--- title: "Rear delt exercises" description: "Reverse flyes, face pulls and rear delt rows. Watch the technique on video, and see why this head of the shoulder keeps falling out of the plan." locale: en url: "https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/rear-delts" count: 24 type: muscles code: REAR_DELT --- # Rear delt exercises The rear delt pulls the arm back and works on every pull. The catch is that on rows and pull-ups it does that alongside your back, which is far stronger, so it is rarely the thing that gives out first. You can see the result in the atlas itself. This is the shortest of the three shoulder lists. Almost everything here is a variant of three movements: the reverse flye, the face pull, and a row with the elbow tracking out to the side. Equipment matters less than usual, because a resistance band, dumbbells and TRX straps give you a very similar stimulus when the load has to stay light anyway. ## Why the rear delt falls out of the plan Three reasons at once, and none of them is laziness. First, you do not see this head in the mirror, so nothing reminds you it is there. Second, it picks up some work on every row, except the lats and upper back run out much later, so the set is over before the rear delt ever becomes the limiting factor. Third, there is no number to beat here. Reverse flyes get done with a light weight, and the instructions in this atlas say so themselves, which makes it hard to treat them as a lift you measure anything on. Front delt training happens by accident on every press. Rear delt training happens by accident on nothing. So the list below is short and pretty repetitive. We did not try to pad it out, because the same exercise in a fifth setup does not become a new exercise. ## Flyes, rows or face pulls? Reverse flyes are the closest thing to clean rear delt work: the arm is nearly straight and travels out to the side, which makes the lever long and the weight, of necessity, small. The rear delt row flips that around. A bent elbow shortens the lever and lets you use noticeably more load, but the upper back joins the movement right along with the weight. The face pull sits in between and has one thing the other two do not: an end position you can check yourself. Hands land beside your face, upper arms parallel to the floor, shoulder blades pulled together. As long as that picture holds, the movement is going where it should. That leaves the question of torso position. Bent over with a free weight is the hardest on your lower back, because the spine has to hold flat for the whole set. The seated version with your chest resting close to your thighs, TRX, and pulling a band to your face while standing solve it three different ways, and the rear delt does more or less the same work in all of them. ## Common mistakes - **A rounded back in the bent-over position** - Bent over, your back stays flat and your shoulders do not collapse forward. If the back rounds, the torso is usually too low or the dumbbells too heavy, and the seated version with your chest close to your thighs removes both problems. - **Pulling with traps and biceps** - When the shoulder blades ride up and the elbow bends mid-rep, a flye quietly turns into a row. The rear delt is what lifts the weight, so the elbow keeps the same slight bend from start to finish. - **Elbows dropping on face pulls** - A face pull ends with your hands beside your head and your upper arms parallel to the floor. Let the elbows sink lower and the band or the cable lands on your chest, with the back taking over most of the work. ## By equipment - [Dumbbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/rear-delts/dumbbell) - 6 exercises - [Resistance band](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/rear-delts/resistance-band) - 6 exercises - [Bodyweight](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/rear-delts/bodyweight) - 4 exercises - [Suspension trainer](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/rear-delts/suspension-trainer) - 3 exercises - [Cardio machine](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/rear-delts/cardio-machine) - 2 exercises - [Barbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/rear-delts/barbell) - 1 exercises - [Jump rope](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/rear-delts/jump-rope) - 1 exercises - [Mat](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/rear-delts/mat) - 1 exercises ## All Rear delt exercises - [Bent Over Rear Delt Fly Dumbbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/bent-over-rear-delt-fly-dumbbell) - Rear delts · Dumbbell - [Seated Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly](https://hi.fitness/exercises/seated-dumbbell-rear-delt-fly) - Rear delts · Dumbbell - [Cable Rear Delt Fly](https://hi.fitness/exercises/cable-rear-delt-fly) - Rear delts · Bodyweight - [Dumbbell Reverse Fly](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-reverse-fly) - Rear delts · Dumbbell - [Dumbbell Lying Rear Delt Row](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-lying-rear-delt-row) - Rear delts · Dumbbell - [Dumbbell Rear Delt Row](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-rear-delt-row) - Rear delts · Dumbbell - [Dumbbell Bent Over Face Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-bent-over-face-pull) - Rear delts · Dumbbell - [Band Face Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/band-face-pull) - Rear delts · Resistance band - [Band Front Face Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/band-front-face-pull) - Rear delts · Resistance band - [Suspension Trainer with Grips Face Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/suspension-trainer-with-grips-face-pull) - Rear delts · Suspension trainer - [Band Reverse Fly](https://hi.fitness/exercises/band-reverse-fly) - Rear delts · Resistance band - [Bent Over Rear Deltoid Fly Resistance Band](https://hi.fitness/exercises/bent-over-rear-deltoid-fly-resistance-band) - Rear delts · Resistance band - [Rear Deltoid Fly Cable Resistance Band](https://hi.fitness/exercises/rear-deltoid-fly-cable-resistance-band) - Rear delts · Resistance band - [Band Standing Rear Delt Row](https://hi.fitness/exercises/band-standing-rear-delt-row) - Rear delts · Resistance band - [Cable Rear Drive](https://hi.fitness/exercises/cable-rear-drive) - Rear delts · Bodyweight - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Reverse Fly Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-reverse-fly-pull) - Rear delts · Cardio machine - [Ski Ergometer Cross Country Ski Kneeling Reverse Fly Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/ski-ergometer-cross-country-ski-kneeling-reverse-fly-pull) - Rear delts · Cardio machine - [Jump Rope Face Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/jump-rope-face-pull) - Rear delts · Jump rope - [Barbell Rear Delt Raise](https://hi.fitness/exercises/barbell-rear-delt-raise) - Rear delts · Barbell - [Suspension Trainer with Grips Rear Delt Row](https://hi.fitness/exercises/suspension-trainer-with-grips-rear-delt-row) - Rear delts · Suspension trainer - [Suspension Trainer with Grips Single Arm Rear Delt Row](https://hi.fitness/exercises/suspension-trainer-with-grips-single-arm-rear-delt-row) - Rear delts · Suspension trainer - [Bodyweight Bent Over Rear Delt Fly](https://hi.fitness/exercises/bodyweight-bent-over-rear-delt-fly) - Rear delts · Bodyweight - [Plank Reverse Fly with Bottle](https://hi.fitness/exercises/plank-reverse-fly-with-bottle) - Rear delts · Bodyweight - [Rear Deltoid Stretch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/rear-deltoid-stretch) - Rear delts · Mat