Face Pull
How to Do the Face Pull With Proper Form
Attach a rope to a cable pulley set around eye or forehead height.
Grip the rope with both hands and step back until the cable has steady tension.
Stand tall with your ribs controlled and shoulders relaxed away from the ears.
Pull the rope toward your face while driving the upper arms outward.
As the rope approaches your face, rotate the forearms upward so the hands separate and the shoulders externally rotate.
Pause briefly with the upper back and rear shoulders engaged without leaning backward.
Return slowly until the arms are extended while keeping control of the shoulder blades.
Form Check & Technique
DO THIS (Technique Tips)
- Set the pulley around eye or forehead height
- Lead with the elbows and finish with the hands separating
- Use a light enough load to preserve external rotation
- Keep the torso still instead of leaning backward
- Prioritize control over load
AVOID THIS (Common Mistakes)
- Setting the pulley too low
- Pulling the rope toward the chest instead of the face
- Using too much weight and leaning backward
- Letting the elbows drop during the pull
- Skipping the external-rotation component
- Shrugging the shoulders toward the ears
- Turning the exercise into a heavy cable row
About Face Pull
The face pull is a cable posterior-shoulder and upper-back exercise performed with a rope attachment pulled toward the face while the upper arms move outward and the shoulders externally rotate. It trains the rear delts, rotator-cuff external rotators, mid traps, and rhomboids, but should not be presented as a guaranteed posture fix or injury-prevention exercise.
Face Pull Muscles Worked
The rear delts and external rotators drive the shoulder movement, while the middle traps and rhomboids assist scapular retraction.
- The face pull is better described as a posterior-shoulder and upper-back accessory than as a lat-focused pulling exercise.
Sets & Reps Guidance
Technique / Learning
2-3 sets of 12-20 reps with a light cable load while learning the rope path.
Strength Focus
Face pulls are best treated as an accessory; use 2-4 sets of 8-15 controlled reps rather than maximal low-rep loading.
Muscle Growth (Hypertrophy)
2-4 sets of 10-20 reps with clean external rotation and no torso swing.
General training baseline. Need.fit automatically adjusts exact sets, reps, and working weight based on your individual fitness level, recovery, and progress over time.
Exercise Variations & Alternatives
Rear Delt Fly
Variation targeting Rear Delt
reverse pec deck
cable rear delt fly
band-face-pull
Barbell Bench Press
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Dumbbell Bench Press
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Face Pull vs Rear-Delt Row
Both involve horizontal pulling, but the face pull adds a meaningful external-rotation component as the hands separate near the face. A rear-delt row is more purely a horizontal abduction and rowing pattern.
What Height Should the Cable Be?
Around eye or forehead height is a strong default because it lets the rope travel toward the face without turning the exercise into a low row.
Where Should the Rope Finish?
Finish with the rope near the face and the hands separating to either side. Pulling to the chest usually turns the movement into more of a high row.
Do Face Pulls Train the Rotator Cuff?
Yes, external rotators such as the infraspinatus contribute to the movement. That does not mean face pulls treat every shoulder problem or guarantee injury prevention.
Are Face Pulls a Back or Shoulder Exercise?
They train both posterior-shoulder and upper-back musculature. They are not primarily a lat exercise, even though they sit within a broader back-training cluster.
Sources & References
- [1]
- [2]
- [3]American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy Adults: An Overview of Reviews — PubMed (PMID 41843416)View Source