Mind-Muscle Connection for Rear Delts
38sExplains a crucial but often overlooked technique for targeting a stubborn muscle that many fail to activate properly.
▶ Play Clip"Delivers on the promised 5 steps with actionable advice, but includes some filler and a plug for a free program."
This video outlines a five-step system for developing larger, more balanced rear deltoids. It emphasizes the importance of mind-muscle connection, proper nutrition, targeted compound and isolation exercises, progressive overload, and routine variation to overcome plateaus.
The rear deltoid is often neglected, leading to disproportionate shoulders where the front is larger than the back.
Consciously focusing on the rear delt during exercises prevents stronger back muscles (lats, rhomboids, traps) from taking over. Visualize pulling with elbows, not hands, and avoid momentum.
For experienced lifters, a calorie surplus is beneficial. Calculate by multiplying body weight (lbs) by 15, then add 250-500 calories. Allocate 0.7g protein per lb of body weight.
Exercises like dumbbell bent-over high row (90° bend, elbow at 90° from body) and barbell high row effectively target the rear delt. Face pulls are also recommended.
Reverse dumbbell fly (standing or on incline bench) and cable reverse fly isolate the rear delt. The reverse fly machine also works well due to its fixed path.
Train rear delts twice per week on pull days, totaling 12-20 sets per week. Stick to 8-10 reps per set and 3-4 sets per exercise.
Gradually increase weight over time while maintaining form. Alternatively, increase sets or reps. This is essential for continued growth.
Switch exercises every 6-8 weeks to prevent plateaus. For example, swap reverse flies for barbell high rows or face pulls. This challenges the body with new stimuli.
By following these five steps—cultivating mind-muscle connection, eating in a surplus, performing targeted compound and isolation exercises, progressively overloading, and rotating routines—you can build bigger, balanced rear delts effectively.
What is the mind-muscle connection?
The ability to consciously target and feel the contraction of a specific muscle during an exercise, creating a stronger neural pathway.
00:27
How can you calculate a calorie surplus for muscle growth?
Multiply your body weight in pounds by 15, then add 250 to 500 calories. For protein, consume 0.7 grams per pound of body weight.
02:14
What is the proper form for the dumbbell bent-over high row?
Bend 90° at the hips, place one knee and hand on a bench, keep knuckles forward and elbow at 90° from the body, pull the dumbbell towards the chest.
03:34
How often should you train rear delts per week and with how many sets?
Twice per week on pull days, with a total of 12 to 20 sets combined between both workouts.
07:13
What is progressive overload?
Gradually increasing the weight, reps, or sets over time to place increasing stress on muscles, forcing them to grow.
07:52
Why should you switch exercises every 6-8 weeks?
To prevent plateaus as your body adapts to the same exercises. Switching to new movements challenges the muscles differently and helps you progress when you return to previous exercises.
08:33
Mind-Muscle Connection is Key
It's a foundational concept that prevents other muscles from dominating rear delt exercises, making training more effective.
00:27Calorie Surplus Formula
Provides a simple, actionable method to calculate surplus for muscle growth, tailored to body weight.
02:14Unique Form for Rear Delt Rows
The 90° elbow angle and knuckles-forward grip specifically target the rear delt, unlike regular rows that engage lats more.
03:34Progressive Overload Necessity
Emphasizes that getting stronger at exercises is crucial for growth, even with perfect form.
07:38Routine Variation Timing
Specific 6-8 week window to adapt and then change exercises to overcome plateaus, giving a clear timeline.
