Are Face Pulls Worth Doing

Are Face Pulls Worth Doing? Yes, But Only If You Do This One Thing

To answer if are face pulls worth doing: yes, they are one of the best exercises for fixing posture, but only if you use a weight so light you could do 20-25 reps with it. If you’re like most people in the gym, you’ve probably tried them by grabbing the rope, loading up a weight that feels challenging for 10 reps, and yanking it toward your nose. You feel it in your biceps and traps, finish your 3 sets, and walk away wondering what the point was. A month later, your posture hasn't changed and your shoulders still feel a bit crunchy when you bench press. The problem isn't the exercise; it's the execution. Face pulls are not a strength or mass-building exercise in the traditional sense. You are not trying to lift the heaviest weight possible. Their purpose is to activate and strengthen the small, neglected muscles of your upper back and rotator cuff-the rhomboids, infraspinatus, teres minor, and posterior deltoids. These muscles are responsible for pulling your shoulder blades back and rotating your arm externally, the direct opposite of the hunched-over posture we develop from sitting at a desk, driving, and focusing too much on push exercises like the bench press. Going too heavy forces larger muscles like your lats, traps, and biceps to take over, completely defeating the purpose of the exercise. The secret to making face pulls worth it is to drop your ego, cut the weight in half, and focus entirely on the quality of the contraction.

Your Bench Press Is Making Your Posture Worse (Here's the Fix)

Think of your shoulder joint as a simple balancing act. On the front, you have your chest and front deltoids. On the back, you have your rear deltoids and upper back muscles. Most modern life and most popular gym programs are heavily biased toward the front. You sit at a computer, you drive, you look down at your phone-all of which shorten and tighten your chest muscles. Then you go to the gym and do what everyone loves: bench press, push-ups, and overhead press. This adds even more strength and volume to the front of your body. The result is a powerful imbalance. Your strong, tight chest muscles pull your shoulders forward and inward, creating that rounded, hunched-over look known as kyphosis. This isn't just an aesthetic problem; it puts your shoulder joint in a compromised position, increasing the risk of impingement and rotator cuff issues. Face pulls are the direct antidote. They strengthen the exact muscles that pull your shoulders back and externally rotate them, creating a counterbalance to all that pressing. For every set of a pushing exercise you do, you should be doing at least one set of a pulling exercise. But face pulls are special. A standard row strengthens the muscles that pull straight back, but the face pull adds that critical component of external rotation. It’s the combination of pulling back *and* rotating outward that truly resets your shoulder position and builds the postural endurance needed to maintain good alignment all day. Neglecting this movement is like only ever training your biceps and ignoring your triceps; you're building a dysfunctional imbalance that will eventually lead to problems.

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The 3-Step Face Pull Protocol That Actually Works

Forget what you've seen people do in the gym. This is the method that isolates the correct muscles and delivers the postural benefits you're looking for. The goal here is not fatigue; it's activation and perfect form. The weight will feel embarrassingly light. That means you're doing it right.

Step 1: The Setup (Get This Right First)

Set a cable pulley to just above forehead height. If you set it too low (chest height), it becomes a row. If you set it too high, you’ll over-engage your traps. Attach a rope handle. Grab the rope with an overhand grip, so your palms are facing the floor and your thumbs are pointing toward each other. Take one or two steps back so the weight is lifted off the stack and there's tension on the cable. Your arms should be straight out in front of you. A common mistake is to grab the rope with a neutral (thumbs up) grip, which can limit the range of external rotation at the end of the movement. Start with the overhand grip.

Step 2: The Pull (It's Not a Row)

Initiate the movement by thinking about pulling your hands apart, not just pulling the weight back. As the rope comes toward you, pull it toward your face, aiming to get your hands on either side of your ears. Your elbows should stay high, at or slightly below shoulder level. The key cue is to lead with your hands, not your elbows. At the peak of the movement, your upper arms should be parallel to the floor, and your forearms should be pointing toward the ceiling, forming a 'field goal' or 'bicep flex' pose. This ensures you are achieving maximum external rotation of the shoulder, which is the primary goal. Do not let your elbows drop, as this turns the exercise into a simple row and you lose the rotator cuff benefit.

