Bodybuilding veteran Rich Gaspari has accrued a wealth of workout knowledge as a result of countless hours inside the gym. He was a 1980-1990s staple in the Men’s Open division, who always brought an exceptional level of conditioning. In a pair of Instagram posts, Gaspari revealed how to effectively train the rear delts and discussed his best practices for recovery.
“Tips to effectively train rear deltoids. I prefer training rear Delts by doing a bent-over rear lateral on an incline bench. Remember to pull with your elbows keeping elbows higher than forearms with thumbs facing down and pinkies facing up. You want to isolate the rear Delts doing the movement this way,” Gaspari shared.
Despite competing in an era dominated by mass monsters like Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman, Rich Gaspari proved himself with granite conditioning. Having pioneered striated glutes in competition, Gaspari pushed legend after legend on stage. He also holds the distinction of having won the very first Arnold Classic title back in 1989.
With longevity and anti-aging top priorities for Gaspari, remaining active in retirement is paramount. Given how many bodybuilders have died lately, he’s focused on preserving his youth. He recently credited his anti-aging peptide stack as one of his best assets for reversing the natural aging process.
In his latest offering to fans, Gaspari explained the body mechanics behind incline bent laterals. In addition, Gaspari detailed why a proper night of sleep and rest are crucial factors to healthy living.
Rich Gaspari Offers Tips on Building Huge Delts: ‘You Want to Focus on That Rear Head’
According to Gaspari, you can get the most out of incline bent laterals by ensuring the elbows are higher than the forearms during each movement. He advised those trying this maneuver to ‘bring the weight back’ instead of forward.
“Here’s a great exercise you can do to work the rear delts and it’s called incline bent laterals. Now with this movement, you have to remember, you want to be able to always have your elbows higher than your forearms, a lot of people lift like this and that’s really not going to focus on the rear delt.
Now because we’re doing them bent-over, with gravity going up and down, you want to focus on that rear head of the delt. What I see people doing when they do this movement, instead of bringing the weight forward which you have to do with your elbows up, you bring the weight back, what this does, when you do it this way, it’s really working your back. You really want to work the rear delts, the small muscle right here, and you can do it very strictly on an incline bench. You don’t have to do this bent-over,” said Rich Gaspari.
Next Gaspari emphasized the importance of proper rest for muscle growth, especially for those who are achieving failure during workouts.
“I believe to build muscle you need to workout with intensity and training to fail but if you don’t get proper sleep and you don’t give your body parts enough Time for recovery you will not build muscle. So the key to muscle growth is to make sure you let your muscle recover and you need proper sleep and letting a muscle recover.” Gaspari shared.
“If you train to failure with high intensity, what’s really important is that you get rest. When training a body part, I do legs once a week, I don’t do them more than once a week. I separate my hamstrings from my frontal thighs so that I can get a really intense workout on my frontal thighs from the back of my legs. That’s what I did when I competed as well. That’s the point to make: if you want to grow, you need to rest. That’s when the muscles grow.”
As a member of the bodybuilding community, Rich Gaspari has seen plenty of changes within the Men’s Open division. Similar to Lee Haney’s opinion about Open athletes being ’60 pounds overweight,’ Gaspari contends that modern competitors are abusing performance-enhancing drugs instead of relying on quality training and nutrition.
Meanwhile, other veterans of the sport, such as former Mr. Olympia Samir Bannout, believe coaches are to blame for dangerous PED cycles. He recently advised competitors to be cautious because trainers can sometimes ignore health risks and encourage the use of substances like insulin and growth hormone.
READ MORE:
- ‘Squats Are the King for Building Mass’: Rich Gaspari on Growing Legs
- Rich Gaspari Emphasizes Depth in Jefferson Squats for Supreme Leg Development
- Rich Gaspari Shows How to Grow Huge Arms w/ Biceps 21s: “This is a Great Finishing Exercise”
As for growing rear delts with incline bent laterals, Gaspari urges lifters to keep the elbows higher than the forearms for optimal results.
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