Face Pull Benefits – So Many Pros!
Welcome back to another Full Affect Fitness article! Today’s Exercise Benefits article is going to be all about face pulls and the face pulls benefits! We will be looking at 3 main ideas for this topic while relating them back to your training so you can apply them to YOU!
Without further ado, let’s hop into the information!
Shoulder Health:
The primary benefit of face pulls would be their great benefit in promoting shoulder health. Most notably would be how they can work to improve your posture by pulling your shoulders back and aiding in keeping them locked in place when you want them retracted.
So how does this exercise actually accomplish these benefits? If you have slouched shoulders or poor posture that stems from the upper back, performing the face pull, especially if done properly with external rotation, targets the shoulder muscles on your back. These are called your rear delts. Strengthening these muscles and increasing their activation and therefore their ability to contribute helps to keep the shoulder retracted in proper positioning!
This exercise also helps to create space in the shoulder joint if you perform the movement correctly. It does this by externally rotating the shoulders which creates room in the ball and socket joint.
Next, we will talk about how the strengthening of your rear delts aids in our actual performance within the gym!
Face Pulls For Performance Benefits:
With basically every lift you do, having a stable back is crucial for optimal performance. Whether you are performing the bench press and are looking for a stable platform to press from, or performing walking lunges where having a stable back allows you to keep the weight in the proper positioning.
We know that face pulls help to increase our strength and stability, mainly of our rear delt muscles. So what does this actually do for us? Well, if it allows us to keep our shoulders retracted when needed, this also allows the other muscles of our upper back to retract the scapula (pinching the shoulder blades together). This is done by creating a ton of tension in our back, which helps to pull our shoulder blades together.
When performing vertical pressing movements or exercises that benefit from having a stable back, it is more about putting the weights in the proper positioning. Both for safety and making the lift more optimal. For example, keeping the scapula pinched back during lunges allows you to place the load more on your hips and quads instead of reaching forward, potentially causing lower back rounding which can be tough on the spine.
Speaking in the context of vertical pressing movements, keeping your shoulders down and back as well as locked in through scapular stability allows us to move the weight in an advantageous way. This in the sense of performing an exercise such as the overhead press with a proper vertical bar path. This allows the weight to be stacked over the joints of the wrist, elbow and shoulders for better stability.
Face Pulls For Hypertrophy:
Now I know we have covered a lot of “nitty-gritty” benefits of the face pull. However, there are also some more “direct” benefits to our training for programming the face pull with the goal of achieving direct results. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about this involves the face pull being an amazing rear delt exercise.
This because it moves the weight in a way that follows the muscle fibres of our rear delts, which allows them to effectively contract and stretch. This helps to put the training stimulus directly on the muscle.
On top of that, you can train this exercise with lighter weights and pause reps to help develop a strong mind-muscle connection, which has its own hypertrophic benefits. However, if you’re looking to perform this exercise at a more “standard” tempo, this can be done with ease and you can still reap great benefits if done under adequate control! Both of these methods can be and are beneficial!
The Gist on Face Pulls:
In conclusion, the face pull is an extraordinary exercise with its many, many benefits that don’t just apply to inside the gym, but outside as well! From postural benefits that are important to everyday life, that still apply to gym performance. As well as the exercise being great for hypertrophy of the rear delts!
Does the face pull seem like a beneficial exercise for you? Let me know why or why not in the comment section! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this article and as always, if you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to leave them below and I will be sure to reply!
Here are some other articles that may be beneficial for your knowledge!
Benefits of The Military Press
Until Next Time,
Kohl Johnson
Please refer to my liability disclaimer to ensure you know who is responsible for use of this information after reading.
Support is much appreciated if you benefited from this:
Hi! A lot of people when going to the gym pay most attention to what’s on front. But neglect shoulder exercises a bit. I want to be balanced in this. I’m still a bit of a newbie going to the gym but I want to focus on all the important muscles of my body. And shoulder health is a very important point for me. I appreciate you have explained how face pull can help me with this goal!
Hi Henry, thanks for all the support with these articles! I am so excited that I have been and am able to provide you with beneficial information!