A shoulder becomes a boulder shoulder when you’ve got a build rear delt. Without it, your shoulder might just feel a little incomplete. So if you’re looking for that shape and capped shoulders to rock in a tank this summer, you’re going to want to incorporate these 5 best cable rear delt exercises into your next shoulder day. Let’s get swole.

What Are Deltoid Muscles? Anatomy and Training Importance

Understanding the Delts: Your Shoulder’s Power Trio

The deltoid muscles, or simply delts, are made up of three distinct muscle heads that cap your shoulder and give it its rounded, triangular shape:

• Anterior Deltoid (Front): Assists with shoulder flexion and internal rotation, heavily activated during pressing movements like overhead presses or incline bench.

• Lateral Deltoid (Side): Responsible for shoulder abduction, helping you lift your arm out to the side. Think lateral raises.

• Posterior Deltoid (Rear): Handles horizontal abduction and external rotation. Crucial for pulling movements like face pulls or reverse flys.

These muscle heads work together to stabilize the shoulder joint and enable a wide range of upper-body movements.

🧠 The deltoids are connected via tendons to three skeletal structures:

• The clavicle (collarbone)

• The humerus (upper arm bone)

• The scapula (shoulder blade)
  (Kuechle et al., 1997, Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery)

Why You Need to Train Your Rear Delts

The posterior deltoids—aka rear delts—are frequently neglected in most training programs. That’s because they aren’t as visibly prominent as the front and side delts, and they’re only secondarily activated during chest and back exercises.

Here’s why this matters:

• Imbalanced deltoids can lead to poor posture and shoulder instability

• Weak rear delts contribute to upper body muscular imbalances and increase the risk of rotator cuff injuries

• Strong rear delts improve pulling strength, rowing mechanics, and even bench press stability

To correct imbalances and build symmetrical, injury-resistant shoulders, you need to program rear-delt-specific exercises into your weekly routine.

Rear Delt Exercises to Add to Your Program

Target the rear delts directly with exercises such as:

• Reverse Pec Deck Flys

• Face Pulls

• Bent-Over Reverse Flys

• Cable Rear Delt Rows

• Incline Rear Delt Raises

Train them 2–3x per week with moderate reps (12–15) and controlled movement to isolate the muscle and reinforce the mind-muscle connection.

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Rear Delt Cable Exercises: Muscles Worked & Why They Matter

Understanding Your Shoulder Anatomy

To build bigger, stronger shoulders—especially the rear delts—you need a basic understanding of the three deltoid muscle heads, which together form the rounded shape of your shoulders and assist in pushing, pulling, and stabilizing your upper body.

1. Anterior Deltoid (Front)

Located at the front of the shoulder, this muscle assists in shoulder flexion and is highly activated during movements like overhead presses, front raises, and incline bench presses. It’s often overtrained due to its heavy involvement in chest-focused workouts (Reinold et al., 2004, Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy).

2. Lateral Deltoid (Medial)

This muscle lies on the side of your shoulder and is responsible for shoulder abduction, allowing you to raise your arm sideways. It's best targeted with lateral raises, upright rows, and cable abductions. The lateral deltoid contributes most significantly to shoulder width (Andersen et al., 2010, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research).

3. Posterior Deltoid (Rear)

Positioned at the back of the shoulder, the posterior deltoid is responsible for horizontal abduction and external rotation. It activates during pulling movements such as face pulls, reverse cable crossovers, and bent-over rear delt flys. These movements are vital for building balanced shoulders (Boettcher et al., 2010, Clinical Biomechanics).

Why Your Rear Delts Might Be Lagging

Here are common reasons why rear delts are often underdeveloped:

• Training splits tend to overemphasize pushing (chest/shoulders/triceps) and neglect pulling.

• Rear delts are rarely isolated unless intentionally programmed.

• Poor technique can lead to trap or lat dominance during rear delt exercises.

🚨 Rear delts aren’t inherently harder to build—they're just easier to overlook in most programs.

Proper form, controlled movement, and targeted isolation exercises are key to rear delt growth.

Benefits of Rear Delt Development

Building your posterior delts offers more than just better posture. Here’s what strong rear delts deliver:

• Improved scapular stability and shoulder alignment

• Better performance in pulling movements and pressing support

• Reduced risk of shoulder impingement and injuries

• Enhanced upper body symmetry and aesthetics

📘 Research suggests that rear deltoid strength is essential for injury prevention in athletes and lifters who perform overhead movements frequently (Wright et al., 2004, American Journal of Sports Medicine).

Pro Tips for Growth & Recovery

Strong shoulders need proper support. Consider supplementing with:

• 💊 Swolverine Magnesium – Supports muscle contraction, nerve signaling, and post-workout recovery

• 🌙 Swolverine ZMT – Designed for sleep quality, testosterone support, and recovery optimization

RELATED: 10 Best Shoulder Workouts To Build All Three Heads Of The Deltoid Muscle

How To Get Bigger Shoulders

Lastly, before we get into our 5 favorite cable rear delt exercises, a common question that we get as trainers is ‘how do I build bigger shoulders’ and more specifically ‘how do I get bigger rear delts’. Well, you’ve come to the right place on how to get bigger shoulders, shall we?

Tip #1: Work from the back to the front

When you head into the gym for your shoulder day we recommend starting by focusing on the rear delt, then the medial, and then the front. This is especially true for anyone reading this out there that has an undeveloped rear delt or is lacking size in the shoulders. If you train rear delts at the end of your training session chances are your mind-muscle connection is lower, you’re going to be fatigued, and your form is going to go out the window, contributing to those reasons we mentioned that your shoulders might be underdeveloped in the first place (form, inefficient movement, etc.).

