Face Pulls: How to Do Them, Muscles Worked and Are They Worth It?

Face pulls are an upper-back exercise in which you pull a rope or resistance band toward your face with your elbows high, finishing with your hands beside your ears. They train the rear deltoids, the middle and lower trapezius and the rotator cuff muscles that turn your arm outward. Use a cable machine at the gym or a band at home; they suit anyone who presses more than they pull.

How to do a face pull

1. Set the anchor at about forehead height or slightly higher: a rope on a high cable pulley, or a band looped around a sturdy post or a door anchor.
2. Take hold of the rope ends or the band with your palms facing down or facing each other. Step back until your arms are straight and you feel tension. Stand tall in a staggered stance, ribs down.
3. Start the pull by drawing your shoulder blades back slightly.
4. Pull toward your forehead, elbows high and out to the sides, roughly level with your shoulders.
5. Pull the rope apart as your hands near your face and rotate your forearms back, so your hands finish beside your ears with your knuckles pointing up, like a double-biceps pose.
6. Pause for a second, squeezing between your shoulder blades.
7. Return slowly to straight arms without letting the weight drag your shoulders forward.

Form cues

• Feel it in the back of your shoulders and between your shoulder blades, not in your lower back.
• Elbows high; hands finish beside or slightly behind your ears.
• Stand tall and keep your ribs down rather than leaning back to move more weight.
• Breathe out as you pull and in as you return.
• Choose a load you can pause with on every rep.

Muscles worked

Few studies have measured the face pull itself. A 2025 computer-modelling study of 10 men estimated that a standing face pull loaded the rear deltoid about as much as a bent-over dumbbell raise, and more than a dumbbell row (1). That is a model estimate, not a direct measurement.

The face pull’s finish combines two actions with better data: pulling the arms back at shoulder height and turning them outward. With fine-wire electrodes in 10 healthy people, a face-down raise of that kind, arms out to the sides and rotated outward, drew 88% of maximum from the rear delt and 82% from the supraspinatus, while side-lying external rotation worked the infraspinatus and teres minor hardest (2). In 45 healthy people, the same face-down raise was among the best exercises for working the middle and lower trapezius while keeping the upper trapezius quiet (3).

That is the case for face pulls, though it rests on similar exercises rather than on the face pull itself. Pressing, by contrast, barely touches these muscles: in trained men, a shoulder press drew 11% of the rear delt’s maximum and a bench press 3.5% (4).

Common mistakes

• Too heavy, leaning back. Your body weight does the pulling. Fix: lighten the load and stand tall, or sit.
• Pulling to your chin with low elbows. That turns it into a row. Fix: anchor at forehead height or higher, elbows up, pull to your forehead.
• Skipping the turn at the end. Fix: finish with your hands beside your ears, knuckles up.
• Shrugging. Fix: keep your shoulders down and back, neck long.
• Rushing or letting it snap back. Fix: pause, then take about 2 seconds to return. With a band, anchor it securely and never let it fly toward your face.

Variations: easier and harder

Looking for a dumbbell face pull? There is no true version, because a dumbbell pulls straight down rather than toward you; the rear-delt raise and the Y and T raises train the same muscles. For the bodyweight row, see our inverted row guide.

Sets, reps and how often

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 2 to 3 training days a week for beginners and, for muscular endurance, more than 15 reps with short rests under 90 seconds (6). Its 2026 review found muscle growth improved with at least 10 sets per muscle per week (7). Face pulls count toward your upper-back sets along with rows. Most people slot them in at the end of a back or shoulder session.

Are face pulls really worth it?

As an upper-back exercise, yes. They are cheap, easy on the joints and train muscles that pressing leaves out (4). As shoulder insurance, the evidence is limited: no trial has tested face pulls for preventing injury or pain.

The closest evidence comes from programs that include similar work. In 660 elite handball players, a warm-up of external-rotation strength, shoulder-blade strength and mobility drills, done three times a week, lowered the risk of shoulder problems by 28% over a season (8). For posture, an 8-week corrective program reduced forward head and rounded shoulders in 28 college swimmers (9). A meta-analysis of 7 trials with 627 people found strong evidence that exercise improves forward head posture and moderate evidence that it eases neck pain (10); we grade that claim in our evidence index. None of these tested the face pull on its own.

