Systems and methods for designing parallel transmission radiofrequency (RF) pulses for use in a RF treatment. The methods include selecting a target region in a subject, and providing a plurality of specific absorption rate (SAR) matrices for estimation of SAR at locations within the subject. The methods also include determining a first set of SAR matrices for locations in the target region using the provided SAR matrices, and determining a second set of SAR matrices for locations not in the target region using the provided SAR matrices. The methods further include designing a plurality of RF pulses for achieving a target power deposition in the target region by using the first set of SAR matrices and the second set of SAR matrices in an optimization that determines a set of RF waveforms that produce a target average local SAR using the first set of SAR matrices while minimizing a local SAR and a global SAR using the second set of SAR matrices.