I want strong, stable shoulders. Whether you are just starting to work out or have been going to the gym for years, rear deltoids (rear deltoid raises) are a must in your exercise routine

Because most of us spend our days sitting in front of a screen, many of our posterior chain (aka the back of our body) ), many of the muscles in the posterior chain (aka the back of the body) become weak and out of condition. This includes the deltoid muscles behind the shoulders and the rhomboids between the shoulder blades.

When these muscles are unable to provide stable support for the upper extremities, overall posture is compromised and the risk of injury increases. The rear deltoids and rhomboids are directly targeted, forcing them to work against resistance and becoming stronger in the process.

If improving posture and reducing injury risk are not enough to motivate you, consider the following: incorporating Riadel Trades into your routine can add a few pounds to both your bench press and overhead press.

Admittedly, I don't do enough Riadel Trades. I usually concentrate on a variety of rows and assisted pull-ups instead. However, I was feeling persistent shoulder impingement during bench presses (and poor posture), so I decided to add Rear Deltrays to my training for a week.

As always, listen to your body before starting a new exercise or regimen. Even if I was doing Reardeltrays every day for seven days, a more sustainable approach would be to incorporate them into my training two or three times a week.

Before we get to that, let's review how to do Reardeltrays:

There are multiple modifications to Reardeltrays that are especially helpful if you have back or neck issues:

As a fan of upper body workout days, I am a fan of perfecting my Reardeltrays for a I was excited to devote a week's worth of training time. My goal was to do 3 sets of 10 repetitions for 7 days in a row. The result was this:

During the first few days of Riadeltrays, I began to remember why I don't do Riadeltrays very often.

My usual solution to this problem (with any exercise) is to go lighter on the weight, do fewer reps, slow down the tempo, and refine my form. However, even these strategies failed to take the overactive neck muscles out of the equation. So I looked for another solution.

After two days of standard rear deltrays form, I decided to modify the exercises because they were (literally) hurting my neck.

Casting my ego aside, I secured myself to a weight bench and performed Riadel Trades one arm at a time. Before picking up the dumbbells, I performed the exercise with no weight and concentrated on contracting the posterior deltoids and rhomboids throughout the movement. After a few repetitions in this manner, he picked up lighter weights and completed the set. By performing this modified version of the deltoids, he used all the muscles he should have used and none of the muscles he should not have used.

Bottom Line. Don't be afraid to modify. You will get more benefit from your exercises that way.

After three days of modified rear delt raises, I tried the standard form again. This time I made it through all three sets without neck pain. Success.

At the end of the week, I was able to increase the dumbbell weight slightly. I tried the standard and modified versions of the exercises and decided to do one set each of both Seated Rear Delt Raises and Bench Supported Rear Delt Raises. Of the two, I preferred the Seated Rear Delt Raise. Whenever I tried to get supine on the bench, it always felt very awkward.

Whenever I think I'm standing up straight, I look in the mirror and realize my assessment is completely inaccurate. The rounded shoulders are the biggest problem, and Reardelt Reyes needs to add that to his usual routine.

In just one week, I definitely noticed a difference in my posture. I felt my back straightened when walking, standing, and sitting, and my chest, shoulders, and neck felt more supported. And as an added bonus, the nagging shoulder pain I always felt when bench pressing was significantly reduced.