

The goal is to feel the rear part of your shoulders doing the bulk of the work.

If you’re using a resistance that’s too heavy, there’s a good chance you’ll use larger and stronger muscles to perform the move, which defeats the purpose of the exercise. The rear deltoids, which are the primary muscles targeted with face pulls, are a small muscle group. You can even imagine that you have a golf ball in between your shoulder blades and you need to pinch them together to keep it in place. As you’re pulling the rope toward your body, squeeze the shoulder blades together. This is the best cue to use when doing face pulls. Don’t let the weight rest on the stack until you’re finished with the set. Slowly straighten the arms, return to the starting position, and repeat.You’ll feel your shoulder blades retract or pinch together. Pull the handles back toward your forehead until your hands are in front of the shoulders.Lift the chest up, roll your shoulders back, and engage your core muscles. Take a few steps back until your arms are fully extended, knees slightly bent.Reach up and grasp the rope handles with both hands in a neutral position, palms facing in.Stand facing the pulley with your feet about hip-width distance apart.Go lighter and focus on form and function. Select the appropriate resistance in the weight stack.It should be about head-height or slightly above. Secure a rope attachment with dual handles to a rotating, high pulley.Here are the steps for performing the face pull. Occasionally, some people will use a straight bar attachment, but this changes the range of motion. See the bent-over dumbbell face pull video below.In the gym, you’ll see a lot of people performing face pulls on a cable machine with a rope attachment. The face pull can also be performed with dumbbells.The cable face pull is one of few exercises that effectively strengthens all of your external shoulder rotators, thus promoting shoulder health. In fact, exercises that include external shoulder rotation are often completely neglected! This can lead to a strength imbalance between the opposing muscle groups, which can result in shoulder joint instability and injuries. your posterior deltoid, infraspinatus, and teres minor). your pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, teres major, anterior deltoid, and subscapularis) much more than your external shoulder rotators (i.e. Many popular training programs strengthen your internal shoulder rotators (i.e. The cable face pull is one of the most beneficial exercises for your shoulders, which is why it’s included in every training program on this website.Don’t go too heavy, as this often leads to swaying.Avoid swaying back and forth to complete the reps.This will keep as much movement as possible in your shoulders, where it belongs. Keep the flexing of your elbows to a minimum.Inhale as you reverse the motion and return the rope to the starting position in a controlled manner.As the rope nears your face, externally rotate your shoulders so that you end up making a double biceps pose.Exhale as you pull the rope toward your forehead.Assume a staggered stance (place one foot in front of the other) and lean backward to help you balance.Step backward so that the rope is taut and your arms are stretched out in front of you.Grasp one end of the rope attachment in each hand using a supinated (underhand) grip.Stand in front of a pulley set at approximately head height.Synergists: Lateral Deltoid, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor, Middle and Lower Trapezius, Brachialis, Brachioradialis.Facebook Pinterest Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Exercise details
