Face Pull
High pull with a band or cable — trains the rear shoulders and counters pressing imbalances.
Execution
- Anchor a band or cable at eye height, grip the ends with both hands.
- Stand tall with arms forward; step back one or two paces to put tension on the band.
- Pull the elbows up and out toward the ears, thumbs end pointing back.
- Pause briefly at the end (1 s), then return under control.
Tips
- Shoulders stay down — no shrugging the shoulder blades up.
- Ideal companion to any pressing session; 15-25 reps per set.
The exercise against the desk
The face pull trains the rear deltoids and the muscles between the shoulder blades — exactly the areas that waste away from sitting and from pressing-heavy training. It's less a mass-building exercise than a balancing and prevention exercise, and in that role one of the most valuable there is.
Anyone doing a lot of push-ups, dips and bench pressing without addressing the back of the shoulder eventually ends up with front-shoulder-joint issues. The face pull costs two minutes and prevents exactly that.
Execution
Anchor a band at face height, grip the ends with both hands. The hands pull toward the face while spreading apart, the elbows stay high at shoulder level. At the end point the backs of the hands point outward and the shoulder blades are squeezed together. Return under control.
Common mistakes
- Elbows drop. That turns it into a row and the rear shoulder stays uninvolved. Keep the elbows at shoulder height.
- Too much resistance. The exercise lives on clean execution, not load. A band that's too stiff forces compensations.
- Head pushes forward. The head stays put — the hands come to it.
Programming
Two to three sets of 15 to 20 reps, ideally at the end of every session or as a warm-up before pressing work. Frequency beats intensity here — light three times a week beats heavy once.