Rear Deltoid/Shoulder

Cindy Love

hi dudes/dudettes,

Happy new year!

Im trying to target a weak area for me which is upper back and in particular the rear of my shoulders. At the moment im finding the front of the shoulder feels stronger then the side and as descibed above, the rear deltoid.

Any isolation excercises you could recommend that help to build mass in this area which will also pull the shoulders back a little?

Ive been doing bits and pieces to target ths area but I really want to kill this area!

Thanks in advance for all comments!

Dragan

standing or seated rear raise are good. Very strict dumbell row pulling to undert he shoulder instead of the hip.

Seated high cable row, very good.

All in all, if you want to bring this area up, hit ist first in your workout with two excercises, and leave at least two days between shoulders and back.

amazingemmet

If you've got access to inversion boots or a bar to hang from you can do the butterfly which imo is one of the best shoulder exercises going. If you've got access i'll describe it for you.

As for pulling your shoulders back its probably more your pecs being tight that are causing your shoulders to roll forward as opposed to your shoulders not being strong.
To stretch out this area: lie on your side legs at right angles and knees bent the place your arms in front of you one hand on top of the other then with your top hand you want to draw a half circle on the ground over your head all while reaching away with your bottom hand.
If that doesn't make sense i can post some pics when i get home

Easygainer

I've 2 great exercises for your upper back and rear delts.

1) Deadlift - performed properly, this will work most of your body, but with the extra heave at the top where you squeeze back you shoulders this will work the traps, rear delts and rhomboids.

2) Rear delt rows: This is a killer. Get a shorter bar (5ft long or so, maybe an ez curl bar...) and put a 10kg plate (preferably the steel ones) on each side. Grab the plates by the lip and do rows up to your chest - 25 reps, after a back exercise and you will be dying. Increase the weight on both each workout and you'll see results!

Cindy Love

Dragan--sorry im too sure the plane of movement your describing? 'standing or seated rear raise are good. Very strict dumbell row pulling to undert he shoulder instead of the hip.' could you elaborate please or post a link. Which way is hands facing and am i holding the weight behind my back!sorry bit confused. THanks as it sounds good!


Easygainer--sounds good! Are you suggesting wider grip is better?


thanks for tips!Keep me coming.

Dragan

Sorry about that,

the two raises are literally just done with the dumbelss held with palms facing inwards ( i.e towards the legs ), you are bent over at about 80 degree's to the floor, knees slightly bent, and then raising the weights. Imagine you are trying to crack a walnut between your shoulder blades and you will be on the right track.

The bent over row is kinda harder to describer. Basically you are leaning on a bench, left arm and left leg on the bench. Right leg stretched out to the side and slightly behind. Right arm is holding the weight, once again with palms facing in. from the arm in a fully extended position, raise the dumbell up to your side, keeping it tight to the arm pit if you can. You can also do this excercise for an emphasis on the lats/back, by bringing the weight up to the lower lat, hip area.


Those descriptions are pretty **** though, so go here!!!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?MainMuscle=Shoulders&Equip=Dumbbell&Isolation=Isolation

Easygainer

Cindy Love wrote:

Dragan--sorry im too sure the plane of movement your describing? 'standing or seated rear raise are good. Very strict dumbell row pulling to undert he shoulder instead of the hip.' could you elaborate please or post a link. Which way is hands facing and am i holding the weight behind my back!sorry bit confused. THanks as it sounds good!


Easygainer--sounds good! Are you suggesting wider grip is better?


thanks for tips!Keep me coming.

It's that particular way of gripping the plates that isolates the rear delts, esp after back work.

As for BB rows, here's how I do them:

Barbell rows

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TOPIC 7: ROWS

Rows: Well, the best way to do them is to start with the bar on the floor every single rep. Your middle back will have slight bend to it. You pull the bar off the floor quickly with the arms, and by a powerful arch of your middle back. You finish by touching the bar to your upper stomach or middle stomach. At no time is there any movement of the hips or knees, no hip extension at all, all that bends is the middle back and the shoulders and elbows.

This is hard to do and you have to have good muscular control to do it, or you'll end up straightening up at the hips along with the arching of the back. But if you can master doing them this way you will get a big back. This works because the lats actually extend (arch) the middle back in addition to other functions, just like with glute-ham extensions compared to leg curls…you always get a stronger contraction when you move both the origin and insertion of a muscle, flexing it from both ends so to speak.

The bar returns to the floor after each rep. The bent row is actually best done as an explosive movement and the bar is moved fast. I have trained many people who could do this exercise with 350 or more lbs. I myself have done reps with 425, Ed Coan, who also knows how to do them properly, has done reps with over 500lbs without his back ever coming above parallel with the ground. That is stronger than Dorian Yates or Ronnie Coleman, by the way.

I did rows with Coleman once, actually, and I was far stronger than he was. He could not do more than 350lbs strictly although he could do over 500lbs by standing almost all the way up at the completion of each rep. Ed Coan is probably the strongest person on these, although one power-lifter I trained did manage 525 for a double done strictly.

Rows look at an anatomy chart. if the scapula and upper arms are held in a constant position, shortening of the lats WILL result in arching of the middle and upper back. i AM NOT saying that the lats are primarily responsible for upper back flexion... what i am saying is that they can assist in this.

i also HAVE done EMG work on various different rowing techniques... and there is not doubt that rows performed as i describe them will activate the lats more completely than done any other way i have ever seen. i have done EMG work on a large quantity of people for rows... and ive always found that these kind of rows activate the lats most completely. and besides, even if you dont buy the fact that they activate the lats better, hell, you can always be content with the fact that your getting an erector workout.


Taken from: http://forum.mesomorphosis.com/showthread.php?t=12

jaarius

Hey all,

For my shoulders, which have developed well over the last two months, I did a combination of dumb bell and cable 'shrugs'. However, what I feel was the most effective approach was extensive stretching. For most of the areas I work on this works reasonably well but it's more about the lifting. I have taken a few tips from from Yoga books/practitioners and it has worked well. I still am carrying quite a bit of fat but the muscle definition in my upper back and shoulders is something a I am happy with.

Just thought i would throw that in.

j