Face pulls (cable)

The face pull is a horizontal pull to head height with the elbows kept high. It trains the rear delt and the middle of the upper back, and the rotation at the end brings in the external rotators of the shoulder.

Almost everyone does it with too much weight. It is the one exercise in a session where the correct load looks embarrassing and the correct rep count is high.

Sets, reps and RIR

Single-joint work responds to reps and time under tension more than to heavy load.

RIR means reps in reserve: how many you could still have done when you racked it. RIR 2 is two short of failure.

How to do it

1. Set a rope attachment at upper chest to face height and step back until the cable is under tension with your arms straight.
2. Take one end of the rope in each hand, thumbs pointing back at you.
3. Pull the rope towards your forehead, leading with the elbows and keeping them at or above shoulder height.
4. Finish by pulling your hands apart and rotating them back, so the knuckles end up pointing behind you.
5. Hold for a beat, then let the cable straighten your arms under control without letting your shoulders roll forward.

Common mistakes

Elbows dropping below the shoulders

That turns the face pull into a high row and the rear delt loses the angle it was there for. Elbows level with the shoulders or higher.

Too much weight

You will see it as a backwards lean and a pull that stops at the chest. Halve the load and the exercise starts working.

Skipping the rotation

The external rotation at the end is the part that trains the cuff. Without it you have done a rear delt row.

Shrugging

If the traps take over, the shoulders climb towards the ears. Keep the neck long and let the elbows do the travelling.

How it differs from the neighbouring variants

The rear delt fly, with dumbbells or on a reverse pec deck, isolates the rear delt more cleanly but leaves out the rotation and the mid-trap work. It is the better pick if rear delt size is the only goal.

The band pull-apart is the same movement pattern with less setup and less load, which makes it useful as a warm-up before pressing. The cable rear delt fly sits between the two.

What it suits

Face pulls fit at the end of a pull session, or as a warm-up before benching. Twelve to twenty reps, two to three reps in reserve, two or three times a week is more useful than one heavy set. This is one of the few exercises where doing it often at a load you barely notice is the point.

Muscles worked

Primary: Rear delts.

Secondary: Upper back, Traps, Rotator cuff.

Estimate your one-rep max

Epley's formula, from a set you have actually done. It is an estimate, and it drifts above eight reps, so keep the input between one and twelve.

What it is called elsewhere

• Norsk Face pulls (kabel)
• Svenska Face pulls (kabel)
• Dansk Face pulls (kabel)
• Deutsch Face Pulls (Kabelzug)
• Español Face pull (polea)
• Italiano Face pull ai cavi
• Português Face pull (polia)
• Русский Тяга блока к лицу
• Français Face pull (poulie)

Related shoulders exercises

• Overhead press (barbell)
• Seated overhead press (barbell)
• Push press
• Upright row (barbell)
• Landmine shoulder press
• Overhead press (dumbbells)

athlate logs this exercise, keeps the numbers, and tells you what you lifted last time.