If you take a good look at the exercises in your workout program, chances are you have a mix of moves for your legs, chest, back, shoulders, and arms. Common stand-ins include lunges, squats, deadlifts, chest press, shoulder press, rows, curls, and triceps extensions.
But, there is often one important exercise missing. That exercise? Face pulls. While it may have a funny name, it is one you will want to be including in your workout routine as it brings many advantages.
Let us take a closer look at what you stand to gain from this exercise and how to perform it correctly…
1. The Benefits Of Face Pulls. There are three main advantages face pulls have to offer. First, on the aesthetic side, they are going to help round out your shoulders, ensuring you get a complete look to your body.
If you only ever work the lateral and front delt, this can become problematic regarding the overall look you can obtain. You will get significant development in the front and side of your shoulders, but your rear shoulders will be severely lagging.
Face pulls help you avoid this.
Next, face pulls also contribute to adding strength to your shoulder region. These muscles are critical to strengthening as they are highly prone to injuries and if not taken care of, can become strained very quickly. Face pulls will help to work your rotator cuffs, helping you avoid injury.
Finally, they directly contribute to improving your strength. You will work your rear delts as well as your traps (trapezius muscles) when you perform them, both of which will then help out whenever you are doing back focused exercises in your workout routine.
2. Adding Face Pulls To Your Workout Routine. Now you see why you need to do face pulls, how do you perform them and add them to your protocol?
To perform a face pull, you will want to attach a rope to a mid-height cable pulley. Stand back with your arms extended on a slight diagonal. Hold the one handle with each hand and then bring the handles up, so they are in line with your face.
Your elbows should be flared out, and from there, you will pull the rope towards you, separating your hands, so each hand moves towards your face, in front of your ears. Direct the movement with your rear delts as much as possible, keeping your upper arms parallel to the ground.
Once this movement is complete, return the rope to the original starting position to finish the rep. This exercise can be incorporated into either your shoulder or back day – or both if you want to give those rear delts a workout.
Do not overlook this practice any longer. It is one you really must be doing as part of your overall exercise routine.