Step 3: The Squeeze (Where the Magic Happens)

This is the most important part of the exercise and the step that 9 out of 10 people skip. At the peak of the contraction, when your hands are by your ears, pause for a full 2 seconds. During this pause, actively squeeze your shoulder blades together as if you're trying to pinch a pencil between them. You should feel a deep, burning sensation in the muscles between your shoulder blades and on the back of your shoulders. This isometric hold is what builds the mind-muscle connection and strengthens those tiny postural muscles. After the 2-second hold, control the weight slowly back to the starting position. Don't just let the stack crash down. A slow, 3-second negative (eccentric) phase is just as important as the pull itself.

Your Starting Program: Perform 3 sets of 15-20 reps with a 2-second pause at the top of each rep. Do this 2-3 times per week at the end of your upper body workouts. For a standard 200-pound cable stack, the starting weight will likely be between 20 and 40 pounds. If you can't complete 15 reps with a 2-second hold, the weight is too heavy.

What 60 Days of Correct Face Pulls Will Actually Do

Adding face pulls to your routine won't transform your body overnight, but consistent, correct execution will produce noticeable changes within two months. Here is a realistic timeline of what you should expect.

Weeks 1-2: The Awkward Phase

The first two weeks are purely about motor learning. The weight will feel ridiculously light, and you'll probably feel uncoordinated. You might not even feel the 'squeeze' in the right place yet. That's fine. Your only job is to perform every single rep with perfect form, focusing on the 2-second pause and the slow return. You will likely feel a burn in your rear delts, but the main sensation will be one of concentration. Don't be tempted to add weight.

Weeks 3-4: The 'Click'

Sometime during the first month, the mind-muscle connection will 'click.' You will start to feel a powerful contraction exactly where you're supposed to: deep between your shoulder blades and across your rear delts. The movement will feel more natural. You may notice that your shoulders feel 'less tight' or 'more open' after your workouts, especially after bench pressing. This is the first sign that the exercise is working to counteract internal rotation.

Weeks 5-8: Visible Changes

By the end of the second month, you should start to see and feel tangible results. When you stand relaxed in front of a mirror, you may notice your shoulders sit further back naturally, without you having to force them. Your upper back may look slightly thicker, and your posture will be improved. You can now consider a small weight increase, maybe 5-10 pounds, but only if you can maintain perfect form and the 2-second hold for 15+ reps. The goal is always quality over quantity. After 60 days, the face pull will have gone from an awkward chore to an essential part of your shoulder health and postural maintenance routine.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Required Weight for Face Pulls

Use a weight you can control for 15-20 perfect reps with a 2-second pause at peak contraction. For most people, this is between 20 and 50 pounds on a standard cable stack. If you cannot hold the squeeze or feel it in your traps and biceps, the weight is too heavy. Ego has no place here.

Face Pulls Frequency and Volume

Perform face pulls 2-3 times per week. They are best placed at the end of your upper-body or push-focused workouts. Aim for a total of 50-100 reps per session, typically broken into 3-4 sets of 15-25 reps. The goal is high-rep metabolic stress, not low-rep mechanical tension.

Alternatives If You Have No Cable Machine

Using a resistance band anchored to a squat rack, pole, or door works perfectly. The movement is identical. Step back to create the desired tension. Band pull-aparts, where you hold a band in front of you and pull it apart across your chest, are another excellent alternative that targets similar muscles.

Feeling Face Pulls in Your Traps or Biceps

This is the most common mistake and it means the weight is too heavy or your form is incorrect. Lower the weight by at least 50%. Focus on keeping your elbows high and pulling your hands apart as you pull back. Think of making a 'scarecrow' or 'double bicep' pose, not rowing a boat.

Face Pulls vs. Rear Delt Flyes

Face pulls are superior for overall shoulder health because they combine two actions: horizontal abduction (moving the arm away from the body's midline) and external rotation (rotating the shoulder outward). Rear delt flyes primarily focus on abduction. Both are great for building rear delts, but the face pull provides the added benefit of strengthening the rotator cuff through rotation, making it a better choice for posture and injury prevention.