HOW TO DO SHOULDER FACEPULLS
- Set a rope on a pulley at face to forehead height. Step back until the stack is floating. Soft knees, ribs down.
- Pull the rope toward the face with the elbows high and wide. Finish by rotating the knuckles toward the ears or temples — you should be looking through the V of the rope.
- Squeeze the rear delts and the upper back, not the traps up into the ears. The head stays still; the rope comes to you.
- Return until the arms are long and the shoulders reach forward a little. Do not let the stack dump you into a shrug.
COMMON MISTAKES
- Pulling the rope to the sternum with elbows down. That is a seated cable row with a rope. If the elbows drop, log a row. Face pulls stay high.
- Heaving a stack you cannot get to the face. Rear-delt work dies when the load is a row. If the rope stops at arm’s length, drop the pin. Light-moderate is the point.
- Skipping the external rotation. Hands to the ears is the last part of the rep. Without it you did a high row. Still useful — still not this lift unless you finish the turn.
- Using these as your only pulling volume. Face pulls are a corrector and a rear-delt finisher. They do not replace seated cable row, pulldowns, or pull-ups.
VARIATIONS
- Seated cable row — Real horizontal-pull volume. Pair it; do not replace it with face pulls.
- Cable lateral raise — Side delt on the same cable column.
- Barbell upright row — Heavier upright pattern if the shoulder likes it.
- Barbell bent-over row — The back work face pulls are not trying to be.
PROGRESSIONS
- Light rope, elbows high, knuckles to the ears, two-second squeeze.
- Add load only while the rope still reaches the face without a lean.
- Use them after pressing, or on a pull day after the heavy row.
PROGRAMMING NOTES
Two to four sets of 12–20. This is not a PR lift — if LIFTAG shows a big jump, you probably started rowing the rope. Keep the load honest, note “rope / high pulley,” and spend the real rest timer on the row or the pulldown that came first.
EQUIPMENT ALTERNATIVES
- Cable lateral raise — If the gym has no rope, laterals plus a light row still cover the shoulder. It is not the same movement.
- Seated cable row — When you need back work, not a face-pull substitute.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
No. They hit rear delts and external rotators with a high elbow. Rows build the back you actually pull with. Do both. Log both.
