Suspension Face Pul

How to do the Suspension Face Pul

1. 1Adjust the suspension straps to roughly chest height and stand facing the anchor point, holding one handle in each hand with a neutral grip, palms facing each other.
2. 2Walk your feet toward the anchor until your body is at an angle — the more you lean back, the harder the movement; aim for about 45° to start.
3. 3Extend your arms fully in front of you, keep your body in a straight line from heels to head, and brace your core so your hips don't sag.
4. 4Initiate the pull by squeezing your rear deltoids and retracting your shoulder blades slightly.
5. 5Drive your elbows up and out to the sides, keeping them above shoulder height, and pull the handles toward your face until your hands are level with your ears.
6. 6At the top, externally rotate your shoulders so your knuckles point toward the ceiling and your upper arms are parallel to the floor.
7. 7Pause for one count at the top with your rear delts fully contracted.
8. 8Lower under control by reversing the path — elbows leading outward and down — until your arms are fully extended again.
9. 9Complete all reps, then walk your feet back away from the anchor until you are standing upright and unloaded before releasing the handles.

Form tips

• Keep your elbows at or above shoulder height throughout the pull — dropping them shifts work away from the posterior deltoid and onto the lats and mid-back.
• Think 'elbows to ears' at the top to cue the external rotation that fully engages the infraspinatus and teres minor.
• Maintain a rigid plank position through your trunk; any hip sag or pike lets the lower body take load away from the target muscles.
• Control the descent for at least two counts — the eccentric phase builds the most rear-delt and rotator-cuff strength.
• To increase difficulty, walk your feet closer to the anchor; to decrease it, step farther back so your body is more upright.

Common mistakes

• Letting the elbows drop below shoulder level during the pull, which turns the movement into a row and reduces posterior deltoid activation.
• Skipping the external rotation at the top, which leaves the infraspinatus and teres minor underloaded and misses a key benefit of the exercise.
• Allowing the hips to sag or the lower back to arch, which breaks the straight-body alignment and allows the lumbar spine to compensate for core weakness.
• Using momentum by swinging the body rather than pulling with the rear delts, which reduces time under tension and increases injury risk at the shoulder.
• Gripping the handles too tightly and shrugging the shoulders toward the ears, which overactivates the upper trapezius instead of the middle and lower fibers.

Frequently asked questions