Are Face Pulls Better With a Band or Cable Machine

You’re doing face pulls to build your rear delts and protect your shoulders, but you’re not sure you’re feeling it in the right place. You see some people using bands and others using the cable machine, leaving you wondering which is actually effective. Let's settle the debate so you can stop guessing and start building.

Key Takeaways

• The cable machine is better for building muscle because it provides constant tension throughout the entire range of motion.
• Resistance bands are better for warm-ups and at-home workouts, as they teach the movement pattern with accommodating resistance.
• The biggest mistake is using too much weight, which turns the exercise into a row and engages your lats instead of your rear delts.
• For optimal rear delt activation, set the cable pulley or band anchor point at forehead height or slightly above.
• Aim for 3-4 sets of 15-20 reps, focusing on squeezing your shoulder blades together, not just pulling with your arms.
• The key cue for proper form is to externally rotate your shoulders at the peak of the movement, thinking "show your biceps to the ceiling."

Why the Cable Machine Wins for Building Muscle

When you ask, "are face pulls better with a band or cable machine," the answer for pure muscle growth is clear: the cable machine. It comes down to one crucial concept: tension. Your muscles don't know if you're lifting a dumbbell, a cable, or a rock. They only know tension. The tool that provides the most effective tension throughout the longest range of motion will build the most muscle.

A cable machine provides constant, consistent tension. If you set the pin to 30 pounds, your rear delts have to work against 30 pounds of force the second you start the pull, all the way through the middle, and to the very end of the repetition. This is critical for hypertrophy (muscle growth), which responds to total time under tension.

Resistance bands work differently. They provide variable, or accommodating, resistance. A band has almost zero tension at the start of the movement (when your arms are extended). The tension gradually increases and only reaches its maximum at the very peak of the contraction. This means for the first 50% of the exercise, your rear delts are barely working. You're missing out on a huge opportunity for growth in that initial part of the range of motion.

Think about it with numbers. Let's say you're using a "medium" band that provides roughly 30 pounds of resistance at full stretch.

• At the start of the pull, the resistance might only be 5 pounds.
• Halfway through, it might be 15 pounds.
• Only in the final inch of the movement does it hit 30 pounds.

Compare that to the cable machine set at 30 pounds. It's 30 pounds from start to finish. Over a set of 15 reps, the total workload placed on the muscle is significantly higher with the cable machine. This is why it's the superior choice for building bigger, stronger rear delts.

Furthermore, progressive overload is simple and measurable on a cable machine. To get stronger, you need to systematically increase the demand on your muscles. On a cable stack, you can move the pin from 30 pounds to 35 pounds. It's a clear, trackable jump. With bands, moving from a red band to a black band can be a massive, unquantifiable leap in resistance, often leading to a breakdown in form.

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When Are Bands the Better Choice?

Just because the cable machine is better for hypertrophy doesn't mean bands are useless. They are the right tool for specific jobs. Thinking of it as "cables vs. bands" is the wrong mindset. Think of them as two different tools for two different goals.

Bands are the superior choice in three specific situations:

1. For Warm-ups and Activation

Before a heavy bench press or overhead press day, your goal isn't to fatigue your rear delts; it's to activate them and pump blood into the shoulder joint. The accommodating resistance of a band is perfect for this. The easy start and hard finish helps you focus on squeezing at the peak of the contraction, waking up the mind-muscle connection. Two high-rep sets of 20-25 with a light band is an excellent primer for your main lifts.

1. For Beginners Learning the Movement

The gentle ramp-up in tension from a band can be very forgiving for someone who has never done a face pull before. It allows them to learn the motion-pulling apart and externally rotating-without having to fight a constant load from the very beginning. It teaches them to accelerate through the rep and feel that peak contraction, which is the most important part of the exercise to master initially.

1. For Home Workouts and Travel

This is the most obvious advantage. Most people don't have a functional trainer or cable machine in their garage. A set of resistance bands costs less than $30 and can be anchored to any sturdy pole or door frame. A band-resisted face pull is infinitely better than no face pull at all. If your only options are bands or nothing, the choice is easy.

So, don't throw your bands away. Use them for what they're good at: warming up, learning the movement, and getting a workout in when you don't have access to a gym. But when you are in the gym and your primary goal is to build bigger rear delts, walk straight to the cable machine.

How to Perform Face Pulls Perfectly (Step-by-Step)

Proper form is everything with face pulls. Bad form turns it into a sloppy, useless row that does nothing for your shoulders. Good form isolates the rear delts and strengthens the rotator cuff. Follow these steps precisely.

Step 1: The Setup (Cable Machine)

Use the rope attachment. A bar or single handle will not work because it prevents the external rotation that makes the exercise effective.

Set the pulley anchor point to forehead height or just slightly above. If it's too low (chest height), you'll turn it into a row that hits your lats. If it's too high, you'll engage too much upper trap.

