Why Are Rear Delts So Hard to Grow Reddit

Your Rear Delts Aren't Stubborn, They're Just Ignored

To answer why are rear delts so hard to grow reddit, it’s because you are using at least 50% too much weight and letting your much larger back and trap muscles do 100% of the work. You think you're training rear delts, but you're actually just doing a sloppy, ineffective row. It’s a frustrating feeling. You see your chest and front delts growing from pressing movements, but the back of your shoulder remains flat. You hammer face pulls and reverse flyes at the end of every workout, but the only thing you feel is your mid-back getting tired. This is the most common complaint I hear, and it’s not your fault. No one ever explains that the rear delt is a tiny, delicate muscle responsible for small, precise movements. It’s not designed to move heavy weight. Its bigger, stronger neighbors-the traps, rhomboids, and lats-are always waiting to jump in and take over the moment the weight gets too heavy or your form breaks down. For a 180-pound man who can bench 185 pounds, his rear delts will likely only respond to something as light as 10-15 pound dumbbells for isolation work. It feels wrong, but it’s the only way to force the target muscle to do the work. Until you accept this and drop the ego, your rear delts will never grow.

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The "Ego Lifting" Mistake That Kills Rear Delt Growth

The single biggest reason your rear delts aren't growing is that you treat them like your chest or legs. You assume more weight equals more growth. For this specific muscle, that assumption is wrong. The rear delt (posterior deltoid) is a small muscle with a primary function of horizontal abduction-moving your upper arm away from your body in the horizontal plane. When you load up the reverse pec-deck with 100 pounds and start jerking the weight back, the rear delts contribute for maybe the first 10% of the movement. Then, your powerful rhomboids and trapezius muscles take over to finish the rep. You're essentially training your back, not your shoulders.

Here's the math that proves it. Let's say you do 10 reps of reverse flyes with 40-pound dumbbells. Your form is a bit loose, and your rear delts are only doing about 20% of the work. The total volume for your rear delts is (10 reps * 40 lbs) * 20% = 80 units of stimulus. Now, let's say you drop the weight to 15 pounds and do 15 perfect, controlled reps where your rear delts perform 90% of the work. The volume is (15 reps * 15 lbs) * 90% = 202.5 units of stimulus. You get more than double the growth signal with less than half the weight. The goal isn't to move the weight from point A to point B; the goal is to force the rear delt to contract against resistance. This requires light weight, high reps (15-25 range), and a focus so intense it feels like you're trying to squeeze a pencil between your shoulder blade and your arm.

You understand the logic now: lighter weight, perfect form, high reps. But knowing this and proving you're applying it are two different things. Can you look back at your last 8 rear delt workouts and see a clear progression in quality reps? Or are you just guessing the weight each time and hoping for the best?

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The 8-Week Protocol for Building 3D Shoulders

Stop randomly throwing face pulls in at the end of your workout. If you want to see change, you need a dedicated, progressive plan. Follow this 8-week protocol exactly. Do not skip the first step, no matter how advanced you think you are. This is for you if you're frustrated with no rear delt growth. This is not for you if you're a powerlifter whose only goal is moving maximum weight.

Step 1: The Form Reset (Weeks 1-2)

Your only goal for the first two weeks is to establish a mind-muscle connection. You will use a weight that feels embarrassingly light. For most men, this is 5 or 10-pound dumbbells. For most women, 2.5 or 5-pound dumbbells.

• Exercise: Bent-Over Dumbbell Raise.
• Frequency: 2 times per week, at the *beginning* of your workout when you are fresh.
• Execution: Hinge at your hips until your torso is nearly parallel to the floor. Let the dumbbells hang. Now, keeping a slight bend in your elbows, think about driving your elbows out and up towards the ceiling. Do not pull with your hands. Do not squeeze your shoulder blades together. The movement should be initiated by the back of your shoulder. Perform 3 sets of 15-20 reps. The last 5 reps should burn directly in the rear delt. If you feel it in your traps, the weight is too heavy or you're shrugging.

