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The Best Exercise For Shoulder Health That You Should Be Doing (But Probably Aren’t)

The Best Exercise For Shoulder Health That You Should Be Doing (But Probably Aren’t)
September 23, 2019Dr. Grant Radermacher

Fix your posture, grow your delts & heal your shoulders!

What the heck are face pulls? If you’ve ever been treated for a shoulder injury at Ascent Chiropractic there’s a good chance you know all about them. But if you’ve never done them before, face pulls just might be one of the best-kept workout secrets.

Face pulls are a simple exercise with huge benefits for shoulder health and stability. We’ll go through how to correctly do the exercise in a moment (as always form is important), but the general idea is to use a cable machine or exercise band and pull towards your face.

Hence, face pulls. Simple.

Why should you be doing face pulls?

If you’re a typical gym-goer, you probably do a lot of pushing – think bench presses, overhead presses and chest flyes. After all, who doesn’t love chest day, right?

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with push days, if you want to prevent shoulder injuries it’s a good idea to balance the number of ‘push’ exercises you perform with an equal – or greater – number of ‘pull’ exercises. Overemphasizing push exercises can result in internal rotation of the shoulder joint, not only causing rounded-shoulder posture but putting you at risk for labrum tears, rotator cuff problems, bursitis and other shoulder injuries.

To compensate, it’s essential to be regularly strengthening the muscles involved in scapular retraction (moving your shoulder blades down and back) and external shoulder rotation.

Enter face pulls.

In addition to the structural and health benefits of face pulls, they’re also a great exercise for growing the rear deltoids and rhomboids – two commonly-neglected muscle groups. In fact, face pulls are a staple in almost all of the training programs I give my patients.

How to perform them?

Like any other exercise, you need to be using the correct form to get the most benefit. You’ll need either a cable machine with a rope attachment or an elastic exercise band. The height of the cable or band attachment should be slightly above the top of your head.

  • Hold the rope/band with an overhand (externally rotated) grip, with your thumbs up.
  • Keep your feet shoulder-width apart, activating your core and glutes. Puff your chest out.
  • Squeeze your shoulder blades together to pull the rope/band toward your ears.
  • Hold the position for 1-2 seconds.
  • Return to the starting position, making sure to keep your shoulders up.

This is not an exercise to be ego-lifting; you want to be able to perform it comfortably and with correct form, so select a weight accordingly.

How to incorporate face pulls into your workout?

The muscles of the upper back have a high degree of fatigue resistance – it’s easier to train them more often than some other muscles, as they recover well. Due to this, face pulls can quite easily slot into any workout program, even if it’s a high-frequency program. It’s a low-impact, high-benefit exercise that can be super-setted with other movements without compromising them or your workout length.

My suggestion? For every bench press set you do per week, do an equal number of sets of face pulls in the 10-12 rep range.

Next Steps

Dealing with nagging gym injuries that just won’t go away? Make sure you’re getting adjusted!

Whether you’re a pro athlete or weekend warrior, study after study shows that regular chiropractic care is an essential part of reaching your full potential in the gym. Need a Brookfield chiropractor? To make an appointment at Ascent Chiropractic, call 262-345-4166 or schedule an appointment with our online scheduling app.


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About the Author

The Best Exercise For Shoulder Health That You Should Be Doing (But Probably Aren't) – Brookfield Chiropractor

Dr. Grant Radermacher

Dr. Grant Radermacher is a Brookfield, WI chiropractor providing unmatched results through gentle, evidence-based chiropractic care. Our mission is simple: get you out of pain so you can get back to being you, only better.

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Comments

Anna Dotsnko Reply
April 30, 2020

Simple exercises are amazing even for beginners! But the important thing that they must be done regularly. I would also recommend making full squats and iliopsoas exercises. I think this guide https://myergonomicchair.com/core-exercises-for-posture/ describes the technique very clearly.

Drashti Reply
June 23, 2020

When We are Doing Extersice it is very important to focus to Diet also…
You can Check the Hear For Food Weighing Scale for the accurate weight of ingredients.
https://www.kitchenstar.in/best-kitchen-weighing-scale/

karan gharti magar Reply
July 4, 2020

i used the medicine of a keto dessert in worldwide, and I lose 20 KG in 6 months..

Malcolm Shabazz Reply
July 8, 2020

Hi, Dr, Giant
Yes, I believe that face pulls face pulls exercise has huge benefits. because I have a blog www.healthyfitnessgoal.com on pull ups workout. My research say, your article is so ture!

Adrianne Oyewole Reply
July 8, 2020

Hey Doc, This is a very good article and I agree that it is good exercise. The only part I would like to add is that people clench when they pull. So it might be a good tip to remind people not to clench or tense their necks while doing the exercise.
Thanks for sharing. Adrianne (Ufiit.com)

vikash poonia Reply
August 20, 2020

we good very would do exercise.

uavi Reply
August 20, 2020

Hey Doc, This is a very good article and I agree that it is good exercise. The only part I would like to add is that people clench when they pull. So it might be a good tip to remind people not to clench or tense their necks while doing the exercise.
Thanks for sharing. Adrianne (Ufiit.com)

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Leah Wade Reply
November 4, 2020

This exercise is really good and, you also know about what muscles does cycling work, this can also be helpful.

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January 5, 2021

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Abdul Ahad Reply
January 21, 2021

Nice

pramod Reply
January 27, 2021

I read your article. It provides me a good information and increase mymy knowledge

Sridhar Singh A Reply
March 1, 2021

I have gone thruogh your article,it was really informative and helped my health

tawhid Reply
March 7, 2021

Dont forget to do cardio

faisal sadiqi Reply
June 27, 2021

really very interesting article about shoulder workouts.

Abhishek Ghosh Reply
July 24, 2021

Simple exercises are amazing for beginners! But the important thing is that they must be done regularly & correctly. The same goes for Yoga also. You can check out the most popular blog in this regard. Sharing its link below:
https://livefitfirst.com/index.php/2021/07/20/13-best-yoga-postures/

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August 17, 2021

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