Many exercises which are commonly performed to target the shoulders effectively stress the front and side deltoid heads, yet minimally exercise the rear head. The over head press, side lateral raise, and upright row do not stress the rear head of the shoulders very effectively, and therefore many shoulder sessions will neglect the rear deltoid muscle head. Those who follow a body part split and train their shoulders on a specific day may wish to implement an exercise, such as the bent over lateral raise, to isolate the rear head for balance. It is worth noting the effectiveness of many back exercises for stressing the rear shoulder, and therefore the head is not totally neglected if a balanced training split is followed due to the rowing and pull up exercises performed during a back training session.

The bent over raise is a variation of the standing raise, with the torso bent over so the muscle fibres of the rear head are placed in a mechanical advantageous position for maximum recruitment. The knees should remain slightly bent, with sound posture to ensure the lumber region does not become stressed. The torso should be bent at roughly forty five degrees, with the upper arms remaining perpendicular to the body during the execution to maximise rear shoulder involvement and reduce the involvement of the larger and powerful upper back muscles. The elbows should be slightly bent, but remain fixed throughout the exercise.

The raise is usually performed with dumbbells, but the exercise can also be performed with a low cable pulley system. Both methods provide unilateral training, allowing for each shoulder to receive equal stress to minimise muscle imbalance. The form of the exercise is important for maximum effectiveness, and to avoid the larger back muscles overpowering the exercise, so ensure a resistance is used which results in sufficient stress to the shoulders, yet does not cause the form to slacken.