[Kabal]

Most guys who lift have posterior deltoids that are relatively weak compared to their anterior deltoids.

This is because popular exercises such as the flat bench, incline bench, and military press all hit the anterior deltoids pretty hard.

Even guys with relatively well-rounded routines that include rows and chin-ups/pull-ups may have relatively weak posterior deltoids, since few exercises stress the posterior deltoids in the way the aforementioned lifts do for the anterior deltoids.

The anterior deltoid controls the medial (toward your body) rotation of your shoulder/arm. The posterior deltoid controls the lateral (away from your body) rotation of your shoulder/arm.

When your anterior deltoids are over-developed vis a vis your posterior deltoids, your shoulders/arms will be in slight but marked perpetual medial rotation.

You can tell if your arm is medially rotated if, when relaxed down at your side, your palm faces backward instead of being parallel with your thigh. If it is, this may be the result of weak posterior deltoids.

Why does this matter?

When your arm is medially rotated, your tricep is pulled away from your latissimus dorsi.

If your tricep is pressed up against your latissimus dorsi, it props up the tricep, making it look more robust. Furthermore, propping up the tricep also enhances the delineation between your shoulder and tricep, making you look more cut.

Thus, a weak posterior deltoid could be compromising your aesthetic appearance by rotating your tricep away from the side of your lats.*

Personally, my favorite posterior deltoid movement is the Face Pull.

However, there is tremendous variation in how people respond to row-related exercises (and there is tremendous variety in row-related exercises), so you may want to try a few different ones to find what works best for you in targeting the posterior deltoids.

You could theoretically train yourself to keep your arms in neutral rotation, but you might as well do this the legitimate way--it may not even take longer or more aggregate effort.

*This couldn't be good for your back health either.

[Rutting Elephant]

How do you feel about upright rows for this? I do them with an ez bar.
Never heard of face pulls until now, but next time I'm around machines I'll start doing them. Thx

[Kabal]

(07-15-2013 12:57 AM)Rutting Elephant Wrote:  

How do you feel about upright rows for this? I do them with an ez bar.

Although I'm sure the posterior deltoids are involved a bit, those target the lateral deltoids.

[Rutting Elephant]

Oops. Then I guess the only posterior exercise I do is the seated rear lateral raise with tiny weights lol.

[Hades]

I'm not a big anatomy guy, but I've found that when I do isometric holds of tuck levers my posterior delts are sore for days. Have you looked into front levers or front lever pullups? Do they bulk up the posterior delts?

[Norset]

Like most things in life, this can also be cured by deadlifts. Rows help too. And chins. And warming up the shoulder joint (FULL range of motion) before using it.

Depending on your anatomy facepulls or reverse flyes might help, I don't seem to need to do it.

Edit: Barbell rows you can stress various back muscles depending on grip width, grip type, and back angle.. play around with it.

[Manny09]

Good stuff in the OP.

Face Pulls are also my favourite exercise for the rear delts. The key to doing these is to focus less on weight and more on muscle contraction and holding the end of the lift for a couple of seconds. I think the lateral and rear deltoids respond to holds at the top of lifts a lot better that other muscles do.

Pro Tip: When doing lateral raises, you can adjust the angle of your arms to target different areas of the shoulder more. If you angle your arms so that your elbows are facing the ground a bit more, you target the front. If you angle your arms so that your elbows are facing up a bit more you'll hit the rear delts. If you angle them perfectly, you hit the sides the most. Obviously when doing this don't angle them all the way up or down.

Face Pulls, Machine Reverse Flyes, and Bent Over DB Raises are the only exercises I like for rear delts, though.