Face Pulls: The Cable Exercise Desk Workers Should Not Skip

A face pull is a cable exercise where you pull a rope attachment from about head height towards your face, splitting the rope apart and finishing with your hands beside your ears and elbows high. It trains the rear shoulders, the muscles between your shoulder blades and the small rotator cuff muscles that turn the upper arm outwards. Those areas are typically under-trained in people who sit at a desk all day and press more than they pull. Use a light weight, a slow tempo and higher reps, around 12 to 20, and the exercise does its job. Load it heavily and it turns into a sloppy row that misses the point.

Why desk workers in particular benefit

A working day in front of a laptop puts your arms in front of you for hours, shoulders rolled slightly forward, head drifting towards the screen. Gym routines often reinforce it: bench press, press-ups, front-facing machines. The front of the shoulder gets a lot of work; the back of it gets very little.

The face pull targets what is usually missing. It works the rear deltoids, the middle and lower trapezius, the rhomboids, and the external rotators of the shoulder (mainly infraspinatus and teres minor). Building strength there helps balance out pressing work and makes it easier to hold a good upper-back position under a barbell.

A sensible expectation: face pulls will not “fix posture” on their own, and posture is less strongly linked to pain than people assume. What they reliably do is strengthen muscles that are often weak, and that tends to make shoulders feel better and pressing more comfortable. We look at the wider picture in rounded shoulders exercises.

How to set up the cable

1. Attach a rope to the cable pulley. A double rope with knotted ends is easiest to grip.
2. Set the pulley at roughly forehead to eye height. Slightly above face height is a good default. Too low, and it becomes a row. Too high, and it turns into a pulldown.
3. Choose a light weight. Lighter than you think. If you have never done them, start at the lightest or second-lightest plate on the stack.
4. Grip the rope with your thumbs pointing back towards you (an overhand grip with palms facing down or inwards). Some people prefer palms facing each other; both work. Thumbs-back tends to encourage more external rotation at the finish.
5. Step back until the weight lifts off the stack with your arms straight. Stand tall in a split stance, one foot in front of the other, for stability.

The movement, step by step

1. Start with arms straight in front of you, shoulder blades slightly forward, ribs down.
2. Begin by drawing your shoulder blades back slightly, then pull the rope towards your face, leading with your elbows.
3. As the rope approaches your face, pull the ends apart so your hands finish either side of your head, roughly beside your ears or temples.
4. At the end, your elbows should be high, around shoulder level or slightly above, and your knuckles pointing up and back as your upper arms rotate outwards. Think “double biceps pose” without the theatre.
5. Pause for one to two seconds. You should feel the back of the shoulders and between the shoulder blades working.
6. Return slowly over two to three seconds until your arms are straight again.

Breathe out on the pull, in on the return. Keep your torso still: no leaning back to finish the rep.

Common mistakes, and what to do about them

Mistake	Why it happens	Fix
Leaning back to finish	Weight too heavy	Drop the weight until you can pause at the end with a still torso
Elbows dropping low	Turns it into a row, less rear shoulder and rotator cuff	Raise the pulley slightly; think elbows high and wide
Not separating the rope	Pulling to the chin with hands together	Actively pull the ends apart as the rope reaches your face
Shrugging	Upper traps taking over	Keep shoulders away from ears; lighter weight, slower tempo
Ribs flaring, lower back arching	Trunk not engaged	Split stance, squeeze glutes, exhale on the pull
Rushing the return	Momentum doing the work	Two to three seconds back to the start, every rep

Sets, reps and how heavy

Face pulls respond well to moderate to higher reps with good control. A practical starting point:

• 2 to 4 sets of 12 to 20 reps.
• Tempo: pull for one second, pause for one to two, return over two to three.
• Effort: finish each set with two or three good reps left in the tank. This is not an exercise to grind to failure.
• Frequency: two or three times a week. They create little fatigue, so they fit easily around other training.

Progress by adding reps first, then a small amount of weight. The cable station in our studio has a two-stack setup, so we can make small jumps rather than big ones, which helps on an exercise like this where a heavy jump spoils the technique.

Where face pulls fit in a session

I use them in three ways depending on the client:

• In a warm-up before pressing, one or two light sets to get the upper back working.
• Paired with a pressing exercise, alternating sets of an overhead or bench press with face pulls. It uses the rest time well and balances the session.
• At the end of an upper-body or full-body session as accessory work alongside a seated cable row.

If you only have a short session, face pulls are an easy thing to keep because they need one cable, one attachment and very little time. For a whole session built on the same machine, see our guide to cable station exercises.

No cable? Alternatives

A resistance band anchored at head height works almost as well; the movement is the same. Without either, prone Y and T raises, lying face down on a bench with light dumbbells, train similar muscles. Band pull-aparts are a useful extra but miss the external rotation part of the face pull.

When to be careful

Face pulls are low-risk, but they put the shoulder in an externally rotated, raised position. If you have a current shoulder injury, a recent dislocation, or pain that is sharp, worsening or wakes you at night, check with your GP or a physiotherapist first. Discomfort that is a dull muscular ache at the back of the shoulder after a set is normal. Pinching at the front or top of the shoulder is not: lower the pulley a little, reduce the range, or stop. The NHS page on shoulder pain sets out when to get help.

How I coach them in the studio

Face pulls look simple, and most people do them badly the first time: too heavy, elbows low, leaning back. In a private personal training session at The Highgate House, I set the pulley height for your body, check the grip and the finish, and pick a load you can control for a full set. With the studio booked to you alone, there is time to get the small details right. If you sit at a desk most of the day and want an upper-back plan that fits in around your work, have a look at 1-1 training with a Highgate personal trainer.

Questions we get asked

What muscles do face pulls work?

Mainly the rear deltoids, middle and lower trapezius, rhomboids and the external rotators of the shoulder. The biceps help a little.

Are face pulls good for posture?

They strengthen muscles that are often weak in desk workers, which can make it easier to sit and stand tall. On their own they will not change how you hold yourself all day; habits and overall training matter too.

Should I do face pulls standing or seated?

Both are fine. Standing in a split stance is the usual version. Sitting or kneeling can help if you tend to lean back.

How heavy should face pulls be?

Light enough to pause for one to two seconds at the end of every rep with a still torso. For most people that is well below what they row.

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