In Part II of the series we examined the benefits of the Dead-stop Rack Bench Press for building explosive power at the bottom of the Bench Press. In Part III we will take a look at an extremely effective variant for the Standing Press.
Standing Rack Presses can be done from multiple locations within the range of motion of a standard press.
My favorite starting position is about 1-3 inches just above the shoulders. This will generally lie somewhere between the collar bone and the chin. At this point in the movement, the range of motion is still fairly long, but the leverage is quite poor. The lifter is starting the lift with very little tension built up in the front deltoids and upper chest. In the starting position of a standard press, when the bar is resting on the clavicle, the lifter has the benefit of having that tension in the upper chest and front delts, so that when he starts the lift he is getting a little bit of a boost from the bottom. It is not uncommon, therefore, to see a lifter fail a heavy press an inch or so off his shoulders. Ideally, in this variant of the Rack Press, the lifter would be initiating the lift from the lowest point in which he might fail. Or thought of another way, the point in which the upper chest and front deltoids release their tension. When done correctly, a Rack Press done from this height will start VERY slowly. It will be a slow grind off the pins, and for a brief moment it may feel like the weight isn’t going to budge at all. From here it will be a slow grind all the way to lockout as the lifter is never able to generate any momentum on the bar. Simply put, this variant is HARD. You should expect to be lifting significantly less poundage than you would be with a standard press – even though the ROM is shorter. You’ll quickly learn that the upper chest/front delt tension accounts for a lot. Just to give you a frame of reference, my 1RM Press is 285 lbs, and my 1RM Rack Press from just below my chin is 245 lbs.
The next Rack Press height should generally fall somewhere right in the middle of the ROM. For most this will be somewhere between upper lip and eyebrow. This will be at the point where upper chest and delts start to transfer a significant load onto the triceps. For this reason, this is another point where lifters commonly fail on heavy presses. It’s not a bad idea to get some video of yourself doing some heavy press attempts and try and figure out where exactly you tend to miss. It’s not always the same for everyone.
Lastly, Rack Lockouts are also an effective exercise. Lockouts for raw lifters tend to be more effective for Presses than for Bench Presses. The range of motion is longer (especially for a tall long armed lifter) and more stress is placed on the triceps during Presses than Bench Presses. It is much more common to see lifters failing to lock out Presses than it is Bench Presses. Starting around the forehead or hairline is a good estimate for most. Anything higher than that is generally not as productive.
A training tip for all three variants: Stay strict and minimize layback. When doing Rack Presses we are trying to work specific areas of weakness in the ROM. Make sure stress is directed to the appropriate areas and you aren’t just “sneaking” under the bar with excessive layback. That defeats the purpose of the exercise.
Programming
If your program has you doing two days of Pressing each week, then it is a good idea to continue to regular Presses for volume one day of the week, and Rack Press for singles across or 1RMs later in the week. Rack Presses are best trained for singles. If you do decide to do rep work with Rack Presses, just make sure to deweight each rep on the pins for 2-3 seconds for full effect. If your program has you only Pressing once per week, then you should Press for volume one week, and on alternate weeks do a high volume of Rack Presses for singles across. Anywhere from 5-10 singles across is appropriate. As for which variant to use, it tends to be an individual thing. Almost everyone will benefit from the first variation I listed – starting just 1-3 inches off the chest. The inclusion of mid-range Rack Presses and Rack Lockouts will be individual to each lifter – their use will only be included if you tend to miss reps at that level. And it is possible that this can change over time.
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