The face pull may be the most underrated exercise in all of strength training. It falls into the horizontal pull category, but where rows potentially promote a downward scapular rotation syndrome and internal rotation of the shoulder joint, the face pull can do just the opposite.
Because the shoulder is either flexed or abducted 90 degrees throughout the face pull, the scapula is in upward rotation to some degree. Right away this gives us greater activation of the upward rotators, especially the upper and lower trapezius. The upward rotation offsets the pull of the downward rotators and helps prevent the development of the downward rotation dominant imbalance.
Now let's look at face pull performance. Traditionally, the face pull is performed with a rope handle or strap and a pronated grip.
In the contracted position, the pronated grip limits the degree of external rotation of the shoulder.
In thinking about movement pattern balance, we know that the internal rotators of the shoulder tend to be at least 25-33% stronger than the external rotators. We also tend to find that from a postural perspective, internal rotation of the humerus is quite common. Using the traditional pronated grip for the face pull can then potentially feed a rotation imbalance in the shoulder.
To remedy this situation, we recommend the use of a neutral grip. This allows you to pull the rope or strap past your face with the humerus in much greater external rotation and promotes shoulder rotational balance.
To further increase loading the external rotators, the lever arm can be altered by increasing the angle at the elbow. Make sure to adjust the weight accordingly; this is the second version that's shown in the above video.
Remember those short or stiff pec minors? You can make your face pull more effective by taking advantage of the acute effects of stretching the pec minor for about 20 seconds on each side. You can do this effectively by placing the front of your shoulder against a door jam and leaning your body weight forward and simultaneously pulling the scapula backward.
Diagnosis Via Face Pull
In cases where the rotator cuff is known to be weak relative to the deltoid, the posterior deltoid can overtake the rotator cuff as the primary external rotator.
This will show up in the face pull as the humerus (upper arm bone) hyperabducts relative to the scapula. In other words, as you pull horizontally, the scapula stops moving and the upper arm bone continues to be pulled back along the horizontal plane. Rather than the upper arm bone and the scapula ending up in the same plane during the contracted phase of the face pull, the upper arm bone and scapula form an angle. The dead giveaway is a dent or a dimple that forms between the posterior deltoid and the infraspinatus.
If this is the case, your shoulder program would be better served by working on some isolated strengthening to the rotator.
Thats what I got out of it. And something about external rotators which is where I have the injury (teres minor). Other than that it doesnt seem to interest me, then again it is 1233am
