I am doing the 531 Building a Bigger Yoke, so was interested in the recent article:
I do face pulls or band pull aparts nearly daily. I was taught to do face pulls with the cable starting at a low-sternum height. This results in a pulling upwards towards your face. I also do these seated at a row machine, and use the rope in place of the normal handles. Again, these start lower and are pulled upward towards my face.
How do these compare to the ones you do in the video, where you start high and finish high? Should I start doing the “forehead” pulls exclusively?
Last thing - I have already been doing the “rogue rows” as recommended by Wendler (as you credit in your article). What I’ve been doing is using the rope attachment and simply looping it under the barbell and doing the movement as you show it. I actually really like this more than a fixed handle. Any disadvantage to this?
The way you’re describing there’s going to be a lot of internal rotation going on, and you don’t want that. I can get away with internal rotation…because I can. But I do advise most people against it.
But either way, facepulls, the cable should be in alignment with your…face. And to get external rotation while you’re doing it. Yes, you can do it lots of other ways but this is probably the best way because it will improve shoulder health by creating balance of external rotation work to internal rotation work.
If you like those, do them. The only thing I can see that would be a disadvantage is that your loading ceiling is going to be lower because with a fixed handle you can strap up better, ensuring a stronger “hold” on the apparatus.
Lots of people do facepulls completely wrong, so it’s hard to recommend something unless you can tell me what you were using them for, or wanted to use them for.
General shoulder health/ thoracic posture, I guess. I read a lot of t-nation articles that talk about how important face pulls are and how everyone should be doing them, and I think you’re an advocate of them if I recall. The only thing is, I haven’t come across any barbell alternatives that I know of.
When I workout at home with only basic barbells, DBs, etc… I tend to do the following two things:
Banded face pulls. Wrap the band around the squat rack at whatever height you use for face pulls, and pull as you would with the pulley.
If you have rings or crossfit-type suspension trainers, put them somewhere around head height, hold them and lean back. Pull yourself up with your face meeting the handles.
For shoulder health the Y-raise or the incline cuban press I do is probably the best for that.
Face pulls aren’t a hypertrophy movement. So if you’re not using them to grow (you shouldn’t be) and you’re using them as an integrated movement then there’s other options.