Pick delt exercises that load each head where it is actually strong. For side delts, a machine lateral raise is the first pick and a cable lateral raise is the second, because both keep resistance on the delt through its strongest range instead of loading it hardest where it is weakest. For front delts, press on an incline somewhere between 45 and 75 degrees rather than straight overhead. For rear delts, use a reverse pec deck set up on a diagonal with a forward lean.
Everybody wants a big set of delts on stage, and you can never be too wide. But the shoulder is not one muscle you can cover with one movement. When we look at the shoulder we are concerned with three heads, and each one has a different main action.
The anterior delt is primarily responsible for flexion of the humerus. The lateral delt travels a path that is responsible for abduction of the humerus. The rear delt is primarily responsible for horizontal abduction, which is moving the humerus back relative to the torso. Those are the three actions we care about when we train the delt musculature for hypertrophy.
One thing commonly gets mistaken here. People assume the lateral delt pulls the arm directly out to the side of the body, when that path actually aligns better with the trap. So we look at the individual person to find their humeral path, and that path is what a lateral raise has to follow.
| Delt head | Main action | Where we start |
|---|---|---|
| Anterior, the front delt | Flexion of the humerus | Overhead press set on an incline |
| Lateral, the side delt | Abduction of the humerus | Machine lateral raise, then cable |
| Rear delt | Horizontal abduction | Reverse pec deck on a diagonal |
We need lateral delts, so start with the variation that loads them best. Our favorite is a lateral raise machine, and the reason is how even it is across the profile of the movement.
A dumbbell lateral raise is heaviest in the top position, because the force going down makes it hardest in that shortened position. That is the problem. When the delt is short, that is its weakest position, so the dumbbell loads you hardest exactly where you can produce the least force. It is also a movement people rock through, which brings the trap in.
There is a second reason we like the machine. You can load the pad directly on the elbow, which lets you keep progressing load as you get stronger while managing elbow issues over time.
You never see someone on stage whose lateral delts are just too big. It is also a muscle group that will not drastically take away from your pressing, which matters when we get to the order you train them in.
Not everyone has that machine, and that is okay. A cable lateral raise is a great second pick, and it gives you flexibility a fixed machine cannot. If someone is taller or has longer arms and does not fit into a machine, the cable lets us put them in their most comfortable path instead.
Set it up so the cable aligns through the wrist joint, through the elbow and to the shoulder. As the arm comes up you should see that cable align directly underneath the arm, so the force sits right on top of the side delt. If the arm angles out, you start pulling in more front delt.
Height of the stack matters. Set it so the cable meets the arm at 90 degrees at the top of the raise. At 90 degrees you have the longest moment arm and the greatest torque demand at that joint, which is where your output is highest. At the bottom, look for the cable to sit a little larger than 90 degrees, maybe 100 to 120 degrees, so the delt is not in a position of active insufficiency when it is fully lengthened.
That is the entire point of the cable setup. The resistance profile matches the strength profile of the lateral head of the delt, which is the standard every exercise on this page has to meet.
Range of motion on a lateral raise is not a case of more being better. We stop pretty much at the parallel position, so we can maximize output and still train through a full range.
Go higher than that and you are usually having to externally rotate to get up there. That brings more front delt into it, and you see the traps take over as the scapula rotates and protracts around. I would call that shrug position outside the active range, and it takes load off the place we are trying to load. Our stop point is before that scapula starts rotating around.
So if you feel your traps a lot during this movement, it has to do with torso angle and also working within that active range. Fix those before you decide your traps are just dominant. If you want an outside read on your own execution, film it. There are two angles I use for lateral raises, a 45 degree view and a side view. From the 45 I am looking at whether the upper arm is moving close to that scapular plane for their rib cage size, and I am also looking for shoulder elevation and trap involvement.
If you are going to do a dumbbell lateral raise, do it lying prone on an incline bench. Moving that torso angle forward means you do not have to internally rotate as much, and it allows a direct path of the humerus into the lateral raise.
The cue is almost scraping the floor at the bottom and touching the walls to the outside, initiating with the delts, so you do not get that retraction as you relax over the bench. It is still heaviest in the shortest position, but it is the variation that lets you get a lot of stimulus out of a dumbbell, where standing you get a lot of rocking back and forth and trap involvement. That makes it the preferred dumbbell variation.
A lying cable Y raise is another one we really utilize. Find a long rope or a long flexible handle so the hand gets out into that same lateral raise path, then spread the ropes as you raise. It also does a great job of activating the rear delts.
The upright row is the one I would pretty much rule out. I rarely ever program it anymore, and that is for elbow health, wrist health and shoulder health. Most people get a lot of internal rotation in an upright row, and as you come up you get binding at the rotator cuff plus a moment arm on the forearm that leaves a lot of people with elbow pain. A cable version can be cued into the right humeral path, but with that elevation you still catch a lot of trap, so it is my last consideration.
You get a lot of front delt work in every press. Flat bench, incline bench, all of it. The overhead press is simply where we move the bias off the pec and onto the front delt. The real question is what angle.
One of the biggest limitations in finding the right pressing plane is how much external rotation someone has. Sit them down, test that external rotation, and find where they can comfortably rotate to and load from. That is the torso angle you set their press at.
For most people it is not directly overhead. It lands closer to a 75 degree press, and once you go past 45 to about that 75 degree mark those are your primary angles for biasing the front delt. Go directly overhead and, from a longevity standpoint, I usually see people run into more rotator cuff issues, and you are really not getting that much more out of your front delt fibers. Set someone too high and you will see the thoracic spine come up and they lose stability, because they are not bracing the core anymore.
