

Training the shoulders for optimal development should include exercises that target all three heads, with a large emphasis on the lateral and rear deltoids as the front delts often get enough training volume via horizontal and vertical pressing movements (barbell bench press, overhead press, dumbbell press). Lastly, the posterior deltoid (rear delt) is used to stabilize the shoulder, and is often trained during pulling movements like rows (when the elbows are flared out) or reverse flyes.įor the sake of this article, we will offer exercises for each head of the deltoid.

Next, you have the medial deltoid (lateral/side), which is the larger of the three and is targeted with most overhead pressing movements and side raises.The first head of the deltoid is the anterior deltoid (front delt), which is used in most pressing movements as well as exercise like front raises.The shoulders is a general term used to describe the deltoids, which are composed of three heads.
