Cable Rear Delt Row
The cable rear delt row is a rope row with your elbows flared out wide, so your upper arms travel out to the sides instead of along your body. That shifts the work from the lats to the rear delts and the muscles between your shoulder blades and gives them direct work on top of your presses and rows.
How to do the cable rear delt row
Clip a rope to the bottom pulley and face the weight stack, feet about shoulder width apart.
Take one end of the rope in each hand, palms facing each other, and step back until the weight lifts off the stack.
Soften your knees and tip your torso forward from the hips, back flat, arms reaching toward the pulley.
Lift your elbows out to the sides and pull the rope toward your upper chest, spreading the ends apart.
Stop when your upper arms are in line with your shoulders and squeeze your shoulder blades together.
Let your arms travel back toward the pulley under control until they are straight, keeping your torso still.
Setup for the cable rear delt row
Attach a rope to the low pulley and pick a light weight. Take one end in each hand with your palms facing each other and step back until the stack lifts. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, bend your knees slightly and hinge forward from the hips with a flat back. Your arms hang toward the pulley, straight but not locked.
Cable height
This version uses a low pulley with your torso tipped forward. With the pulley at chest height, you can do the same row standing upright. Either way, what makes it a rear delt row is the path of the upper arms: they move out to the sides and back, not along your ribs. Set the cable so it pulls straight against your arms in the end position.
Elbow position and range
Lead with your elbows and keep them high and wide, roughly in line with your shoulders. Pull until your upper arms are level with your shoulders and spread the rope ends apart, so your hands finish wider than the start. Going further back only rolls your shoulders forward or arches your back.
Bracing and breathing
Brace your midsection to hold the hip hinge for the whole set. Breathe out as you pull and in as you let the rope travel back. Keep your chin tucked and your neck in line with your back.
Tempo
Pull smoothly, hold the end position briefly with your shoulder blades together, and let your arms travel forward at least as slowly as you pulled. Light weights and clean reps suit this lift. A systematic review of deltoid exercises found the rear delts most active in pulling movements, so your rows and pull-ups train them too; this row adds direct work on top.
Muscles worked by the cable rear delt row
- Primary
- Rear delts
- Secondary
- Upper back
- Traps
- Biceps
The rear delts are the main target: they pull your upper arms back and out when the elbows are flared. The traps and the muscles between your shoulder blades pull the shoulder blades together and help, and the biceps bend your elbows. In an EMG study of body-weight rows on suspension straps, the versions with the elbows high and wide drove the rear delts and all parts of the traps above 60% of their maximum, while a low row reached only 40–60% in the rear delts, middle traps and lats.
Common rear delt row mistakes
Tucking the elbows in
With the elbows close to your sides, the row turns into a lat row and the rear delts do less. Keep your upper arms out to the sides, roughly in line with your shoulders.
Swinging the torso
Rocking up and back with every rep lets your back and legs move the weight. Hold your hip hinge still and move only your arms and shoulder blades.
Shrugging toward your ears
Pulling the shoulders up shifts the work to the upper traps. Keep your shoulders down and think of pulling your elbows back, not up.
Rounding the back
A rounded back makes the hinged position hard to hold and lets the weight pull you forward. Brace your midsection and keep your back flat.
Going too heavy
The rear delts are small, so a heavy stack turns the rep into a full-body pull. Choose a weight you can pull to the end position with a short pause.
Rear delt row tips from the Muscla training logic
- Muscla uses this row for the rear delts in place of the face pull, puts it after your compound lifts and plans no warm-up sets for it.
- End each set with about one rep in reserve, two if you are new to training. Muscla aims isolation work at one rep in reserve.
- Rest 75 seconds between sets when you train for muscle, 90 seconds for strength and 60 seconds for other goals.
- Earn more weight with reps. When every set reaches the top of your range, go up one step on the stack (usually 2.5 kg or 5 lb) and restart at the bottom; otherwise add one rep.
- After three sessions without progress, Muscla lowers the weight by 10 percent and builds back up. After every third 4-week block comes a deload week at 90 percent of the weight with one set fewer.
Cable rear delt row sets and reps by goal
| Goal | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 8–12 | 90 s |
| Muscle | 10–15 → 12–20 | 75 s |
| Lose fat | 10–15 | 60 s |
| Fit | 10–15 | 60 s |
| Comeback | 10–15 | 60 s |
An arrow marks the range for the next 4-week block.
The cable rear delt row counts as isolation in the Muscla training logic: higher rep ranges and shorter rests than compound rows. For muscle, start at 10–15 reps and move to 12–20 in the next 4-week block. Your reps decide the next weight; the app does not ask “How heavy was that?” here.
Cable rear delt row alternatives
- Barbell front raise
- Barbell rear delt raise
- Barbell rear delt row
- Barbell seated behind head military press
- Barbell seated bradford rocky press
- Barbell Seated Overhead Press
- Barbell standing bradford press
- Barbell standing front raise over head
- Barbell Upright Row
- Barbell wide-grip upright row
Cable rear delt row questions
What muscles does the rear delt row work?
Mainly the rear delts, with the traps, the muscles between the shoulder blades and the biceps helping. In EMG testing of suspension-strap rows, the versions with the elbows high and wide activated the rear delts and traps strongly.
Rear delt row or face pull: what is the difference?
Both pull the upper arms back with the elbows out. The face pull ends with the hands beside your head, the rear delt row with the rope at your upper chest. Muscla uses the rope row for the same job.
Should my palms face each other or down?
The rope sets your palms facing each other. In a study on the reverse fly machine, a grip with the palms facing each other produced more rear delt activity than palms down.
How heavy should the rear delt row be?
Muscla's first suggestion for a man new to training is about 0.15 times body weight, rounded down to the stack: 10 kg at 80 kg. It is far lighter than your regular rows.
How many sets for the rear delts per week?
Muscla counts the rear and side delts together. When you train for muscle, it plans 8–12 hard sets a week for beginners, 10–16 for regular lifters and 12–20 for experienced ones. Up to a point, more weekly sets build more muscle.
Train it with Muscla
Muscla plans your sets, reps and rest, and sets the next weight after every session.
Coming to the App Store. Free to start.
Sources
- Youdas JW, Kleis M, Krueger ET, et al. Recruitment of shoulder complex and torso stabilizer muscles with rowing exercises using a suspension strap training system. Sports Health. 2021;13(1):85-90. PubMed
- Schoenfeld B, Sonmez RG, Kolber MJ, et al. Effect of hand position on EMG activity of the posterior shoulder musculature during a horizontal abduction exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2013;27(10):2644-2649. PubMed
- Rabello R, Bertozzi F, Hauschild de Freitas IL, et al. Activation of the three deltoid muscle portions during common strengthening exercises: a systematic review. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2024;40:1309-1325. PubMed
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci. 2017;35(11):1073-1082. PubMed