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Should you do FACE PULLS like Jeff Cavaliere or Mike Israetel? (Who is Correct?)

Geoffrey Verity Schofield

88,743 views

I love me some face pulls. But how to do them? Should you do them with more of an external rotation focus like our favorite family friendly fake weights flinging fiend Jeff Cavaliere of Athlean-x fame, or with more of a laid back, straight back internally rotated rear and side delts approach like Mike Israetel of Renaissance Periodization?

Oh, this is gonna be a hell of a showdown.

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20 Comments

@GVS Creator 5 years ago Pinned

Copyright claim by Athlean-X from the automated system, which is fair enough, I left in some of those clips a bit long. Enjoy a piece of carrot cake on me, Jeff. :) This is why I don't monetize my channel, as I don't have to rely on ads to support myself!

If you want to support the channel and help me keep making vids like this, grab a copy of my book.
Side benefit: you get a freakin awesome book :)
https://www.verityfit.com/product-page/sweat

@MrYaniv99 5 years ago

I personally prefer using Jeff’s form. Feels pretty damn good on the shoulders

@nickm2046 5 years ago

When you said that ROM Boys - Rhomboids joke I compulsively internally rotated my shoulder and pressed the like button so hard I almost tore my rotator cuff
10/10 would do again

@hussainattai4638 5 years ago

ROMboys joke was good, don’t mind the haters

@scottgerrin2558 5 years ago

I feel like the Jeff way always makes my joints feel sooo much better in the shoulders. I do it for a therapy/stretch standpoint more than a strength/hypertrophic one

@donniehollingsworth1611 5 years ago

Wait I’m confused, you said don’t blindly listen to you, so I didn’t, but by not listening to you, I now have taken your advice thereby listening to you, and since I listened to you, I have went against your advice to not listen to you and now I can hear colors and smell numbers

@FitLabb 5 years ago

Main point is there’s many ways to perform any given exercise, especially based on the intended goals... Unless you’re Ryan Humistone, who claims he’s not doing facepulls, while literally doing facepulls. 😂

@rohitkantipudi6605 4 years ago

Mike actually points out in his video that the low bar setting is just one of many possible settings. He explains that the principles of the exercise he advocates for can be applied with almost any rope height, resulting in distinct upper back activation patterns.

@LastRestart40 5 years ago

When I first started training, I worked with a rehab focused coach. He introduced me to face pulls for fixing rounded shoulders and whatnot. Being the meathead that I am, I started progressively loading them until I was doing the whole stack for sets of 6-8. The thing is, my traps EXPLODED. Like to the point people would ask me what I did for my traps. Of course it was heavy deadlifts and ohp that helped, but the only thing I did that might be out of the ordinary were those heavy ass face pulls. Face pulls will get you scary traps AND no shoulder issues, it's a win-win. 10/10 highly recommend.

@simranbiryani3068 5 years ago

I do incline reverse one legged kettlebell bosu ball facepulls as per Ryan Humistons advice

@dicrurusparadiseus 5 years ago

I noticed your beard asymmetry and I can't unsee it

@CCSABCD 5 years ago

I like getting the best of both worlds, I mainly go external rotation with fake weights but I still go all the way down to a hard RPE 3 set (I make sure to shake my whole body after I finish so everybody knows how hard it was).

@davidlangley3511 5 years ago

I personally like Jeff's facepull it helps my shoulder from years of playing baseball

@lk_specter7861 5 years ago (edited)

As a PT in training I side more with Jeff. I somewhat disagree with your opinion but I see and understand your Point Geoff. From my point of understanding body mechanics and the shoulder joint I see Jeff's way as the superior one. Probably not for mass but for overall shoulder health and longevity in the gym.

I know it is somewhat of a meme but I would be mindful when it comes to raising your arms paired with internal rotation. It always makes me think of impingement syndrome right away. Internal rotation makes it much more likely to suffer from impingement while external rotation does the opposite.

Jeff's way also looks much less taxing on the wrists.

@BlacK40k 5 years ago

Liking because it is you but commenting for that Yujiro back screenshot

@Megaduckatron 2 years ago

I think athlean X is just extremely risk averse. Too much if you’re a serious bodybuilder or power lifter. But he got me where I am. So I’m thankful for it. Spamming his version of face pulls have made my rear delts quite strong and full.

@brenchtoast6730 5 years ago

For me, Jeff's version is the best. That's because I've broken my right collarbone, and separated that same shoulder a couple of times. If I do it any other way it causes pain. There are so any variables that it's impossible to account for everything in a video.

@xavmanisdabestest 5 years ago

Glad you're promoting your book more it's good shit my man

@martinszetlik8283 5 years ago

Thank you geoff! I was 120kg at 6.1 no muscle whatsoever, your videos helped a lot at losing that fat also building a decent amount of muscle at the time. I'm currently 66kg 12-15 bodyfat. Feeling great :)

@uglyduckling2205 5 years ago

I also change the way I pull my bodyweight inverted rows using rings when I'm fatigued to not only be able to get a few extra reps and also get a different feeling or squeeze in my back. For example, when I'm starting the set I might do the rows in a supinated way and when my biceps are fatigued I switch to an overhand to give the biceps a rest and try to flare more to be able to get some rear delt activation.