08:33[00:01] important muscles we use on a daily basis and the rear head helps you pull throw and maintain upright posture unfortunately the rear deltoid is most often ignored in training routines and receives disproportionately less work
[00:14] the shoulder this can lead to a disproportionate appearance where the front part of the shoulder is significantly bigger than the back so to help you build bigger and stronger balanced looking shoulders you're going
[00:27] outlined in this video first you have to work on improving something known as the Mind muscle connection because it's especially important to effectively train the rear delt you see it's very easy to have
[00:41] other muscles in your back like your lats rhomboids and traps take over any pulling movement that involves the rear delts so that's where the Mind muscle connection comes into play it refers to the ability to consciously Target and
[00:53] feel the contraction of a specific muscle while performing an exercise by focusing on engaging a certain muscle like the rear delts you can create a stronger neural pathway between your brain and the muscle you're working on
[01:05] this is actually something that can be trained and improved over time and doing so can enhance the effectiveness of your workouts by ensuring that you're intend to Target while reducing the Reliance on surrounding muscle groups so
[01:19] how do you actually do this in practice first when performing any exercise for the rear delts start by consciously thinking about these muscles in the back of your shoulders actually visualize you using the muscles in the back of your
[01:31] shoulders in your mind Focus left on lifting dumbbells or lifting the weights reverse flies instead keep your attention focused on pulling with your elbows and the back of your shoulders not the hands you also need to make sure
[01:45] that you're not using momentum even if it means using lighter weights again this is the first step because if you're not concentrating on using your rear more powerful muscles in your back will take over step two before before doing
[02:00] any rear Del exercise is to set up the right conditions for your muscles to grow and develop if you're a beginner simply training your rear shoulder muscle growth however if you've been training with weights for some time now
[02:14] it will be highly beneficial to be in a calorie Surplus to build more muscle if you're a man you can do this very simply by multiplying your weight by 15 and then adding 250 to 500 calories to that number for your calorie Surplus starting
[02:27] Target then make sure that you allocate 7 g of protein per pound of body weight and subtract that number multiply by four from your total calories the rest of your calories will come from fats and carbs in total this surplus of calories
[02:41] provides the energy required to build and maintain muscle mass by supporting muscle protein synthesis and helping you have more energy to perform at a higher level and get stronger a calorie Surplus also ensures an overall abundance of
[02:53] nutrients including essential vitamins minerals and macronutrients that all play a role in muscle function and recover recovery eating more calories from nutrient-rich Foods also optimizes many other physiological processes
[03:06] providing a boost to hormones like testosterone and igf-1 while also reducing cortisol now step three is actually training the rear head with compound exercises like bench press and overhead press stimulate the anterior
[03:22] and mid deltoid effectively they don't do much for the posterior portion but there are very effective compound exercises for the rear head like the dumbbell bent over highy row for this exercise you want to get your upper body
[03:34] different than regular rows where you would only bend down by about 45 to 60° but here you want to go for a full 90° Bend then Place one knee on a bench and place your hand that's on the same side as that knee on the bench as well when
[03:48] want to do it differently than a regular row with a regular row you would keep your elbow close to your body to engage your lats but that takes away the majority of the work from the posterior deltoid you're trying to Target so
[04:01] instead you want your knuckles facing forward and your elbow to be at a 90° angle from your body as you pull the dumbbell back aiming to bring it up towards your chest concentrate on feeling that mind muscle connection and
[04:13] pulling with your rear delt as you do this another similar compound exercise that you can do is the bent over highy rro here you would take a barbell and grab it a little wider than shoulder width then bend down to a similar 90°
[04:25] angle where your back is parallel with the ground and pull the barbell in toward towards your chest with your elbows at 90° angles from your body since you don't have a bench to support your upper body it's extra important
[04:37] to avoid a lower back injury while doing sure to maintain a neutral spine by keeping your core tight your shoulder blades pulled back and your chest and hips up you can also perform face pulls
[04:51] to Target the posterior head set up the cable starting height so that the pulley is in front of your face with the Rope attached then grab the rope with both your thumbs up next you'll pull the
[05:03] doing this keep your elbows flared outward at those same 90° angles from the body concentrate on pulling back with your elbows rather than your hands to get a better mind muscle connection on this exercise now since the rear head