Grab the ends of the rope with an overhand grip, so your thumbs are pointing down or towards each other. Take two or three steps back from the machine until the weight is lifted off the stack and there is tension on the cable.

Step 2: The Stance and Posture

Stand with your feet in a staggered stance, one foot forward and one foot back. This will give you a much more stable base than standing with your feet together. Brace your core as if you're about to be punched.

Keep your chest up and your shoulders down and back. Do not let your shoulders round forward as you begin the pull. The movement should come from your upper back, not from shrugging or using your lower back.

Step 3: The Execution (The Pull, Squeeze, and Return)

Initiate the movement by thinking about pulling your shoulder blades apart and back. Lead with your hands, pulling the rope towards your face. As you pull, actively pull the two ends of the rope apart from each other.

Here is the most important cue: As the rope approaches your face, externally rotate your shoulders. Think "show your biceps to the ceiling." At the peak of the movement, your hands should be on either side of your head, slightly behind your ears, with your knuckles pointing up. This is the position that maximally contracts the rear delts and external rotators.

Squeeze and hold this peak contraction for a full 1-2 seconds. Feel the burn in the back of your shoulders. This pause is not optional; it's where most of the benefit comes from.

Finally, control the negative. Do not let the weight stack slam down. Slowly return to the starting position over a 2-3 second count, resisting the weight the entire way. One perfect, controlled rep is worth ten sloppy, jerky ones.

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The 3 Most Common Face Pull Mistakes

If you're doing face pulls but not seeing results or feeling it in the right place, you are almost certainly making one of these three mistakes. Fixing them will transform the exercise from a waste of time into one of the most valuable movements in your routine.

Mistake #1: Using Too Much Weight

This is the number one problem. The face pull is a finesse exercise, not a power exercise. The rear delts are small muscles. When you load the pin with 80 pounds, they cannot handle the load. Your body, being smart, will recruit stronger muscles to get the job done. It will turn the movement into a row, using your lats, biceps, and upper traps.

You'll move the weight, but your rear delts will have done none of the work. You'll leave the gym thinking you had a great set, but you completely missed the target muscle.

The Fix: Drop the weight by 50%. Seriously. If you're using 50 pounds, go down to 25. The weight should be light enough that you can perform 15-20 perfect reps, complete with a 2-second pause at the peak of every single rep. If you can't hold the squeeze, the weight is too heavy. Check your ego and do it right.

Mistake #2: Not Externally Rotating (The 'Row' Pull)

This mistake looks like someone pulling the rope straight to their chin or neck. They keep their elbows down and just pull back horizontally. This is essentially a high row, not a face pull. While a high row is a fine exercise for the mid-back, it completely neglects the external rotation component that strengthens the rotator cuff and gives the rear delts that 3D look.

The Fix: Drill the cue "show your biceps to the ceiling." As you pull the rope towards your face, your elbows should be high, and your hands should rotate up and back. At the end of the rep, your forearms should be nearly vertical, and your knuckles should be pointing towards the ceiling. Filming yourself from the side is the best way to check this.

Mistake #3: Rushing the Reps and Using Momentum

This often goes hand-in-hand with using too much weight. You'll see people jerking the weight back, holding it for zero seconds, and letting it crash back to the start. They are using their lower back and momentum to move the weight, not their muscles. This provides almost zero stimulus for muscle growth and puts your shoulder joint at risk.

The Fix: Implement a strict tempo. A good tempo for face pulls is 1-2-3. That means a 1-second explosive pull, a 2-second hard squeeze at the top, and a 3-second controlled return to the start. Each rep should take about 6 seconds. A set of 15 reps will take 90 seconds. This deliberate pace ensures the muscle is under tension for a long duration, which is exactly what you need for growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many sets and reps of face pulls should I do?

Aim for 3-4 sets of 15-20 repetitions. The goal for this exercise is metabolic stress and accumulating volume, not lifting heavy for low reps. Perform them 2-3 times per week, often at the end of your upper body or push-day workouts.

Should I use a rope or straight bar for face pulls?

Always use the rope attachment. The rope's flexibility is essential because it allows you to pull the handles apart and achieve the external shoulder rotation that properly targets the rear delts. A straight bar locks your hands in place and prevents this crucial part of the movement.

Where should I feel face pulls?

You should feel a deep squeeze and burn in the back of your shoulders (the rear deltoids) and between your shoulder blades (rhomboids and mid-traps). If you feel it primarily in your biceps, forearms, or neck, the weight is too heavy and your form is breaking down.

Can face pulls fix my rounded shoulders?

Face pulls are a powerful tool to help improve posture, but they cannot fix it alone. They strengthen the muscles that pull your shoulders back, but you also need to stretch the tight muscles pulling them forward, like your chest and lats. Combine face pulls with chest stretches for a more complete solution.

What's a good starting weight for face pulls?

Start much lighter than you think you need to. For most people, this means 10-20 pounds on a standard cable machine or using the lightest resistance band available. The goal is to master the form first. The weight is irrelevant until your technique is perfect.