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Tip #2: Follow a training program

Not planning is planning to fail. Following a training program written by a fitness professional will save you time in the gym and produce more efficient results from your hard effort in the gym. Instead of cherry shoulder workouts from the internet or your favorite influencers page, recognize that a systematic plan for progressive overload when training the shoulders, as designed by a professional, will yield the best results. Lucky for you, we do just that here at Swolverine. Check out our training programs here and if you’re looking for online 1:1 personal training specifically tailored to you and your goals, schedule a consult with a coach here.

Tip #3: Focus on form

The rear delt development doesn’t come from using massive weights to target this specific muscle fiber. Instead, focus on form and incorporating a full range of motion to achieve the best results and development. You’ll probably also want to hit shoulders twice a week, but if you follow one of our training programs, we’ll make sure you have plenty of rest time between your shoulder days for optimal development.

RELATED: How To Improve Shoulder Mobility and Range Of Motion

Tip #4: Use cables for shoulder development

Often times people just reach for the dumbbells or the barbell for the shoulder movements most often seen on social media. However, if you’re looking for those juicy capped shoulders, reach for the cable machine, too. Cable rear delt exercises are a solid way to target the muscle in the eccentric portion of the movement with a constant amount of tension throughout the movement. This contributes to getting developed shoulders fast, especially when coupled with dumbbell shoulder exercises that focus specifically on the concentric movement.

5 Best Rear Delt Cable Exercises

1. Standing Cable Rear Delt Fly

This movement is going to target the rear deltoid muscle in the shoulders with emphasis on the concentric loaded weight from the cables. Make sure to keep the core engaged so that you’re not arching your back through the movement and overcompensating for using too high of weight. The elbows should be bend throughout the entire movement and the neck should be relaxed.

How To Do Standing Cable Rear Delt Flys

• Set your cables about as high as they go in the horizontal plane (not the vertical plane, think a little over your head/face)
• Once your have your cable height set, remove the handles, and reach with your left arm to the right cable, right arm to the left cable, and hold on to the ball on the cable machine
• Get centered in the middle of the machine with a close grip, take a few steps back (about 3 feet)
• With the hands together in front of your face, keeping a slight bend in your arm, retract the shoulders back and down keeping a big chest and a good angle in the elbow
• Initiate the exercise, pulling the arms back and down, squeeze, and return

2. Single Arm Cable Rear Delt Fly

This isometric movement is a great way to focus on the rear delt specifically while incorporating a little secondary emphasis on the traps and core. This movement shouldn't be done with maximal weight and you should focus on good form and keeping tension throughout the body during the entirety of the movement.  

How To Do A Single Arm Cable Rear Delt Fly

• Adjust the pulley to shoulder width
• Stand with your shoulder lined up with the pulley to maximize resistance
• Bring the arm back as far back as you can with the torso still facing the cable
• Focus on contracting the rear delt and mid trap then release the tension and repeat the movement
• This movement can be done facing away or facing the pulley 

3. Standing Cable Face Pull 

Face pulls are one of the best exercises for strengthening the rear deltoids, traps, and upper back, while improving shoulder health and posture. This versatile cable movement helps prevent shoulder injuries, corrects imbalances, and is a must-have in any upper body workout routine. Whether you’re training for strength, performance, or aesthetics, face pulls deliver serious results.

What Are Face Pulls?

Face pulls are performed using a rope attachment on a cable machine, targeting the posterior deltoids, traps, and rotator cuff muscles. The pulling motion promotes better posture and shoulder stability, which is especially important for athletes and lifters who frequently perform pressing exercises.

How To Do Standing Cable Face Pulls

• Position yourself facing a cable with the rope attached
• Grip the rope from the outside with your palms facing the ground
• With a strong core and a firm stance, pull the cable to your face, squeezing the shoulder blades together
• Do not use momentum to pull the rope

4. Cable Wide Grip Row

Cable wide grip rows are an overlooked movement to develop size and shape in the rear delt. This cable machine can be done seated or standing and we recommend keeping it simple. Don't over think the movement or use your momentum to focus more so on contracting the muscles of the upper back and shoulders. 

How To Do Cable Wide Grip Row

• Different from the neutral grip, go slightly wider than shoulder width
• Grab the bar in full extension, pull the bar to you, squeeze the delts and traps, don’t use your momentum, and release.

5. Cable Cross Body Bent-Over Lateral Raises

This is a movement that is going to expose some mobility issues if you have them, but nonetheless, is a great movement for really targeting those rear deltoid muscle fibers for growth and development. Make sure to use a light weight, good form, and don't arch/overcompensate with the back. 

How To Do Cable Cross Body Bent-Over Lateral Raises

• With handles on the cables, place the pulleys at the lowest part of the rig
• Get into a bent over position with feet about shoulder width apart
• Left arm grabs the right handle, right arm grabs the left handle
• In a bent over position, you’re going to keep the elbows bent and retract the arms squeezing the rear delt and upper back

Rear Delt Cable Exercises: Takeaway 

All in all, the rear deltoids are going to contribute to massive size and shape. Don't just focus on the 'mirror muscles' that you can see from the front. Using the 5 cable rear delt exercises in this article to sprinkle into your shoulder day are going to help you develop the shoulders in the concentric phase that dumbbells and a barbell aren't going to (they focus more on the eccentric phase). Keep the weight a little on the lighter side, keep the shoulders retracted and down, and lift on.

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