How to Do Face Pulls The Right Way

This Week’s Resources

• How to Do Face Pulls The Right Way

• The 20 Best Rear Delt Workouts

• This Week’s Sponsor (KNKG)

• Can You Do Back and Shoulder Workouts on the Same Day?

• Worthwhile TRX Alternatives

• Should You Wear Squat Shoes (YouTube)

• 9 Overhead Press Alternatives

• Want to Lift More? Know Your Weaknesses (MSN)

This week we’re focusing on back, shoulder, and warmup and going in-depth into face pulls. This is something new from one of our coaches. There are also new videos, more powerlifting tips, and a survey to get your feedback.

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How to Do Face Pulls The Right Way

Let’s talk about face pulls. When it comes to shoulder health and upper-body strength, few exercises are as versatile and effective as the face pull. This simple (yet powerful) movement help shoulder stability, posture, and overall strength. . . but only if it's performed correctly.

Once you’re set up for it, the main thing lifters overlook is the targeting. Target your forehead with the face pull and you’ll work one set of muscles. Target your chin and you’ll work something else.

When you do face pulls with a forehead target, meaning you're pulling toward the top of your face, you'll get more rotator cuff activation. That's great for shoulder health.

It's also something to consider if you face shoulder pain while deadlifting.

If you target your chin during the pull back, these are more rear delt exercises and have stonger upper back activation. That's better for a back workout.

This Week’s Partner

Thanks to KNKG for partnering with us this week. Because of their sponsorship, we’re able to send this newsletter for free to the powerlifting community.

And lucky for us, they’re also the place to go for premium lifting gear. One of their bags earned top marks as a powerlifting gym bag, and we’re proud to have them as a partner.

Looking for other gear? They’ve also got a lifting belt that fits right in the side of the duffel, leaving room inside for the everything else.

The Best Rear Delt Workouts

We have a guide the best rear delt workouts. These are sometimes overlooked, but they’re crucial for powerlifters looking to increase overall performance.

Read the full guide to get all 20 exercises. Here we’re just going to focus on one you can do with a TRX suspension system: The TRX Elbows Out Row.

That’s the best bodyweight exercise for rear delts. The way that your shoulders and upper arms are positioned really isolates these muscles, and the closer your feet are to the wall in front of you, the more stimulus you will get.

And yes, there are a bunch of TRX alternatives worth checking out.

How To Do TRX Elbows Out Rows:

1. Grab one TRX handle with each hand and angle your body at a declined slope so your feet are in front of your body.

2. With your arms straight in front of you, row your chest and upper body up to your hands.

3. Drive your elbows out to the side and pinch your shoulder blades at the top. You should have a 90° angle with your elbows.

4. Make sure to keep both your hands and knuckles out wide.

5. Slowly return back to the starting position.

Why Do Lifters Wear Squat Shoes?

Squat shoes are designed to provide better stability and foot contact, but whether they’ll improve your squat depends on your individual mechanics.

If you have poor ankle mobility and your heels rise off the ground during your squat, squat shoes can help by maintaining contact with the floor and providing a more stable base.

However, if your feet stay flat throughout the squat due to good ankle mobility, squat shoes might actually hinder your form and cause you to lean forward more than you should.

Overhead Press Alternatives

There are many alternatives to overhead press. After all, the overhead press is one of the best exercises to improve the development of your shoulders.

But what if you want to isolate one part of your shoulders more than another or if you don’t have a barbell available or, worse yet, it causes pain. That’s when these come in handy.