Facelifts are a cable machine exercise that strengthens the upper back muscles and increases mobility in the shoulder blades. Proper form can target the weaker lower trapezius muscles by externally rotating the shoulders while pulling back on the rope.
Facelifts are a strength training exercise intended to increase mobility in the scapulae or shoulder blades and strengthen the muscles that rotate these bones upward, namely the trapezius muscle in the back. They require a cable machine with an adjustable pulley set to face height and a rope handle and involve pulling each end of the rope to either side of the face by contracting these upper back muscles. Specifically, facial pulls target the rear deltoids on the back of the shoulders, as well as the trapezius, with the shape dictating optimal recruitment of the fibers from the weakest part of the muscle, the lower trapezius.
Traditionally, face pulls are performed with the pulley at face height, making it a type of exercise known as a horizontal pull. Horizontal pull exercises such as rows, reverse flies, and facial movements are performed perpendicular to upright posture, whether the athlete is standing, leaning forward, or prone, and involve pulling back relative to the body. These exercises target the upper back and posterior deltoids, the most posterior portion of the shoulder muscle.
A true face lift is performed facing the cable pulley and standing a few feet from the pulley. Using a rope handle, a type of cable accessory that features a length of rope with knotted ends attached to the pulley at its midpoint, the user grasps either end of the rope with arms outstretched in front of him and palms facing in. , thumbs toward the ceiling, and the ends of the string tilted up. Then contract your upper back muscles to retract or posteriorly draw your shoulder blades while pulling your elbows back in a horizontal line until they are in the same plane as your shoulders. At the same time, the athlete pulls the rope toward his face, parting the ends of the rope as he approaches so that the hands are approximately even with the top of the head and the palms of the hands face up. inside. This position resembles a bodybuilder flexing his arms into the classic strongman pose.
Proper form for facelifts can be slightly altered to better target the lower trapezius, usually the weakest part of the muscle. While the trapezius as a whole is a diamond-shaped muscle spanning most of the upper back, the lower fibers form a triangular muscle originating from the fifth through twelfth thoracic vertebrae in the middle of the back. the back. These fibers run at an oblique angle upward and outward, converging to join the back of the shoulder blades just behind the shoulder joint. The lower trapezius acts to upwardly rotate the scapulae, simultaneously spreading them apart while drawing their lower ends up and toward the shoulders.
To better target the lower trapezius with facial pulls, the athlete must take care to externally rotate the shoulders while pulling back on the rope. In other words, the hands should not be allowed to drop forward as the rope approaches the face, a sign that the shoulders are turning inward. The hands should end on either side of the face in the same plane or slightly behind the elbows, if the user has sufficient shoulder flexibility, before returning to the starting position.
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