Demonstration
Watch the Form Demo
Technique
How to Do the Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise
- Hold a light dumbbell in each hand and hinge forward at the hips until your torso is close to parallel with the floor.
- Let the dumbbells hang straight down beneath your chest with your palms facing each other and a slight bend in the elbows.
- Raise the dumbbells out to the sides in a wide arc, leading with the backs of the hands, until they are level with your shoulders.
- Pause briefly at the top with the shoulder blades drawn together.
- Lower slowly back to the start under full control and repeat.
Anatomy
Muscles Worked
Do This
Form Cues
- Keep the elbow angle locked at a slight bend for the whole rep. If it opens and closes, you are doing a triceps movement.
- Move in a wide arc out to the sides, not back toward your hips.
- Pick a weight that lets you pause at the top. If you cannot hold it there for a second, go lighter.
- Keep your neck long and your gaze down rather than craning up at a mirror.
Avoid This
Common Mistakes
- Going too heavy and turning the movement into a jerky upper back row.
- Standing too upright, which changes the line of pull and shifts the work to the side delts.
- Shrugging at the top so the traps take over from the rear delts.
- Rushing the lowering phase and letting the dumbbells drop back to the start.
More to Explore
Variations & Related Exercises
Variations of this lift
Bent Over Cable Reverse Fly
Dumbbell Reverse Fly
Band Pull Apart
Trains the same muscles
Alternating Dumbbell Bench Press
Assisted Machine Dip
Barbell Bench Press
Barbell Overhead Press
Barbell Upright Row
Bear Crawl
Put It Into Practice
Workouts Featuring This Lift
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