lacking in the rear-delts

[tightend81]

I have a huge lack of rear delts. IDK why but whatever i do they do not want to grow. I've tried rear delt flys....but i honestly didn't feel like they worked well, and theres only so far you I could progress with weight on them. I stick to the basic movements and just progress with weight whenever possible, Anyone have any good rear delt lifts?

shoulder training is as follows;

BB military press 4 sets 30 reps
DB press 3 sets 25 r
DB laterals 3 sets 25 r

stats are:

age: 19
height: 5'11
weight:170
bf: 12%

diet is a carb cycle but on most work out days something like this:

1) 3/4 cup oats, 1 tbsp p.b, 25g whey

2) pwo 25g whey in 2%milk with 1 banana

3) turkey sandwich, 1 tbsp shredded cheese, whole grain bread, 1/2 cup brown rice.

4) chicken breast with cucumbers

5) 5oz beef with salad

6) 25g caseinate in water

[h4x0l2]

Really, you may want to try more weight with less reps.

Try adding around 15lbs and do 12 reps for 2 sets, then a set of 14 on these exercises. If its a bit too much weight to do this, find a weight that is appropriate. Another thing you should focus on is slow down. Raise the weight a bit faster than your lower it, but not much. This way you can tell exactly when you are hitting the right muscle group and how much weight to use.

Hope this helps.

[Sirius]

Would be helpful if you could post the rest of your program, to get a better idea of exactly how much the rear delts are getting from what you are doing. Any particular reason you do high reps?

[Morskaya_Pekhota]

I'm from the "lift very heavy things just a couple of times" school of thought (as opposed to the "lift relatively heavy things with intense focus a whole bunch of times" school- which isn't wrong or ineffective, just not for me). As you said, TE, there's only so far you can progress (weight-wise) on movements like rev.flys. DB flys and (arguably) DB presses are also in this group, IMO.

I'd focus on the military press/smith press instead. Over the course of the next three months, you can probably add thirty pounds to your DB press or sixty - seventy pounds to your military press. Just my opinion, but I think heavier weights = stronger dude = bigger dude. There's no reason to set out to isolate any one head of the deltiod, IMO. Pretty much any delt lift you do will hit them all to an extent. The rear, being the smallest, needs the least weight to be fully taxed. Sure, it just plays a supporting role in the overhead press, but that's all it needs.

When you're doing rev. flys and your rear delts give out, the set is over. When you do military press and your rear delts are wasted, the other muscles take up the slack and the rear delts are pushed beyond failure, you dig? They're not doing as much work on the last two reps as they were on the first two, but they're still giving everything they've got, as opposed to the rev. flys, where they're either giving all or nothing.

Imagine you're running a marathon with another guy. When he reaches the end of his endurance he collapses and hits the deck. But when you get to that point I come running up behind you and start pushing you forward. It makes it a little easier for you to keep going now that you've got a helping hand. You'll get farther than the other guy. The other guy is an isolation movement (rev. fly) and you are a compound movement (military press).

I'd do two working sets of bb military press, 6 - 9 reps. Give those sets all you've got and call it a day. No, you're not going to have to crawl out of the gym, and you're not going to be so sore the next day that you can't lift your arms. You're not supposed to be. You're in the gym to stimulate growth, not destroy your muscles. Concentrate on heavy weight and lower reps for a while and see how it treats you.

If you aren't already, start a log book. Each day, write down the lifts you do, how much weight you used and how many reps you got for each set. Next week, either add a little more weight or get another two or three reps with the same weight. Rinse and repeat.

In addition, I'd double up on the whey in your first two meals

[Lars]

Another idea if you want to specifically bring up the rear delts to be in proportion with the rest of your shoulders, would be to pre-exhaust them before hitting the compound movements. I.e. do your rear delt laterals to exhaustion, then hit the heavy presses to really beat those rear delts into the ground while the rest of you shoulder complex is still fresh. Reps/sets scheme to your personal preference.

[tightend81]

Originally Posted by Sirius

Would be helpful if you could post the rest of your program, to get a better idea of exactly how much the rear delts are getting from what you are doing. Any particular reason you do high reps?