On equipment, a shoulder press machine can be an option, but just because you have a machine does not mean it is a good machine. You never want to fit yourself into that machine. You take yourself and fit yourself to the best option you have. We usually do not lean toward a dumbbell press as the overhead option because it carries high stability demands, though if that is all you have, that is all you have.
Keep in mind your front delts are already getting paid elsewhere. Incline pressing for chest bias falls somewhere between 30 to 45 degrees, and as you get above 45 degrees the front delt aligns with that path and starts shortening, so those sets count as carryover volume for the front delt.
Rear delts are such an important aspect in bodybuilding. You see the slight wrap around from the front side, they give depth and three dimension to the delt, and even in a back shot they show that full capped off delt look.
Our main option is the reverse pec deck. The rear delt attaches along the scapula and over to the humerus, and the fiber arrangement moves at a diagonal, so the setup has to match that diagonal or you will never train it through range.
Two adjustments do most of the work. Lean forward to align those fibers, because a lot of these machines are built to keep you very upright, which leaves you with limited range of motion in the rear delt. And set the handles a little higher than the shoulder joint, since the fibers are aligning on that diagonal.
Here is how to find your own path. Do a lateral raise, stop, and try to drive your elbows straight backwards. Most people are pretty much stopped right there and feel some tension in the top of the delt, which is not the full range we want. Lower the elbow slightly and you get back into real horizontal abduction and the actual full range for the delt. For most people that puts the wrist just slightly higher than the shoulder.
Grip matters too. Keep the hand pronated, palms down. If you supinate, that elbow drops down, and when you pull back from there you start biasing more of the teres major and not as much of the rear delt.
If you do not have the machine, a cable works fine. Set up in a narrow cable station with the hands high so you can align the cable to that rear delt diagonal, either with a cable in each hand or single arm with the opposite hand bracing in to create a stable position. What I would not choose is a rear delt dumbbell fly. It loads heaviest at the very top, which is exactly where the rear delt has the least ability to produce force, and that makes it by far the less ideal option.
Order is not cosmetic. We typically program a lateral raise first, straight out of the gate, to get blood into the lateral delts. It is a priority for presentation on stage, and it is not a movement that drastically takes away from pressing, so leading with it does not limit your output or your ability to brace.
The overhead press comes next, so you get that large compound stimulus driving tension through the front delt. The rear delt raise goes after it, so the rear delt is not the rate limiter for your overhead press.
We also usually do not program rear delt isolation on back days, where it limits lat and trap output, or ahead of pressing, where it costs you the stability those presses need.
If you run mixed push days, move the muscle group you want up front. If you need more delt, more of that delt work moves up and chest follows. If you need more chest, the delt work goes toward the end of the push day instead. Priority decides the order, not habit.
Side and rear delts recover easy, so the frequency can be high. We will still train them 2 to 3 times per week.
You also do not need a pile of different exercises. How many different ways can you really train a side delt? It is a lateral raise. So we do not need multiple exercises each day. Get the stimulus, then hit it more frequently.
That is the fix for a lot of people. If someone is training 14 sets of shoulders and doing all of it in one session, a really easy way to improve the quality of that work is splitting those 14 sets across two sessions. Same volume, better sets. How many sets per muscle group per week covers how to set the total in the first place.
When you do want more delt, add it deliberately rather than all at once. In my own training I will increase delt volume by 20% for a block, run that block, reassess at the end, and compare it against the block before deciding whether to keep it.
A lateral raise on a machine, because its resistance profile matches the strength profile of the lateral head of the delt. A dumbbell lateral raise is heaviest in the shortened position, which is where the delt is weakest. If you do not have the machine, a cable lateral raise is the second pick.
You get a lot of front delt work in every press, and incline pressing above 45 degrees delivers carryover volume to the front delt. Direct work means an overhead press set at your own angle, which for most people falls past 45 and up to about 75 degrees rather than straight overhead.
Side and rear delts recover easy, so 2 to 3 times per week works well. If you are currently doing all of your shoulder sets in one session, splitting them across two sessions usually improves the quality of those sets without changing your total volume.
It has to do with torso angle and also working within that active range. Going higher than parallel means externally rotating to get there, which brings the front delt in and lets the trap take over as the scapula rotates around. Stop at parallel and check your torso angle first.
I rarely ever program them anymore, for elbow health, wrist health and shoulder health. Most people get a lot of internal rotation, bind the rotator cuff as they come up, and create a moment arm on the forearm that leads to elbow pain. There are better lateral delt options.
Yes. The dumbbell fly loads heaviest at the very top, which is where the rear delt has the least ability to produce force. A reverse pec deck or a cable setup lets you load the range where the rear delt can actually produce force.
X-Frame is the hypertrophy program built around the frame itself: capped delts, wide lats, sweeping quads and a small waist. It runs a shoulder focused push day, so the setups on this page have somewhere to live.
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John Jewett is an IFBB Professional bodybuilder and physique coach, and the founder of J3 University. He has spent his career competing at the professional level while coaching competitors and everyday lifters through the same training, nutrition, and recovery principles he uses himself.
J3 University exists to make that process teachable. Every course is built on the reasoning behind the method, not just the method, so you can make better decisions about your own physique long after the program ends. The article above is drawn directly from the J3U course curriculum.
