Isolation — shoulders and back

Face Pull

Cable machine

The face pull is indispensable for shoulder health and injury prevention. It strengthens the rear delts and rotator cuff — muscles that are usually underdeveloped in people who press a lot.

Almost every popular exercise pushes the shoulders forward: bench, incline, dips, push-ups. The face pull is one of the few that pulls them back and rotates them outward, which is why it is the standard prescription for lifters whose shoulders have started to complain. Treat it as maintenance work you do forever, not a phase.

Technique

1. 1Set the cable at eye height or slightly above and use a rope attachment
2. 2Pull toward your face while externally rotating — elbows up and out
3. 3Squeeze the rear delts hard at the end position
4. 4Light weight and high reps beat heavy loading here
5. 5A good rule: 2–3 sets of face pulls for every set of bench press

Common mistakes

• Loading it like a row

  Fix: Heavy weight turns it into a high row and eliminates the external rotation that makes it useful. If you cannot finish with hands beside your ears, it is too heavy.

• Pulling to the chest instead of the face

  Fix: The cable should be at or above eye height and finish at your face. Pulling low removes the rotator cuff involvement.

• Elbows dropping below the wrists

  Fix: Keep the elbows high and in line with the shoulders. Dropped elbows convert it back into a lat exercise.

• Only doing them when the shoulder already hurts

  Fix: This is a preventative exercise. Two or three sets a couple of times a week, every week, is the point.

Sets and reps

How to progress

This is not a lift to chase numbers on. Stay in the 15–20 rep range and progress by adding sets or frequency rather than load. A useful rule: two to three sets of face pulls for every heavy pressing session you do.

Variations

• Face pull with external rotation

  Finish by rotating the hands up into a double-biceps position — maximum rotator cuff work.

• Band pull-apart

  No cable needed, so it travels. Ideal as a warm-up before pressing.

• Prone Y-raise

  Face down on an incline bench, arms overhead in a Y. Targets the lower traps, which most people neglect entirely.

Frequently asked questions