Kneeling Face Pull

The kneeling face pull trains the rear deltoids, the rhomboids and the external rotators of the shoulder, three groups that almost every programme underworks and that hours at a desk quietly shorten. Kneeling rather than standing is what makes the version worth choosing: with the hips fixed on the floor, there is no way to lean back or drive with the legs when the weight gets heavy, so the upper back has to produce the entire movement. The rope set at face height is the other half of it. Pull toward your face while spreading the hands apart, so the elbows travel back at shoulder level and the shoulder blades retract and rotate together. Set too low, the movement becomes a row and the rear delts lose most of the work. Keep the elbows high and finish with the hands beside your ears rather than in front of your chest, which is the difference between a face pull and a badly aimed row.