Rear Delt Raise With Head On Bench

beginner · isolation

Setup

Set an incline bench to a low angle, stand behind it and lean forward until your forehead rests on the pad. Hold a light dumbbell in each hand, letting your arms hang straight below your shoulders, palms facing each other.

Execution

Keep your forehead glued to the pad for the whole set, feet planted and knees softly bent.
Keep a slight, constant bend in the elbows and hold that same bend the entire set.
Exhale and raise both arms out to the sides up to shoulder height, leading the movement with the elbows.
Pause a beat at the top, squeezing the rear shoulders together like cracking a walnut between your shoulder blades.
Inhale and lower slowly over 2-3 seconds, without letting the dumbbells drop.

Breathing

Exhale as the arms rise, inhale as they lower. The load here is light, so there is no need to brace and hold your breath.

Quick cues

Lead with the elbows, not the hands.
Forehead glued to the pad.
Stop right at shoulder height.
Crack a walnut between your blades.
Light weight, control both directions.

Common faults

Fault: The head lifting off the pad to help swing the weight up
Fix: Drop the weight one increment and keep the forehead on the pad for the whole set before adding load back.
Fault: The elbows bending more and more until it turns into a rowing motion
Fix: Fix the elbow bend from the very first rep and check it in a side mirror.
Fault: Raising the arms above shoulder height and shrugging with them
Fix: Stop exactly at shoulder height and drop the load if the shoulders shrug before reaching it.
Fault: Craning the neck up to check a mirror instead of keeping the head still
Fix: Look at the floor below the pad and have someone else check your technique if you need feedback.

Equipment

dumbbell, bench

Muscle groups

shoulders, back