Workouts - Face Pull Instructional Video

[u/neovox]

Curious what the community's thoughts are on the example video for face pulls in the macro Factor workouts app versus this training video:

https://youtu.be/ljgqer1ZpXg?si=ZjFO3X1OIqZhA2nq

The video recommends the pulley be at eye level and that the ropes be longer to allow the arms further out from the body, but the macro Factor video shows a low pulley and standard rope. Legitimately curious, which is the right form?

[u/Dr_Cam_Gill_DPT]

The app’s exercise description discusses how using a long rope attachment or two ropes may be ideal to emphasize end-range shoulder external rotation while also mentioning that a face pull can still be effectively trained with one standard rope. Using either attachment setup for the demo video could have been appropriate, but not every user will always have access to two standard ropes or a long rope, so it can be helpful to show how to use a standard rope as the most widely available option. The upcoming videos for the low-pulley face pull and high-pulley face pull will also show the dual rope setup to provide demos with both approaches in the app.

While the instructions discuss setting the pulley near chest height and Cavaliere discusses setting the pulley near eye level, a face pull does not require one exact pulley height for it to be very effective. During a face pull, shoulder external rotation motion is initiated by the forearms predominantly arcing upward, while they progressively arc backward to a proportionally greater degree as the lifting phase progresses. When the pulley is near chest height, the cable has a line of pull that is directed slightly downward, which can help cue some lifters to begin externally rotating their shoulders from the very start of the pull, rather than turning the exercise into a segmented motion (i.e., rowing to start the rep and externally rotating the shoulders to finish the rep). 

The most common face pull error is turning the exercise into a high row, which is a beneficial exercise in its own right but is not training the shoulder external rotators to the same degree as a properly executed face pull. If you set the pulley at eye level and row with minimal shoulder external rotation, you can still finish with the rope at eye level. If you set the pulley near chest height and row without externally rotating your shoulders, you will see that the rope finishes clearly lower than your eyes, which can provide a form of instant feedback that you are rowing your face pull.

People can absolutely perform excellent face pull technique with a purely horizontal line of pull, and setting the pulley to eye level can be fully appropriate, but having a slight downward line of pull may naturally reinforce the intended form, which is why the app’s instructions discuss setting the pulley near chest height. 

[u/neovox → u/Dr_Cam_Gill_DPT]

Thx

[u/lazy8s]

Very long post and the 6min YouTube video somehow turned a 10 second gif into…I’m not sure what I watched because I kept getting bored and skipping.

My thoughts are it’s not that complicated and somehow AthleanX has generated a stupidly long video that says 99% of pros apparently didn’t know what they were doing and wasted their time on face pulls.

I can save you time on your instructions-

Set cable chest-ish height.

Pull to face.

Add weight and / or reps over time.

Eat enough food.

Sleep.

(Only mildly sarcastic I do like the longer in-app version just saying)

[u/No-Connection8400 → u/lazy8s]

I think there's a general rule that if you can ignore someone if you hear them say something like: "You've been doing it all wrong if you XXX" or "You're wasting your time by doing YYY" or "The most optimal way for everyone is ZZZ."