Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly

How to Perform the Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly

Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a light dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip.
Hinge forward at the hips until your torso is nearly parallel to the floor, keeping a slight bend in your knees.
Let the dumbbells hang directly below your shoulders with a slight bend in your elbows.
Raise both dumbbells out to the sides in a wide arc, leading with your elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades together.
Lift until your arms are roughly parallel with the floor, pausing briefly at the top of the movement.
Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position under control, resisting gravity on the way down.
Maintain a flat back and stable torso throughout the entire set, avoiding any swinging or momentum.

Using too much momentum by swinging the torso

Keep your torso stationary at the same angle throughout. If you need to swing, reduce the weight.

Lifting with the traps instead of the rear delts

Focus on leading with the elbows and keeping your shoulders down and away from your ears.

Straightening the arms completely during the lift

Maintain a slight bend in the elbows throughout the movement to keep tension on the rear delts rather than straining the elbow joint.

✓Develops the often-neglected posterior deltoids for balanced shoulder aesthetics.
✓Improves posture by strengthening the upper back and rear shoulder muscles.
✓Reduces risk of shoulder impingement by balancing front and rear deltoid strength.

●Use a lighter weight than you think you need and focus on the mind-muscle connection with the rear delts.
●Pause at the top of each rep for 1-2 seconds to maximise rear delt activation.
●Imagine pouring water out of two jugs by rotating your thumbs slightly downward at the top.

Strength

4-5 sets of 3-5 reps at 80-90% 1RM

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 8-12 reps at 65-75% 1RM

Endurance

2-3 sets of 15-20 reps at 50-60% 1RM

Join 2,000,000+ lifters tracking their workouts with Stronger. Available on iOS and Android.