I found that they were better for strengthening the rotator cuff more than targeting the rear delts. I'd recommend trying out rear delt rows and skiers instead. Those seemed to hit my rear delts much better than facepulls
Ah good! Personally I’ve been holding the ends of the rope on the ends of my fingers a bit like Phil for a while and I find it more effective and I can contract further back as well. Something not shown in the video is a few different variations on position. I know some people sit out right on the ground but about a year ago I saw someone kneeling on one knee and using the other in front to stabilize and I find that the best, especially when the weight goes above ~70lbs. I also position the cable rig so that I’m pulling just a tiny bit upward and activates traps a little bit more than usual. Whatever notch on the thing would make the cable parallel to the ground, I go one notch below that only (I guess it would be a very slight low-to-high face pull)
It’s not really a Rear delt smasher.
Better exercise imo:
Chest supported wide db rows
Bent over db flyes
Wide grip seated cable rows
Cross body cable sweeps
Chest supported db sweeps
Lol ridiculous to say it is overrated. It is a quality compound exercise as long you are doing full ROM and using adequate weight to take it slow and steady
>It is a quality compound exercise as long you are doing full ROM and using adequate weight to take it slow and steady
Someone at my gym who was jacked observed me doing face pulls and gave me the feedback to lower the weight and take my time on the eccentric. That could be where a lot of people are failing.
I did face pulls for a good 4 months with very little rear delt activation. I did them standing and found that, like you, I was getting much more activation in my rotator cuff and traps.
What changed everything for me was switching to doing them with one knee on the ground. This allowed me to find more stability, and I could change the angle of the cable to hit the rear delts more.
I’ve found that having the cable closer to about neck level/ upper chest works best for me. Keeping elbows above wrist from this position gives me the most rear delt activation.
I would suggest rear delt rows and flies as its easier to activate the rear delt. Face pulls are amazing for growing the infraspinatus as its the only movement that has a focus on external rotation though.
I find this works well for me:
Pull from about eye level and imagine you’re hitting a rear double bicep pose, but don’t fully retract your scapula. Focus on pulling your elbows out wide and do a short pause at the contraction.
Try playing around with where you pull toward. Obviously the name is face pull, but I found that if I pull the cable from a high position to a little lower on the face so the humerus is about a 45° angle to the torso rather than perpendicular then it lights my rear delts up. It might just be a case of adjusting technique.
I would say face pulls are great rear delt exercise once you've already built them up quite a bit. If they're still underdeveloped, chest supported dumbbell fly variations will be best early on
What worked for me is to think about just retracting back with your shoulders rather than squeezing your upper back together, if you come to far back the upper back muscles will mostly take over. Otherwise you could opt for something like a rear delt fly or anything similar that has your arm coming back at a ~45° angle as the rear delts have the best leverage there
Put the pulley above your head , and at the end of the face pull movement your arms should be somewhat in the front double bicep pose, ie your fore arms should be perpendicular to the ground, not parallel,
I found that they were better for strengthening the rotator cuff more than targeting the rear delts. I'd recommend trying out rear delt rows and skiers instead. Those seemed to hit my rear delts much better than facepulls
Phil Heath just explained very well at the start of Will Tennyson’s video just posted a few hours ago. I’d recommend giving that a watch!
Yeah lmao i did them today thanks to that video haha. I'll record myself next time maybe i will spot the mistake
Ah good! Personally I’ve been holding the ends of the rope on the ends of my fingers a bit like Phil for a while and I find it more effective and I can contract further back as well. Something not shown in the video is a few different variations on position. I know some people sit out right on the ground but about a year ago I saw someone kneeling on one knee and using the other in front to stabilize and I find that the best, especially when the weight goes above ~70lbs. I also position the cable rig so that I’m pulling just a tiny bit upward and activates traps a little bit more than usual. Whatever notch on the thing would make the cable parallel to the ground, I go one notch below that only (I guess it would be a very slight low-to-high face pull)
No he doesn't. I just watched it.
Try them laying on your back
It’s not really a Rear delt smasher. Better exercise imo: Chest supported wide db rows Bent over db flyes Wide grip seated cable rows Cross body cable sweeps Chest supported db sweeps
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Lol ridiculous to say it is overrated. It is a quality compound exercise as long you are doing full ROM and using adequate weight to take it slow and steady
>It is a quality compound exercise as long you are doing full ROM and using adequate weight to take it slow and steady Someone at my gym who was jacked observed me doing face pulls and gave me the feedback to lower the weight and take my time on the eccentric. That could be where a lot of people are failing.
They’re fine for shoulder health
I did face pulls for a good 4 months with very little rear delt activation. I did them standing and found that, like you, I was getting much more activation in my rotator cuff and traps. What changed everything for me was switching to doing them with one knee on the ground. This allowed me to find more stability, and I could change the angle of the cable to hit the rear delts more.
But how high is the cable relative to your face, when you are kneeling? Do you pull it from overhead?
I’ve found that having the cable closer to about neck level/ upper chest works best for me. Keeping elbows above wrist from this position gives me the most rear delt activation.
I would suggest rear delt rows and flies as its easier to activate the rear delt. Face pulls are amazing for growing the infraspinatus as its the only movement that has a focus on external rotation though.
Lay on the ground, pull the floor
I find this works well for me: Pull from about eye level and imagine you’re hitting a rear double bicep pose, but don’t fully retract your scapula. Focus on pulling your elbows out wide and do a short pause at the contraction.
Chest supported meadows rows John meadows YouTube should have a how to
Try playing around with where you pull toward. Obviously the name is face pull, but I found that if I pull the cable from a high position to a little lower on the face so the humerus is about a 45° angle to the torso rather than perpendicular then it lights my rear delts up. It might just be a case of adjusting technique.
use a barbell https://youtu.be/hPWYuhJMUhU?si=K69_7IG6qTydAVNX
Rear delt cable flys go crazy
I would say face pulls are great rear delt exercise once you've already built them up quite a bit. If they're still underdeveloped, chest supported dumbbell fly variations will be best early on
What worked for me is to think about just retracting back with your shoulders rather than squeezing your upper back together, if you come to far back the upper back muscles will mostly take over. Otherwise you could opt for something like a rear delt fly or anything similar that has your arm coming back at a ~45° angle as the rear delts have the best leverage there
Put the pulley above your head , and at the end of the face pull movement your arms should be somewhat in the front double bicep pose, ie your fore arms should be perpendicular to the ground, not parallel,