RC PROBLEM - Facepulls?

[kong22]

Hey I've had to take a break from benching heavy because my left shoulder feels like it's about to blow. For the meantime I've switched to dumbbell work which feels a bit better.

Anyway I wanted some advice on what you think is the best all around RC exercise for rehabbing my shoulder. I know Diesel has a lot of good stuff on this but I'm not going to mess around with a giant 5 day choulder circuit.

So I was thinking of working Facepulls in to my program but I don't know a lot about the physiology involved. I see Diesel doing them here from a high cable position:

I was wondering if it would affect what the exercise is meant to do by pulling from a low cable position? I want the added benefit of training my side delts.

Anyone here knowledgeable on shoulder mechanics?

Cheers

[Big john]

i do a dynamic shoulder routine everytime i do bench...very simple and quick to do. have found it to help alot with my scap retraction and RC flexibility

scap mobility

foam rollering 5 mins

disslocations dif angles 5 mins

scap press 5x10

drop press (paused then press off the bar retracting the scaps hard)

3x10

shoulder savers

just my 5c

[kong22]

Cheers BJ. Yeah I've just started warming up really thoroughly with the scap pushups and dislocations before I start pressing. It is stopping my shoulder from hurting in the mean time and improving my flexibility. Now I'm just looking for something that really strengthens my RC.

Appreciate your input.

[drizzt]

I was wondering if it would affect what the exercise is meant to do by pulling from a low cable position? I want the added benefit of training my side delts.

I think if you're going to do facepulls, you shouldn't worry about side delt involvement. In fact, I'd go as far as saying it would be detrimental to the goal of hitting the rear delts (that is the main goal, isn't it?) if you are thinking of the sides as a benefit of the exercise.

I facepull as an assistance exercise once or twice a week, and have done so for a while now. I don't pretend to be an expert on the movement, but I find pulling down from a high cable really hits my rear delts well (which is my goal for the exercise). I've taken to sitting on the floor recently while doing them (seriously) and I'm finding it targets them better than when I stand up for them. When standing with the cable at it's highest point, it is almost a straight-line movement for me, and I feel some bi, and some lat involvement - to the point where I don't really feel any rear delt involvement. This could be due to me finding it hard to keep these muscles groups from taking over. The high cable seems to cut right to the rear delts (for me and my odd-limbs, anyway).

This effect may depend on your height etc though...

I also found, in the few months of scap mobility stuff that I did do last year, my bench strength suffered. I'm not sure why - maybe it was the amount I was doing, maybe the weight was too much (was using 2.5kg plates), maybe it was a combo of other stuff I was doing at the time... but quitting the scap stuff correlated with my bench starting to increase again. And the shoulders felt exactly the same.

I'm not at all saying these drills are worthless (because they aren't), just maybe introduce things one step at a time, see what makes a difference. Cull what doesn't. Or, if the purpose is preventative (as it is in a lot of cases), maybe a couple of movements in a 5-10minute block will suffice... but I'm starting to speak from a broscience standpoint.

That being said, I want to get back onto some of the scap stuff as a preventative thing at some point, will take it slow, maybe rotate the drills from week to week. I just do band dislocations in between squat warmups at the moment, which is a bit lazy :shifty:

My 2c.

[kong22]

Cheers Drizzt. Yeah as you bring your arms up it takes the lats out of the movement and it becomes all rear delt. Same with bench and front delts. In the video you see he brings his hands quite high and externally rotates his arms. That's the part of the movement training the RC I think.

I'm going to give it a go from a low cable for anyway and see what benefits I get from it. I'll keep in mind what you said about a lot of stretching possibly being detrimental too.

[drizzt]

Cheers Drizzt. Yeah as you bring your arms up it takes the lats out of the movement and it becomes all rear delt. Same with bench and front delts. In the video you see he brings his hands quite high and externally rotates his arms. That's the part of the movement training the RC I think.

True, yeah I actually wrote the above without watching the video sorry (YT banned at work :shifty:), so my bad if he already covered it But yeah, I initially introduced them as part of my scap mobility/RC insurance stuff, and they survived the cut along with some half-arsed dislocations, and the odd set of rear delt raises.