Rear Delt or Behind Neck Press

[kalipono1]

WoW! No one caught the fact you NEVER EVER EVER drop the bar below the middle of the back of your head. Your arms should maintain a paralell plane to the floor. Breaking that paralell form and dropping the bar to your neck and shoulders will destroy your rotary cuffs and your ligaments. That is a no-no in lifting. If you are doing this, STOP.  This is incorrect form. In order to develop your rear delts, bent over rows are a great way along with other pull exercises for trapezius also.

[tyciol]

Overhead pressing doesn't work the rear delt, regardless of whether you put it behind your neck or not.

If anything, this would isolate the front delts even more and stop the medial delt from contributing as much.

[claytonkillsyou]

this exercise does work your rear delt......(the rear deltoid is a support muscle and is used secondarily in ANY shoulder exercise)...... but do not do this to develop your rear delt.... you will see NO results, thats a guarantee.

[andrewishanukaai]

most people dont know how to use the rear delts and traps in an overhead press. thats why most people think its a only a front delt move. ignorance is a bliss...

[some5672]

unaware

[hXcDiedWithHitler]

hey look its carrot top

[2112mike]

dont you think he should ask about the technique BEFORE attempting it?

[mma4ev]

this exercise is not allowed anymore

[benniturd]

Would I be right in saying they come too far down? Cheers.

[benniturd]

Correct. I come to hair line.

[Deuce515]

Might as well say it works the quads because he's standing....

[Deuce515]

....or glutes because he's sitting

[kaligirl2001]

...or core because he is stabilizing

[musclemonkeyman]

Becasue this not going to primarily work that muscle, you do need to do reverse flies and rows. If you dont you are a punk and should not be even talking about this.

ANd this guy is old..... of course he is using the smith...

[musclemonkeyman]

First all of you need to learn kinesiology. This excercise DOES work the rear delts however it is a terciary group in this excercise. While the main function of rear delts is pulling, that would be like saying that the rear delts dont get a workout on flat bench. What do you think helps hold your shoulder in place during this excercise??? Do bicepts not get worked out on a seated row also??? Try doing this excercise to fail and see if your rear delts dont hurt. Get a clue guys!

[crowtheartist]

This exercise works front Delts mainly; it involves the medial mainly for support; and triceps for full contraction. Rear delts are not worked at all here because it's defeating the purpose of the rear delt which is used to pull back the arm towards the middle of the back in conjunction with the Rhomboids and Latissimi.

[brendan1444]

this is not for rear delts at all..

[Neil6000]

This is a front delt exercise (as all presses are) with some recruitment of the side delts. There really is no rear delts being worked here.

There is an incredible amount of misinformation being posted on YouTube when it comes to exercise and this video is one of them.

[Risaddum]

looks dodgy to me too. would it be a rear delt exercise if i stayed in the same place, without leaning forward as i lift?

[Neil6000]

Risaddum:

"would it be a rear delt exercise if i stayed in the same place, without leaning forward as i lif"

There is absolutely NO WAY to turn any type of press into a rear delt exercise as our bodies are not constructed that way. The function of the rear delts is to assist in pulling the arms backwards as in bent-over rowing and bent-over lateral exercises.

A study of anatomy and kinesiology will show you why presses will develop only front and side deltoids and do nothing for rear delts.

[Risaddum]

ur right. my bad. thanks for the reply

[thachozenonebx]

he is lowering the bar tooo low. he shud get the bar to his ears and go back up. by droping the bar lower than your ears you take the stress off the rear delts. she is a dumb trainer

[Moldova]

Some of these comments are rude, but these guys are right that it is NOT heavily recruiting the posterior delts. The only way to target that muscle with an effective compound movement is heavy upright rows, basically the opposite of this exercise. Try this: put your right arm in the pressing position, then put your left hand's fingers on the top of your shoulder. That's the part getting worked. Now, keeping your fingers in place, lower your shoulder to your side. Where are you touching?

[fanuvGOD]

He needs to slide forward. He shouldn't have to lean like that.

