The Post‑Workout Face Pull Action Checklist

Why You Need This Checklist

What if the one exercise you keep skipping at the end of your workout is the exact reason your shoulders keep nagging you, your posture never improves, and your hard training sessions never fully deliver? That question stopped a lot of people in their tracks when Jeff Cavaliere of ATHLEAN-X broke it down, and if you have ever walked out of the gym without doing this, you need to keep reading.

Here is the uncomfortable truth: most people finish a workout, maybe stretch a little, grab their water bottle, and head home feeling like they did everything right. But they left out the one exercise that protects the shoulder girdle, re-educates the muscles that get dominated by compensation patterns, and actually builds the rear delts and rotator cuff that every other pressing and pulling movement depends on. The face pull. And worse, the people who do include it are almost always doing it wrong, which means they are training the wrong muscles entirely and getting zero of the benefits they came for.

Imagine finishing every single workout knowing you have actively reinforced your shoulder health, corrected your posture, and given your rotator cuff, rhomboids, and rear delts exactly the targeted stimulus they need. Imagine your upper back looking fuller, your shoulders sitting back naturally, and your pressing strength climbing because your shoulder girdle is finally stable. That is not a fantasy. That is what happens when you do this one exercise correctly, consistently, and with the right programming strategy.

Jeff Cavaliere is a certified strength and conditioning specialist and former physical therapist for a Major League Baseball team. He has spent decades breaking down the biomechanics of exercises that most trainers get wrong, and the face pull is one of his most-watched teachings for a reason. His cues are specific, his explanations are grounded in anatomy, and his programming guidance is practical for real people with real schedules.

This checklist translates everything from that video into a clear, step-by-step action guide you can bring to the gym today. It covers equipment setup, the correct grip and elbow position, how to avoid the trap-dominance mistake, how to perform both the corrective neuromuscular version and the hypertrophy version, and exactly how to schedule sets across two-day, three-day, and five-day training splits. Stop leaving gains and shoulder health on the table. Follow the checklist, do the work, and make every workout count.

What's Inside — Preview

Every checklist item comes with actionable notes to guide you — things like "Don't forget to do this before you start," "Avoid this common mistake," or "Set a reminder for 30 days out." Nothing vague, just clear next steps.

BUY Acquire a long rope attachment (approximately 2 feet in length) for the cable machine

DO Set the cable pulley to face height before starting

DO Attach the long rope (or two standard ropes) to the cable and pull ropes to their full extension before gripping

DO Grip the rope with a thumbs-up (underhand) grip, NOT a palms-down or thumbs-down grip

DO Step back to arm's length from the cable stack before beginning any repetition

+ 18 more action items inside...

The Post‑Workout Face Pull Action Checklist

Why You Need This Checklist

What's Inside — Preview

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