Cable Face Pull
Also known as: Rope Face Pull, Standing Cable Face Pull, Face Pull, Cable Facepull
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Description
Pull a rope from a head-height cable pulley to your face, finishing with your hands beside your head, to build your rear delts and upper back. Your rear delts take most of the load. The middle traps squeeze your shoulder blades together, the infraspinatus (a rotator cuff muscle on the back of the shoulder blade) turns your upper arms out at the finish, and the upper traps help a little. Easy to learn and kind to the joints, it works as a warm-up before pressing or as a finisher. Unlike a rear delt fly, your elbows bend and your arms rotate out at the end.
How to Perform
- Clip a rope to one pulley of a cable station and set it at forehead height or a notch above, not at the top.
- Hold one rope end in each hand just inside the stoppers, overhand: knuckles up, palms down, hands close together, wrists straight.
- Face the pulley and walk back until your arms are straight at face height and the plates lift off the stack.
- Set your feet hip-width apart, one foot half a step ahead, knees soft.
- Stand tall, chest up, ribs down; your legs and torso stay put from here on.
- Draw your shoulders down, then pull the rope toward your face with your elbows leading out to the sides at shoulder height.
- In the last third, pull the rope ends apart so your hands finish beside your head at eye level, forearms vertical, knuckles up and back.
- Pause for a second with the middle of the rope in front of your nose, elbows bent about 90° and shoulder blades squeezed.
- Take 2–3 seconds to straighten your arms, plates still off the stack. After the last rep, step in before you set the weight down.
What Muscles Work
Primary Muscle:
Secondary Muscles:
Tips
- Aim for 2–4 sets of 12–20 reps, stopping 1–3 reps short of failure; the set is over when your hands can't get back to head height. Add reps first. When all sets reach 20 with a one-second pause and no sway, move the pin down one plate (usually 2.5–5 kg) and start again at 12. With loads this light, one plate is often a 10–20% jump, so plan on a few sessions per weight. Pulley ratios vary, so compare weights only on the same station.
- You should feel it in the back of your shoulders and between your shoulder blades, and on the back of the shoulder blade as your hands turn up. Neck burning first? You're shrugging. Biceps and lats doing the pulling? You're rowing to your chest.
- If the front of your shoulder pinches at the finish, stop with your hands slightly in front of your ears and take some weight off. Once the full turn feels easy, hold the finish for 2 seconds and take 3 seconds on the way back before you add load.
- Substitutes: Seated Face Pull if you catch yourself leaning back to move the weight; Banded Face Pull at home or as a warm-up; Cable Rear Delt Fly or Machine Reverse Flyes to isolate the rear delts with straight arms and no rotation.
Common Mistakes
- Rowing to your chin or chest. Your elbows sink below shoulder height and your lats and biceps take over. Aim the middle of the rope at your nose or forehead and finish with your hands beside your head.
- Leaning back or stepping back on every rep to get the stack moving. Set your stance before the first rep and keep your torso still; if it rocks anyway, the weight is too heavy.
- Stopping with your hands in front of your face and the rope ends still together. Split the rope until your forearms stand vertical beside your head.
- Running the cable from the top or the bottom of the column. From above it turns into a pulldown, from below into an upward row. Set the pulley at head height so the cable runs almost level from your face.
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