I followed the high weight lower rep scheme for a while...I even did MP's old HIT routine posted on IS back in the day....I did see noticeable change in weight progression but i must say I didn't see much muscle hypertrophy. I did it for at least 6 months. I think my diet was a bit too low in protein intake so that may have been the culprit.

So i kept the same principles of the main compound lifts, perfect form with no momentum, I just added a bit more volume. I rarely am sore the next day so I feel like it's working well for me. I don't judge progress by how sore I am. I up the weights whenever possible but I would rather add an extra set and hit fatigue then up the weight and compromise the strict form I use.

My program focus on the big compound lifts: Ideal rep range is 8-12. I usually like only 3 sets but if i don't want to up the weight to maybe mess up my form I may add a 4th set.

MON:
Smith machine squats 4sets
Leg press: 3 sets
Leg curl: 3 sets
Calf raises on a board: 4 sets
Pull ups 3 sets
Pushups 3 sets
Weighted dips: 3 sets


TUE:
BB MP: 4 set
db laterals: 3 sets
DB MP: 3 sets
bb curls: 2 sets
DB curls: 2 sets

Thur
BB row 3 sets
Dead Lift: 2 sets 15 reps
T-bar rows: 3 sets
lat pull downs 4 sets

Fri
BB bench: 3 sets
inc smith press: 3 sets
Db bench: 3 sets
rope pull downs: 3 sets
Close grip bench 3 sets

[CJP]

Another thing you can try is to train your rear delts with back. Most back movments hit your rear delts anyway so you might as well finish them off on the same day. I started training rear delts with back and front detls with chest and I noticed sizable gains. Then on shoulder day I would do 2 pressing movments and one lateral movement. I found this works very well for me.

If you do decide to train rear delts with back you only need 3-4 sets of one direct exercise because you have been using them the hole day so you only need a few sets to finish them off. And if you are doing reverse flys make sure that your knuckles are pointing forward and not to the side because then you are targeting your traps more.

[tightend81]

Originally Posted by CJP

Another thing you can try is to train your rear delts with back. Most back movments hit your rear delts anyway so you might as well finish them off on the same day. I started training rear delts with back and front detls with chest and I noticed sizable gains. Then on shoulder day I would do 2 pressing movments and one lateral movement. I found this works very well for me.

If you do decide to train rear delts with back you only need 3-4 sets of one direct exercise because you have been using them the hole day so you only need a few sets to finish them off. And if you are doing reverse flys make sure that your knuckles are pointing forward and not to the side because then you are targeting your traps more.

Whats your best exercise for the R. Delts??

[CJP]

I like reverse flys. Seated or standing they hit your rear delt really good. Just make sure your hands are turned the right way because you dont target your delts at all if your knuckes are facing out. Keep them forward and really squeeze at the top. You dont need to hold the weight straight out for any amount of time just make sure you can feel tention in your shoulders when you do them. 3-4 sets at 8-12 reps is plenty after a back workout. Theres not really a hole lot you can do for rear detls directly so hitting them with one exercise that targets them after they have been partially trained just makes sense to me.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by tightend81

My program focus on the big compound lifts: Ideal rep range is 8-12.

MON:
Smith machine squats 4sets
Leg press: 3 sets
Leg curl: 3 sets
Calf raises on a board: 4 sets
Pull ups 3 sets
Pushups 3 sets
Weighted dips: 3 sets


TUE:
BB MP: 4 set
db laterals: 3 sets
DB MP: 3 sets
bb curls: 2 sets
DB curls: 2 sets

Thur
BB row 3 sets
Dead Lift: 2 sets 15 reps
T-bar rows: 3 sets
lat pull downs 4 sets

Fri
BB bench: 3 sets
inc smith press: 3 sets
Db bench: 3 sets
rope pull downs: 3 sets
Close grip bench 3 sets

Every time you ask which exercise is best for "x" you'll get as many different answers as people that reply probably. Without knowing what your goals are, I'll assume you're working for an overall well rounded physique.
I have to agree with MP, I would not worry about isolating anything. In my book, you seem to have a lot of exercises. Have you ever considered doing less each time, and rotating the different exercises? Also you might want to try sitting row with either wide bar or the V-grip. At least for me they work well for rear delt as well as back. I would try different things, and you're bound to find what works for you. Maybe try really focusing on the big compounds?