Face Pull
Also works: Middle Back
A high-pulley pull towards the bridge of your nose, hands separating as the rope arrives. It loads the rear delts and the mid-trap and rhomboid group in the one place a bench-heavy programme leaves empty, and the external rotation at the finish is the part most people skip.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Set the pulley just above head height and attach a rope. A long rope beats a short one; you need room for your hands to separate.
- Take an overhand grip on the rope ends, thumbs pointing back at you rather than towards each other.
- Step back until the stack lifts slightly off the weight plates, arms extended, ribs down.
- Stagger your feet or take a small split stance so you are not fighting to stay upright.
- Pick a weight you could do 20 reps with. Then use that.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Exhale as you pull, hold the finish for a second, inhale over a three-second return. One second out, one second hold, three seconds back.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Start at 10-15 kg on a cable stack — genuinely light. You have the right weight when you can pause a full second at the finish with your hands outside your ears and no torso lean. Add weight only once 20 clean reps with a one-second hold feel easy; most people stall usefully somewhere around 25-30 kg and should stay there and add reps instead.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Halve the weight and set a rule: your torso does not move and the rope ends must finish outside your ears. If either fails, the set is over.
Cue 'elbows up and out' before you pull. Filming one set from the front tells you instantly — you want a straight line across both forearms.
Finish every rep with your knuckles aimed at the wall behind you. Add a deliberate quarter-second rotation at the end range before you release.
Take three seconds to return. The rear delt gets most of its work resisting the way back, and a snapped-back arm is where cuff irritation starts.
Why bother
The rear delt and the mid-back get almost nothing from pressing, and rows train them in a line that ends at the ribcage rather than at the face. Setting the pulley above head height changes the resultant force so the humerus has to abduct and externally rotate at the same time — the exact combination that pressing and rowing both leave out.
This is a low-load movement by design. The rear delt is small and the external rotators are smaller, so a stack heavy enough to feel impressive is being moved by your lats and your lower back leaning away. The useful version usually sits between 10 and 25 kg on a cable stack, moved with a visible pause and hands finishing beside your ears.
Where it fits
At the end of a pressing day, or between sets of bench as filler. Two to four sets of 12-20 twice a week is enough. It pairs badly with heavy rows in the same slot — both compete for the same mid-back fatigue — and pairs well with anything that has left your shoulders internally rotated for an hour.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
Asked and answered
Will face pulls fix my rounded shoulders?
They help, but not the way the internet claims. Posture is mostly a habit of position, not a strength deficit, and no single exercise pulls your shoulders back permanently. What face pulls do is build the rear delts and external rotators that pressing neglects, so you have the strength to hold a better position when you think about it. Pair them with actually spending less of the day folded over a keyboard.
Should the rope come to my face or my chest?
Your face — that is the whole point of the name and the pulley height. Pulling to your chest with the elbows tucked down turns the movement into a high row and hands the work back to the lats. Set the pulley above head height and aim for the bridge of your nose with your upper arms level with the floor.
How heavy should face pulls be?
Lighter than your ego wants. If you cannot pause for a second at the finish with your hands beside your ears and your torso still, the weight is wrong. Most trainees do their best work between 10 and 25 kg on a cable stack for sets of 15-20. Loading beyond that just recruits the lats and the lower back.
Can I do them with a band instead of a cable?
Yes, and the band is arguably better for the external rotation because resistance peaks exactly where the movement is hardest. Anchor it above head height, take the same grip, and expect to need a light band. The one thing you lose is a precise, repeatable load to log against — band tension is hard to progress in known steps.