, allowing you to focus the contraction on those elusive rear delts.
Hold this for at least 5 seconds or more and squeeze your rear delts HARD.
This will be extremely painful because of the multiple types of contraction and the forcing of your body into optimal peak contraction position.
It's not often you'll be screaming when using 10 lb weights...this could be just the occasion.
By the time you've done a full of set of 8-10 reps, your rear delts will have an incredible, almost painful pump...they will be lit up in a way that you may not have ever felt before, especially if you've really gotten your mind into the muscle and focused on that contraction.
In terms of sets, I would actually recommend just one or maybe two sets of this one at the end of a shoulder workout, taken essentially to muscular failure. You don't want a lot of training volume for this one...you want targeted tension.
Bottom line, if you have an issue with rear delts, try this one. It's an exercise that will help you laser-target your rear delts like nothing else.
Try Band-Dumbbell-Plate Lateral Raises to build your side delts fast!
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