Ring Face Pull
The ring face pull is a bodyweight upper-back exercise: leaning back from a pair of gymnastic rings, you pull them towards your face with your elbows high and out to the sides. It works the rear shoulders, the mid-back and the small muscles that rotate the upper arm, and your body angle sets how hard it is.
Also called: Gymnastic Ring Face Pull, Rings Face Pull, Ring Face Pulls · Equipment: suspension · Pattern: pull
Step by step
- Hang the rings at about chest height, level with each other. Face the anchor and hold a ring in each hand with your palms facing down.
- Walk your feet forward and lean back with straight arms until the straps are taut. Your body is one straight line from head to heels.
- Brace your trunk and squeeze your glutes so your hips stay in line.
- Pull the rings towards your face, leading with your elbows. Keep your elbows at shoulder height and let them travel out and back.
- Finish with your hands beside your temples and your shoulder blades squeezed together. Hold for a moment.
- Straighten your arms under control until they are fully extended, keeping the rings steady.
- Repeat for the set. Step towards the anchor to make it easier or away from it to make it harder, then step in and stand up after the last rep.
- Elbows high and wide
- Rings finish beside your temples
- Body in one line, head to heels
- Squeeze your shoulder blades at the top
- Keep the rings steady and level
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Posterior deltoid | Prime mover | C |
| Trapezius: middle | Prime mover | C |
| Rhomboids | Secondary | D |
| Trapezius: lower | Secondary | D |
| Rotator cuff: infraspinatus / teres minor | Secondary | C |
| Obliques (internal/external) | Stabiliser | C |
| Rectus abdominis | Stabiliser | D |
| Gluteus maximus | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Elbows dropping to the ribs
Fix: Keep your elbows at shoulder height and pull them out to the sides.
Hips sagging
Fix: Squeeze your glutes and hold one line from head to heels.
Head poking forward
Fix: Keep your chin tucked and bring the rings to your face, not your face to them.
Rings drifting apart or swinging
Fix: Slow the rep and pull both rings along the same line.
Shrugging at the top
Fix: Draw your shoulders down and back before each pull.
Angle too steep for the set
Fix: Step towards the anchor until every rep reaches your temples.
What the research says
Rehab & prehab · first choiceGeneral fitness · first choiceEndurance · first choiceMuscle growthSport performance
- Load and angle — Research finds muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are hard, and lighter, higher-rep work favours muscular endurance. On rings the load is set by body angle, and face pulls are usually run for higher reps.
- Effort — Studies show sets that finish a few reps short of failure capture most of the size benefit, and true failure adds only a small extra return.
- Volume — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns.
- Muscle activity — A study of suspension rows found more trunk muscle activity than the same row on a fixed bar, and one analysis found straps changed pulling-muscle activity only a little. There is no research on the ring face pull itself.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the ring face pull in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.