Winter is here and that means it is optimal to be in bear mode. I haven’t done much trap and neck work in the past but now I am taking it very seriously. I started doing rack pulls again. I haven’t done rack pulls in a while because I would get a sharp pain in my trap when I would do it, but I started using a hex bar and there is no pain even pulling 560 above the knee. Iv’e also done a lot of neck work. I would do a 6x25 neck curl almost every workout, raising the weight when needed. How are you getting yoked this winter?
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Shoveling snow.
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That sounds about right
I’m in the same boat, winter is the time to get swole for me, I’ve switched from my usual workouts focused on hypertrophy and am really liking 5x5 workouts, I’m not just getting stronger, I’m still gaining a bit of mass too. Not as much pump but who cares, that only lasts so long anyways, I’m wondering if hypertrophic workouts give ppl a bit of a placebo effect, like maybe it’s mostly sacroplasmic, I’ve only done a bit of reading on the subject (myofib/sacro).
Let’s make some gains bro!
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Yeah, No.
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I think they can give people a placebo if it isn’t done right. But when hypertrophy training is done right it will build mass just like any other training.
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All shitty lifting has a Powerful placebo effect. From skinny arm pumpers to plate clanging ego lifters. The most clownish dudes in the gym are always super pleased with themselves.
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Lifting weights and eating. Prowler too.
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Ok, I’ll take your word for it, lol.
I’ve made decent gains with hypertrophy training, I’m much bigger than I used to be (yes, in a good way, not just fatter, lol) but it just feels different lifting heavy, muscle is harder.
Even endurance training? 
Don’t mind my smartassery.
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There are much better exercises to use to build the yoke than above the knee rack pulls. Yes you can use a ton of weight, but the ROM is so small. You’d be better off doing something like deficit stiff leggs or high pulls or something. High pulls will build the traps quicker and better than anything else.
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The use for rack pulls above the knee is to stretch the upper back and traps. The range of motion doesn’t matter in this exercise because it is all about the weighted stretch.
Just a friendly heads up but Yeah your probably not going to get allot of love on this site from experienced guys quoting him.
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Remember when it was a race to invoke Ronnie Coleman or Kaz or Arnold in a discussion? I miss those days.
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Slush is where the gains are found. And perhaps elbow tendonitis.
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When I was a young brah I saw Kaz dominate the Silver Dollar Deadlift(replayed on TV, years after the fact). It made me want to do partial deads and have big traps.
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The purpose of Rack pulls is to stretch the back?
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The traps go into the upper back. If you have ever done rack pulls you would have felt the soreness in you upper back as well as the traps
I know the anatomy of the traps and I have done Rack pulls. And yes I was sore. And no that doesn’t mean their purpose is to stretch the back.
The reason I do rack pulls above the knee is so I can achieve the weighted stretch in the upper back and traps. Others have different uses for them, the trap builder is what I want to get from this exercise. I should have said that I am doing rack pulls for the stretch.
Look, I’m not trying to come off as a jerk—you can do whatever you want with them, even cardio, but you shouldn’t be claiming that is their function.
And since we’re all anatomy brofessors here I’ll also tell you this. You cannot stretch your upper back with that type of movement. Not even the traps. Stretching the middle traps, for instance, would require your scapulae to be protracted and your arms to be in front of you. Does the rack pull out you in such a position? At lost you’re kinda elongating your levator scapulae and maybe your upper traps a bit. But that’s it.
And you probably shouldn’t be using an exercise where you can load a shit ton of weight for your loaded stretches even if that was the case.
Again I don’t want to sound like a jerk, do your thing if it’s “working” for you. Just don’t make misinformed claims.