[Bandjunkie123]

you guys are soooo stupid. every website/book/pro well tell you that this works teh rear delts. but all you guys know sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much more than all teh experts that there wrong.

[Moldova]

The "experts" will tell you this works the rear delt the most for any pressing movement. And then guys like you think it's a "rear delt" exercise and insult people like myself for trying to correct you, even though the "experts" all agree - since it's basic physiology - that this is not the best exercise for developing that muscle.

[ivantoxie]

look, your wrong. experts disagree. who's advice have you read? you must be one of those 20 min workout guys. the above comment by Moldova pretty much got it right.

[Tiber1990]

This doesn't work rear delts at all!

[ivantoxie]

first of all to all of you arguing. the exercise does not work the rear delts to a significant degree more than pressing the barbel from the front if it does at all, regardless of what wikipedia says or the idiot who posted it. on top of that he is not even doing the exercise correctly. grab a real barbel for crying out loud. if its to hard then lower the weight. its a dangerous exercise to the rotator cuff because to many people dont know how to do it correctly.

[MVillani1985]

Despite what some say, this isn't a totally useless exercise. Some can do it, some can't. It will injure some, but some, like Ted Arcidi, can do this without injury. It depends on the person.

[megso3]

Nah your an idiot. This DOSE NOT work the rear deltiod in anyway way shape or form, depsote what that artice says. Rear deltiod contraction will only be felt on exercises that pull the shoulder "back" such as pulling exercises i.e. rows, bent over rasies, lat pull downs! Not presses, mauron!

[budGibson]

Thanks for the thoughtful comment.

[rzb113]

Who's Mauron?

[THEinspectigator]

@megso3 Im with you for sure, there is no way this hits the posterior deltoids.....kinda reminds me of when i was arguing with a friend about how a rowing machine doesn't work the triceps (he said they did) lol.

[djlucy1]

this movement is mainly anterior and lateral deltoid. It works the lateral head more than the military press, but not much rear delt. The rear delt has to be hit with a bent lateral movement.

[atomini]

How about not doing behind-the-neck presses (or pulldowns) at all? You can really mess up your rotator cuff on this exercise, and it's not worth it. As for rear deltoid exercises, try bent-over lateral raises (or reverse pec-dec flyes) which will hit the rear delts better than this horribly useless (and harmful) exercise. NEVER do any behind-the-neck garbage, you will hurt yourself badly and wish you never did it.

[jagryp]

Damn right!

[benniturd]

Been doing it solid for over a year now with no injury. Done correctly, I think it's fine.

[darlk]

Yes i do agree, bodybuilding is still very controversial.

[budGibson]

Yes, I saw that, but the bodybuilding.com article is more detailed, so I went with it. Also, wikipedia supports the observation that the rear delt gets worked on this exercise.

Now, what gets worked may vary by individual which is why I think the only real answer is a muscle activation study across a number of people.

BTW, I do feel some anterior involvement, but this hits me more in the rear.

[darlk]

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExer­cises/DeltoidAnterior/BBBehind­NeckPress.html

this link says that it emphasizes on the anterior deltoid, when i do it it feels mainly on the anterior.

[darlk]

Well im not 100% sure, but i think at least 90% sure, because i tried it and i didnt feel any tense in my posterior deltoid, and most people on the internet, or that i've interviewed said that its anterior and lateral detloid...

[budGibson]

Looking at this link

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fu­n/issa6.htm

It's clear that all heads of the deltoid are involved in overhead presses. The question is where is the emphasis. By going behind the neck, you move some of the emphasis to the rear delt and a lot to the trapezius. I definitely feel the emphasis more in my rear delt. I would be convinced if you showed me studies of muscles firing that indicated an anterior delt emphasis in this exercise.

[dar135791113]

It doesnt matter, the anterior deltoid moves the part of the arm above the elbow at the biceps and triceps, up and down, the posterior deltoid, if you put out your hands straight and palms facing eachother and you move them outward.

[darlk]

I would think thats anterior deltoid

[budGibson]

Where do you see anterior deltoid in this exercise? We're not pulling over in front.