Step 2: Progressive Overload with Reps (Weeks 3-6)

Now that you can feel the muscle working, we introduce progression. Your goal is not to add weight yet. Your goal is to add reps with perfect form.

• Exercises: Continue with Bent-Over Dumbbell Raises and add a second movement like the Reverse Pec-Deck machine or Band Pull-Aparts.
• Frequency: 2-3 times per week. Total weekly sets should be around 8-12.
• Progression: Stick with the same light weight from weeks 1-2. Each week, try to add 1-2 reps to each set. So if you did 3x15 in week 2, aim for 3x16-17 in week 3. Once you can successfully complete 3 sets of 20-25 reps with flawless form, and only then, you can increase the weight by the smallest possible increment (e.g., 10 lbs to 12.5 lbs) and drop your reps back down to 15. This is how you ensure the rear delt is the limiting factor, not your ego.

Step 3: Increase Volume and Intensity (Weeks 7-8)

Your form is now automatic, and you're progressing in reps or weight. It's time to increase the total workload to maximize hypertrophy.

• Frequency: 3 times per week.
• Volume: Aim for 12-16 total hard sets for the rear delts per week, spread across your workouts.
• Example Split:
• Push Day: 4 sets of Reverse Pec-Deck (15-20 reps)
• Pull Day: 4 sets of Face Pulls (15-20 reps, focusing on external rotation)
• Leg/Shoulder Day: 4 sets of Bent-Over Dumbbell Raises (12-15 reps, slightly heavier now)
• Intensity: On the final set of one exercise per week, add an intensity technique. A simple dropset works best. Once you hit failure, immediately reduce the weight by 25-30% and perform as many more reps as possible.

What to Expect (and When to Expect It)

Growing small muscles is a slow process. You need to be patient and consistent. Here is a realistic timeline.

• Week 1-2: You will feel humbled. The weights are light, and the burn is specific. You might not even get sore, but you'll feel an awareness in the back of your shoulder that wasn't there before. This is the most important phase. Do not rush it. Your main goal is to feel the right muscle working on every single rep.
• Month 1 (Weeks 1-4): You will not see significant visual change yet. However, your ability to contract your rear delts will improve dramatically. You'll be able to flex them on command. The weights you're using for your 15-20 perfect reps will start to slowly increase. A 10-pound dumbbell will start to feel like a real challenge, whereas before it felt like nothing. This is a huge win.
• Month 2-3 (Weeks 5-12): This is where the first visible changes appear. When you look at your shoulder from the side, you'll notice a little more curve and fullness on the back side. It won't be dramatic, but it will be there. Your shoulders will look more balanced and less front-heavy. This small amount of mass makes a huge difference in creating that coveted "3D" or "capped" shoulder look. By the end of 12 weeks of this focused training, the difference will be undeniable to you, even if it's subtle to others.

Frequently Asked Questions

Best Rear Delt Exercises

The best exercises are ones you can feel working the rear delt without involving the back. Top choices are the Reverse Pec-Deck machine, Bent-Over Dumbbell Raises (with light weight), and Face Pulls where you emphasize pulling the rope apart and externally rotating your shoulders.

Training Frequency for Rear Delts

Because they are a small muscle group that recovers quickly, rear delts respond well to high-frequency training. Aim to train them 2-3 times per week. Hitting them with 4-6 quality sets each session is more effective than trying to do 15 sets once a week.

Rep and Set Ranges for Growth

Rear delts are typically composed of more slow-twitch muscle fibers, which respond better to higher repetitions and more time under tension. Aim for the 15-25 rep range for most of your sets. Total weekly volume should be between 12-20 hard sets for optimal growth.

Rear Delts vs. Traps Activation

To avoid your traps taking over, focus on two cues. First, keep your shoulders down and away from your ears; do not shrug the weight. Second, think about driving your elbows out to the sides, not pulling your hands back. This subtle shift in focus keeps the tension on the deltoid.

Integrating Rear Delt Work into a Split

It's best to place rear delt exercises at the beginning of your workout when you're mentally and physically fresh. You can add them to your pull day, your push day (to balance out the pressing), or a dedicated shoulder day. Spreading the volume across multiple days is ideal.