There will be a 70’s Big Workshop in Atlanta on March 5, 2011. This new and improved workshop features lectures on getting bigger, stronger, and more conditioned with a large emphasis on programming. Attendees will get handouts of program outlines and guidelines. There will be a lift around session to get form checks/tweaks, learn a new lift, or discuss coaching practice and theory. Then we’ll go to dinner and eat a bunch of animals (alive and dead) while drinking ale. Interested? CLICK HERE for the schedule and more information.

The rack pull is an excellent lift to help with the lockout portion of the deadlift. It is a heavy stress on the hamstrings and the low back, so it fits in with the general programming guidelines of deadlifting in that it shouldn’t be done more than once a week and at higher levels will need to be cycled with other types of pulling.

The low back muscles aim to maintain isometric contraction in order to keep the positioning of the lumbar spine and pelvis constant. The hamstrings rely on the lumbar muscles anchoring the pelvis so that the hamstrings can maintain tension to extend the hip. If the lumbar region rounds, then the pelvis posteriorily tilts and causes the hamstrings to shorten from the proximal attachment at the hips. If the hamstrings are shortened, then they can’t shorten effectively to extend the hip, and this is what they are trying to do at the lockout of a pull.

Back rounding will occur at higher intensities, but that doesn’t mean all training should habitually include this lumbar rounding. Rack pulls should aim to accumulate volume and higher intensities with decent lumbar positioning. It’s an exercise that shouldn’t be trained hardcore unless you’re experienced, especially with deadlifting (assume 12 to 18 months of consistent deadlifting, and a longer duration of accumulated training).

Rack pulls can be done with different heights from different people, so it isn’t easy to compare rack pulls to one another. Be sure to choose an appropriate position on the leg for your rack pulls. The rack pulls that will work the entire lockout the best put the bar right below the patella. This is primarily where I have people pull from, because I want them to work the entire range of motion of the lumbar/hamstring deadlift lock out. Doing them higher will neglect part of that range of motion but will allow much higher loads to be used, but again, I aim for appropriate work given the deadlift mechanics. This doesn’t mean that rack pulls that are pulled from mid-thigh are bad, it’s just that I would reserve them for specialized cases or lifters.

The only available video I have is this grainy piece of shit from Mike’s phone. It’s Chris rack pulling 610×5 — below his meet PR of 633. Having him pull 700+ from mid-thigh for fewer reps would not meet the volume goals we had in doing the set of five as well as not working through the full ROM of the deadlift lockout. Note that his starting position is below the knee cap and the use of straps (multi-rep rack pull sets should use straps so the grip isn’t the limiting factor and so the hands and forearms don’t get rocked). Also note his comically small t-shirt that fit him a few years ago (it has a picture of him and his girlfriend on it).



The rack pull is a great exercise that can help work the lockout ROM of the deadlift. Pulling from below the knee cap will arguably be the most effective method to help increase the deadlift when programmed effectively. Rack pulls work well to get some pulling volume on the hamstrings. I’ve made the observation that most people who low bar back squat don’t have trouble with the first part of a deadlift (or “getting it off the floor”). A combination of a) effective hamstring training during the low bar back squat and b) not being stupid with deadlift attempts (including for sets in training) will eliminate “off the floor” problems. Locking the hips out (via hip extension) when fatigued becomes the limiting factor, and the rack pull helps this. I’m more impressed with rack pull numbers that are pulled from below the knee because they require rigid discipline of the low back and hamstrings as opposed to pulling insanely higher loads from the mid and upper thigh.
Edit: Don’t rack pull with an alternated grip. Getting a biceps strain will be counter productive. Instead, use straps.

For those of you who don’t use Facebook, this 70’s Big Short was posted the other day. You’re welcome.