[05:17] is more difficult to Target you'll definitely want to perform isolation exercises as well and one of the best is the reverse dumbbell fly start by standing with your knees slightly bent shoulder width apart then hinge at your
[05:29] parallel with the ground from there squeeze your shoulder blades together and lift the dumbbells out to your sides while keeping your elbow slightly bent the whole time again keep your focus on lifting with your elbows and the back of
[05:43] your shoulders rather than your hands then lower back down in a controlled repeat you can also do this same movement on an incline bench set up at a 45° angle which will allow you to Target the rear head in a slightly different
[05:57] way you would lie face down on the bench then let the dumbbells hang with your palms facing each other and your elbows slightly bent then bring both dumbbells out to your sides in an ark likee motion squeeze at the top and lower back down
[06:10] another variation can be done on a cable cross machine start by setting the pulleys at shoulder height then grab a dandle in each hand with one arm over the other take a step back so that the weights are already lifted up off the
[06:22] weight stack before even pulling the cables then perform the same reverse fly then bring the cables back towards each other and continue until your arms are crossed over again then repeat the
[06:34] cables will provide a slightly different stimulus than the dumbbells because throughout the entire movement so it's good to incorporate both of these exercises one final effective variation uses the reverse fly selector rizer
[06:48] machine it's a similar motion you would just sit facing forward after adjusting the seat so that your hands are about even with your shoulders when gripping the handles then while maintaining that slight Bend IN your elbows open up your
[07:00] arms following that same Ark likee path since this is a selector rizer machine that's locked into one set path you can really concentrate on using that mind muscle connection to hit the back of your shoulders with this exercise so you
[07:13] can take the exercises that I just went over and pick a few of them to do twice a week on your pull day when you're also working other muscles in your back like the lats rhomboids and The Traps training them twice a week and aiming
[07:26] for a total of 12 to 20 sets between both workouts combined will maximize muscle protein synthesis over the entire week you should also stick to a general rep range between 8 to 10 reps per set and 3 to four sets per exercise to
[07:38] maximize growth but for all of this to actually lead to muscle growth step four to gradually increase the weight you're lifting for these exercises over time remember you want to be smart while doing this since it's so easy to have
[07:52] other more dominant muscles in your back take over you need to still ensure that you're not using the momentum and that your mind is always always actively shoulders however on top of maintaining
[08:04] good form it's absolutely necessary to get stronger at these exercises and placed on your muscles over time this is known of course as Progressive overload follow for muscle growth you can of course also increase the number of sets
[08:19] or reps to progressively overload your rear Dell exercises but one of the most effective and simplest trackable ways to progressively overload is to increase the intensity or the weight load you use over time this is why I highly recommend
[08:33] that you simply concentrate on getting as strong as possible at the exercises that I just went over while maintaining proper form and finally the last step is to switch up your workout routine at least once every 6 to8 weeks here's the
[08:46] yourself to lift heavier weights train harder and progress you will hit a plateau you'll typically make the most exercise but then your body adapts to the stressor and progress ress always
[08:59] slows down a great way to get around this is to just switch up your exercises right when your body starts to adapt after a few weeks so after 6 to 8 weeks reverse flies on the selector rizer machine switch barbell hyros for
[09:13] dumbbell hyros or face pulse by switching to the new exercise you'll be able to work on getting stronger at a slightly different movement and then eventually another 6 to8 weeks later you can come back to the exercises that you
[09:26] very likely to notice that when you change up your routine this way you'll continuously progress at new exercises and that progress will help you progress through the previous exercises you were doing when you eventually come back to
[09:40] them basically you want to give your body enough time to make positive adaptations like getting stronger at a certain exercise so you don't want to just change up your routine every two weeks because it won't be enough time to
[09:52] get better and more efficient at each exercise but at around the 6 to 8 week Mark when you've gotten stronger at reverse flies or high Rose or any idea to switch it up and challenge your body with a new one this will help you
[10:07] especially a good idea to do this when you get stuck with a certain weight load so those are the five steps you need to follow I guarantee you that if you follow these steps you'll get bigger more proportionate rear deltoid heads in
[10:21] no time also if you want more rear deltoid exercises to switch into your routine I've made a prior video that describes the perfect form for the best I'll link it in the description and you could watch that next I really hope you
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