Face Pull.
The face pull trains the rear deltoids, external rotators of the shoulder (infraspinatus, teres minor), and middle trapezius through horizontal pulling. A rope attachment is pulled to face level with elbows flaring high and wide, separating the hands at the end position.
Step by step.
Attach a rope to a cable pulley set at roughly face height, slightly above eye level. Grab one end of the rope in each hand with a neutral grip, thumbs pointing back toward you.
Step back so the cable is taut with your arms extended, then set a stable stance. Keep the chest up and a small lean from the ankle if you are standing.
Pull the rope toward your face, driving the elbows high and wide so the upper arms stay parallel to the floor. Do not let the elbows drop below the cable line.
As the rope reaches face level, separate your hands and rotate the wrists so your palms turn out and away from you. This brings in the external rotation that trains the rotator cuff.
Squeeze the rear delts and shoulder blades together for a beat at the end position. Your hands should finish wide, near the sides of your head.
Return the rope under control to the start, letting the arms extend fully without yanking. Keep the load light enough that the elbows stay high the whole set.
The elbow height is what determines whether this is a rear delt and external rotation exercise or just a horizontal row. Elbows need to end up at shoulder height or above, flared back and wide, not tucked down below the cable line. When elbows drop during the pull, the movement looks like a row and the rhomboids and lats take over. Keep the upper arms parallel to the floor (or slightly above) the entire time the rope is traveling toward the face.
The hand separation at the end position is the external rotation component. As the rope reaches face level, the hands separate outward and the wrists rotate so the palms face away from you. This is external rotation at the shoulder joint and it's what trains the infraspinatus and teres minor. Skipping this and just pulling the rope to a fixed position without hand separation makes it a rear delt exercise but not an external rotation exercise. Both muscles need work for shoulder health, particularly in lifters who do a lot of horizontal and vertical pressing.
Face pulls are the one exercise where the weight almost never matters. They're corrective work. The cable stack shouldn't be anywhere close to what you'd use for a row. If you're fighting to pull the rope to your face because the stack is too heavy, the elbows will drop and the form breaks immediately. Most people work between 20-50 lbs. The movement lives and dies on the elbow position.
A practical note on setup: set the pulley to roughly face height (slightly above eye level). Sitting on a bench directly in front of the cable reduces the tendency to lean back and turn it into a horizontal pull-toward-chest. Standing with a slightly staggered stance and a small backward lean is fine, but the lean should come from the ankle, not from hinging at the hips.
Pressing already hammers the front delt and the face pull covers the rear. Add a lateral raise for the side head so every part of the shoulder gets direct work and the joint stays balanced under a heavy bench.
Common questions.
The rear deltoid (posterior head) is the primary mover. The infraspinatus and teres minor (the external rotators of the shoulder) are trained through the hand-separation component. The middle trapezius and rhomboids provide scapular stability during the pull. The face pull is somewhat unique in combining direct rear delt work with external rotation strength in a single movement, which is why it appears in most prehab and shoulder health protocols.
The cable row is pulled to the midsection with elbows close to the body, loading the lats, rhomboids, and biceps. The face pull is pulled to face height with elbows wide and high, targeting the rear delts and external rotators. These are different movement patterns and different muscles. The seated row builds back width and thickness; the face pull builds posterior shoulder strength and corrects the internal rotation bias that heavy pressing creates.
Face pulls can be done very frequently. Three to four times per week is reasonable for many lifters, particularly those doing substantial bench press and overhead pressing volume. They're low-fatigue, use light loads, and train muscles that most programs underwork. Many coaches program them as a 'every training day' movement regardless of what else is on the schedule, specifically because the external rotators and rear delts rarely get enough direct volume from compound pulling alone.
They're complementary, not identical. Band pull-aparts train the rear delts and middle trap through horizontal abduction. Arms go from in front of the body to out to the sides. Face pulls add the external rotation component at the shoulder by having the hands separate and rotate at the end. If you're choosing one, face pulls cover more of the posterior shoulder anatomy. If you can do both in a session, they pair well. Pull-aparts for lighter corrective volume, face pulls for more targeted training with a quantifiable load.
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