If you already have rotator cuff pain, temper your hopes for any single exercise. A Cochrane review of 60 trials found the evidence mostly low quality, and its one high-quality trial found no clinically important difference between manual therapy plus exercise and a placebo (11). For a fuller routine, see our guide to fixing bad posture at home.

What muscle gets neglected the most?

No study ranks them. But if you bench, push up and press and rarely pull, the rear delts and middle and lower traps are the usual gap, since pressing works the rear delt at only 3.5% to 11% of its maximum (4). A face pull or rear-delt raise in each session closes it; pair it with the lateral raise for the side delts.

What is the king of all back exercises?

There isn’t one. The deadlift often gets the title, but for the upper back, rows and pull-ups do the heavy lifting and the face pull is an accessory. Our dumbbell row guide covers the main one-arm pull.

Is it safe? Who should be careful

For most people, yes, with a light load. Stop if you feel a pinch at the front or top of your shoulder, or pain, numbness or tingling running down your arm.

• Shoulder pain over 40. Rotator cuff changes are common with age, even without pain: a pooled analysis of 6,112 shoulders found them in 9.7% of people aged 20 and under and 62% of those aged 80 and over (12). Light, pain-free face pulls are usually fine. If pain lasts more than a couple of weeks or wakes you at night, see a physical therapist.
• Bands. Check for nicks before each session and anchor them to something that cannot move. Our resistance band guide covers band safety and which bands to buy.
• Neck pain. Keep the load light and avoid shrugging.
• Pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says exercise is safe and desirable in an uncomplicated pregnancy, with some changes (13). The seated version helps if your balance shifts.
• Recent shoulder surgery. Follow your surgeon’s or physical therapist’s plan.

With no gym at all, our shoulder workout at home shows what bodyweight work can and cannot do. This page is general information, not medical advice; see our medical disclaimer.

Watch it done

Our video 8 best shoulder exercises to build capped delts teaches the face pull as the sixth of its eight moves, with a cable or band, for 3 sets of 15 to 20. Our video 8 exercises to build your lats faster covers it as the eighth and final move, for 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 15. Their cues match this page: a rope on a high pulley, a pull toward your forehead with the elbows flared out, a squeeze of the upper back and a moderate weight. Both say face pulls protect the shoulder; as explained above, no trial shows that. For the band version, our 47 resistance band moves video shows a band face pull among its back exercises, briefly and without narration.

Looking for your next move? Browse every guide in our exercise library, sorted by muscle group, equipment and level.

Sources

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2. Reinold MM, et al. Electromyographic analysis of the rotator cuff and deltoid musculature during common shoulder external rotation exercises. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2004;34(7):385-394. PubMed 15296366
3. Cools AM, et al. Rehabilitation of scapular muscle balance: which exercises to prescribe? Am J Sports Med. 2007;35(10):1744-1751. PubMed 17606671
4. Campos YAC, et al. Different shoulder exercises affect the activation of deltoid portions in resistance-trained individuals. J Hum Kinet. 2020;75:5-14. PubMed 33312291
5. Lopes JSS, et al. Effects of training with elastic resistance versus conventional resistance on muscular strength: a systematic review and meta-analysis. SAGE Open Med. 2019;7:2050312119831116. PubMed 30815258
6. American College of Sports Medicine. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708. PubMed 19204579
7. Currier BS, et al. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Resistance training prescription for muscle function, hypertrophy, and physical performance in healthy adults: an overview of reviews. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2026;58(4):851-872. PubMed 41843416
8. Andersson SH, et al. Preventing overuse shoulder injuries among throwing athletes: a cluster-randomised controlled trial in 660 elite handball players. Br J Sports Med. 2017;51(14):1073-1080. PubMed 27313171
9. Lynch SS, et al. The effects of an exercise intervention on forward head and rounded shoulder postures in elite swimmers. Br J Sports Med. 2010;44(5):376-381. PubMed 20371564
10. Sheikhhoseini R, et al. Effectiveness of therapeutic exercise on forward head posture: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2018;41(6):530-539. PubMed 30107937
11. Page MJ, et al. Manual therapy and exercise for rotator cuff disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;2016(6):CD012224. PubMed 27283590
12. Teunis T, et al. A systematic review and pooled analysis of the prevalence of rotator cuff disease with increasing age. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2014;23(12):1913-1921. PubMed 25441568
13. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Physical activity and exercise during pregnancy and the postpartum period: ACOG Committee Opinion, Number 804. Obstet Gynecol. 2020;135(4):e178-e188. PubMed 32217980