Written by Chris Cook
18 July 2006

Having prominent rear delts gives more depth to the deltoids for a complete, balanced look. I would suggest doing two movements for this head: incline bench laterals and the reverse pec deck. On incline bench laterals, lie facedown on an incline bench with the dumbbells hanging at your sides. Keep the arms slightly bent and perpendicular to the body. Raise them up until you feel the contraction in your rear delt. Don't go up too high, as your back will take over from the delts. Also, don't pull your arms too far to the rear, creating more of an angle. If you do, you'll bring the lats into play. You want to keep about a 90-degree angle between your arms and your body. For reverse pec deck, sit on the bench so you're facing the pad. Set the handles all the way to the back. From here, grab the handles and do a reverse fly motion. It's actually identical to bent-over lateral raises, only you're sitting upright and using a machine. Again, don't bring the arms too far back and let the inner back take over. You want to keep the stress on the rear delts.

I would then add an overhead press of some sort. This is a basic, compound movement that will really pack the mass onto your delts. I'd do military presses to the front rather than behind the neck. Presses behind the neck can put too much strain on the shoulder joint. Follow that up with- you already know what I'm going to say- lateral raises. I'd suggest three to four sets of each exercise, doing six to 10 reps on heavy days and 10 to 20 reps on higher volume days. This routine blasts all three heads for that complete, full, round look.

Incline bench laterals              3-4 X 6-10 (10-20 reps in higher volume days)

Reverse pec deck                 3-4 X 6-10 (10-20 reps in higher volume days)

Military press                             3-4 X 6-10 (10-20 reps in higher volume days)

Lateral raises                             3-4 X 6-10 (10-20 reps in higher volume days) Nike KD