The Face Pull is a commonly used pattern in bodybuilding and is used to target the posterior deltoids and general back part of the shoulder. There are many ways of executing the movement and our banded variety is done by pulling the rope directly towards your chin. The band is very accessible but also has different characteristics when compared to the cable version. The bands resistance increases with stretch so the resistance when the arm is lengthened is far less than when the band is close to the chin, this could make it a happier exercise for those rebuilding strength in the region.
Other cues
Zip up your abdominals throughout
Lean back ever so slightly, loading the back foot
Actively ground the feet firmly into the floor
Targeted muscles trained
Posterior deltoid
Rhomboid ground
Mid-trapezius
Triceps long head
Key movements trained
Horizontal abduction
Scapular retraction
Considerations
The height of your face that you pull the band into may alter the difficulty of the exercise significantly. if you pull it into your chin your arms are almost purely going through horizontal abduction. However, if your pull the band to your nose level then you are putting a little lateral rotation of the shoulder joint into the movement. This will make the exercise throw more work into the posterior deltoid and possible posterior-lateral aspect of the rotator cuff like supraspinatus and infraspinatus.
Your stance will dictate your stability as you are pulled the band directly towards you, the more stable stance could actually be in a split position (one foot in front of the other). this can allow you to control swaying of your back by utilising your abdominals.
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