The shoulders thrive with slight variation and strategic novelty, so give them what they need! One of the most common questions regarding face pulls is where to anchor the band or cable unit and more importantly why. So using a common tool like the band that is available to everyone in every setting has its benefits from a practicality standpoint. Now that’s a win-win in my book. It builds big, strong, and stable shoulders and upper backs, while also helping to bulletproof the shoulders from chronic aches and pains in the process. This will reduce the grip from the bigger muscles of the forearms and upper arms. And due to the floor restricting the back end 25% of the range of motion, and arguably the most important aspect of the range for full shoulder blade dynamic stability, it’s less that advantageous for functional training. Lastly, the more involved we can get the neighboring regions of the body from head to toe involved in a simple movement like the face pull, the more carryover and higher level training effect we can elicit in a shorter amount of time. From the seated position, we need to remain highly active by contracting the glutes, adductors, core and shoulders to achieve a pristine position first before we initiate a heavy face pull. But that's a while down the road. Thanks John! Dr. John Rusin is a coach, speaker, and writer who runs a sports-performance physical-therapy practice in Madison, Wisconsin. I consider this strategic upper back work as “pain-free volume” and is otherwise “free volume” that would not necessarily place huge amounts of unwanted mechanical or neurological stress on your body. | All Rights Reserved | Built and Maintained by, Pain-Free Performance Specialist Certification, Top 20 Plyometrics For Speed, Power and Performance, 6 Ways To Reverse The Aging Process with Exercise, The 50 Most Effective Push Up Variations For Size & Strength, Leaning back with a split stance against the cable stack, Generating momentum with your torso or hips, Incomplete range of motion (especially on the back side), Lack of smoothness in eccentric or concentric, Unable to “feel” muscles working in the upper back. And in the overhand grip, slight external rotation is achieved by the limiting factor, which is the wrist position into flexion during the pull. Using too thick of a band (this is a common face pull flaw) can go from resistance that is easy at the beginning to resistance that is impossible at end range. Seems like a simple fix, right? One simple change that you probably didn't see coming, but that you can do without having to buy any extra equipment other than a band (which, seriously, you should already have). For many, this will be at approximately chin height. Absolutely not. The face pull is THE pain-free shoulder staple that belongs in... #15 Anchor High or Low Depending on Shoulder Blade Position. The more of your body that is supported, the less motor control requisites a movement will have, and the more likely that movement will be executed at a more optimal level. First, use “meat hook grip” with your fingers while leaving your thumb free. Why? So here's the solution: Place a medium resistance circular band on the cable setup, looping each end of the band around your wrists. Because you’re laying on the ground supported, motor control requisites decrease along with global apprehension of the movement. This variation is basically a combination of the best parts of the two most common face-pull variations: the banded face pull, and the cable rope face pull. But during movements like the face pull, we like to work a full range of motion. Those are what you're trying to strengthen with face pulls in the first place. With this in mind, there are two unique options to better individualize the face pull to specific needs and goals of the exercise. If you can quickly assess shoulder blade positioning and combine that with dynamic movement capabilities of the shoulder as a whole, it makes custom fitting face pull setups to your clients much more efficient. This variation is identical to the standing cable rope face pull but you’re seated instead. We can also tap into the freedom of allowing two hands to rotate in and out of pronation and supination more naturally, allowing the shoulders to therefore more through more rotational moments into both internal and external rotation. If you’re going to execute the traditional standing face pull get into an athletic stance, root the feet into the ground and brace up. They also help build a thick upper back as a base to arch into for a power bench press." But if you truly want to make the face pull more functional (while keeping cheaters from cheating this staple movement) the tall kneeling and half kneeling positions are great options to train out of. My general recommendation is to complete 10-15 banded face pull reps every hour that you spend sedentary, preferable in a strong standing position.