Over the course of the next several weeks and/or months we will be taking an in depth look at how all of us can better utilize one of the most important pieces of equipment for the strength athlete – the power rack. The series will be at least four parts, each part dedicated to assistance exercises for the Deadlift, Squat, Bench Press, and Press. Most of the exercises that will be discussed in this piece are referenced in Rippetoe’s Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, so we will not overly focus on how to perform each lift. If you are unfamiliar with how to do these exercises then make the investment in SS: BBT. Instead we will examine how and when to program these very important exercises for optimal results and most importantly carryover to their parent exercises.
Part I will start with probably the most common exercise performed in the power rack: the Rack Pull. Rack Pulls are essentially partial ROM deadlifts pulled from some point just below the knee (or on the top half of the shin), right at the knee, or just above the knee.
There is not necessarily one position in which the lifter should always do his rack pulls. In fact an argument could be made that variation in the height of the pull is a good thing to strengthen all areas of the back.
Middle to Top of Shin
This is the longest ROM pin position which will generally have the plates only a few inches off the ground. This is just enough height to eliminate the quads from the “breaking” of the bar from its dead stop position. From this height, the lifter can feel a stretch in the hamstrings while setting up. The more he feels this stretch in the set up, the more they will be involved in the pull on the way up. This height rack pull involves the most amount of muscle mass.
At Knee or Just Below Knee
Many lifters will find that this is a very difficult height to pull from. From this position the ROM has been shortened enough so that there is significantly less hamstring involvement. This means that the lifter is using a whole lot of glute and low back to break the weight from the pins. I personally find that my weakest Rack Pull position is directly even with my knee cap. I can just find no tightness whatsoever in the set up. Arguably this is a good thing from a training standpoint.
Above Knee
This is probably the most abused Rack Pull position in the gym. The very short range of motion allows for very very heavy weights to be pulled, but the incredibly short range of motion may or may not have a lot of carryover to a full deadlift.
What is the right height for you?
As with many things, the answer is “it depends.” The subjective difficulty of the Rack Pull is greatly influenced by a lifter’s height and his build. I would encourage all lifters interested in the lift to experiment with various heights and find their weak and strong points throughout the range of motion. Typically lifters will do better to focus their training on the areas in the lift where they feel the weakest. Again, for me, that position is directly at the knee cap. I can actually Rack Pull more weight if I move the bar down a few inches and get more hamstring involvement. This tells me I probably have some weakness in my erectors that is ultimately holding back my regular deadlifts. For you it may be different.
Sets & Reps
Like Deadlifts, Rack Pulls can be useful along the repetition continuum from heavy singles to sets of 10. Whatever the rep range used, 1-2 sets is probably plenty of work for a lifter strong enough to even be bothering with the exercise. That is one main workset with perhaps one back off set for extra volume.
If you want to pull heavy singles on the Rack Pull I recommend using one of the lower pin positions (from below knee to midshin). Use the singles to strengthen as much of the ROM as possible without the use of the quads.
When pulling at knee height or above knee height I prefer to use sets of 4-12. If you are particularly strong above the knee it may be tempting to really pile on the plates and impress the whole gym with how much you can rack pull 4 inches. On occasion it may not be a bad idea to let your CNS feel what this much weight feels like, but it is just unlikely that very short range of motion lifts will carry over to the full range of motion deadlift. And again, we are using Rack Pulls to strengthen the deadlift, not just for the sake of Rack Pulling. Short ROM Rack Pulls are better thought of as a way to strengthen the erectors rather than test your absolute strength. This means using rep work to build muscle mass. An excellent way to do this is to work up to around a 4-6 rep max on the first main work set and then perform a back off set with around 8-12 reps. After doing so your back should be experiencing a massive pump from the base of your spinal erectors to the top of your traps.
When/Why do Rack Pulls?
Rack Pulls are most often a replacement exercise for the deadlift. As lifters get into the mid-400 range for rep work it often becomes very difficult to deadlift week in and week out and make progress. Rack Pulls are an excellent alternative to alternate back and forth with regular deadlifts. They still allow you to use very heavy weights but the fluctuation in load and range of motion can keep the lifter from getting stuck in his deadlift training. Rack Pulls can also be done as back off work after regular deadlifts. For instance, the lifter might work up to a heavy single or double with his regular deadlift and then go to the rack and pull a heavy set of 4-6 for extra stress on his erectors. This is the appropriate way to use deadlifts and Rack Pulls in the same training week. Deadlifts on one day of the week and Rack Pulls on another would completely burn out most lifters, and progress on both lifts would come to a halt very quickly.
Basic Programming
Rack Pulls work very well as part of a rotation of heavy pulling exercises, and they would be installed on whatever your heavy pulling day is each week. A good strategy to use when setting up a deadlifting rotation is to do one week where “bottom end” strength is emphasized and one week where “top end’ strength is emphasized.
This could be as little as two exercises. A popular set up is often used by Mark Rippetoe using just a simple weekly rotation of Rack Pulls and Halting Deadlifts. For even more variety, below is an example of a 6 exercise rotation using three different types of Rack Pulls:
Week 1: Deadlift
Week 2: Rack Pull (top of shin)
Week 3: Deficit Deadlift
Week 4: Rack Pull (knee height)
Week 5: Stiff Leg Deadlifts
Week 6: Rack Pull (above knee)
This routine is not a prescription, but just an example of how one might think about setting up their training incorporating the Rack Pull.
