Rear delts
Posterior shoulder. Tiny mass, huge impact on posture and shoulder health. Chronically undertrained.
Exercises
Ranked by directness on rear delts.
Reverse Pec Deck
Hard squeeze across the back of the shoulders.
Face Pull
Burn across the back of the shoulders + a release across the upper chest.
Prone Y Raise
Upper back and lower trap activation; rear delts at the very top.
Prone T Raise
Rear delts and the middle of the upper back working as a unit.
Rear Delt Fly
Tight squeeze across the back of both shoulders.
Cable Reverse Fly
Constant tension across the back of both shoulders. Wickedly hard squeeze at the end.
- Rear delts
Also involves this muscle
Lifts that pull this muscle in as a supporter.
Rhomboids
Band Row to Neck
Mid and upper back squeeze; great for warmups and posture work.
Lower back
Superman
Whole-back engagement: erectors, glutes, rear delts all firing.
Rhomboids
Seated Cable Row
Squeeze between the shoulder blades that lingers.
Side delts
Dumbbell Y-Raise
Burn across the upper back, side delts, and a long-overlooked region right above the shoulder blade.
Lats
Chest-supported Row
Lats and mid-back working with zero lower-back tax.
Traps
Behind-the-back Barbell Shrug
The squeeze is in the middle of the upper back, not just at the top of the shoulders.
Lats
Lat Pulldown
Lats engaging from the very first inch of the pull.
Lats
Single-arm Dumbbell Row
Hard squeeze right under the armpit; lat tension you can chase by adjusting torso angle.
Traps
Snatch-grip Shrug
Trap pump from the base of the neck out to the rear delts.
Rhomboids
Inverted Row
Mid-back squeeze every rep. Easier than a pull-up, equally productive for the rhomboids.
Rhomboids
Seal Row
Brutal upper-back squeeze with absolutely zero lower-back risk.
Biceps
Chin-up
Even split between hard bicep contraction and lat squeeze under the armpit.
Lats
Pull-up
Tight squeeze under the armpits - that's the lat.
Lats
T-Bar Row
Mid-back density work - lower lats and rhomboids fighting for space.
Lats
Meadows Row
A unilateral lat contraction with a slight rotational pull - very different from a standard row.
Lats
Barbell Bent-over Row
Mid-back squeeze + lower lat pull. Lower back stays tight, not working.
Lats
Muscle-up
Pulling phase like a tight chin-up, transition like a folded-up triceps press.