I did some rack pull deadlifts today for the first time(set around knee level, maybe an inch or two lower), and i really felt it more in my upper back. I think this was due to not really being able to get under the bar as much. is this normal? also, i read how alot of ppl can pull alot more off the rack then off the floor, but i really didnt notice much of a difference in my numbers. any others have the same deal happening?
From most things ive read, its considered more of an upper back exercise, great for adding thickness, if your numbers arent higher, it probably means that your upper back could be the weak link in your deadlift compared to your hams, do you usually stall out at the top of the lift when going all out ?
i think my upper back is actually my strongest attribute. I wouldnt say i stall at the top portion, but more like in the middle of it right after i get it off the floor. any ideas
[quote]Bootsie wrote:
i think my upper back is actually my strongest attribute. I wouldnt say i stall at the top portion, but more like in the middle of it right after i get it off the floor. any ideas[/quote]
Set the rack to where you stall at.
I can’t say I get much from rack pulls. Last time i did them I felt in an awkward position with a lot of weight. A big part of pulling is the momentum you generate exploding off the floor.
I have the same problem with rack pulls. I wasn’t able to move 30lbs more than my max deadlift with rack pulls.
I think it all depends on where your weak point is.
I do rack pulls religiously as one of my back width exercises. (Been training DC–and wil continue to do so–for a while now.) They are perhaps my favorite exercise of everything I do in the gym.
I’m the opposite of the past few posters: can barely get the bar off the ground on heavy deads, but it moves smoothly after that. I can pull about a hundred pounds more from my knees than from the floor.
You can turn it into more of an upper back move by concentrating on squeezing your scapulae together at the top. Picture your rear delts hitting each other behind your neck. You’ll wake up the next day with new kinds of soreness.
[quote]harris447 wrote:
I do rack pulls religiously as one of my back width exercises. (Been training DC–and wil continue to do so–for a while now.) They are perhaps my favorite exercise of everything I do in the gym.
I’m the opposite of the past few posters: can barely get the bar off the ground on heavy deads, but it moves smoothly after that. I can pull about a hundred pounds more from my knees than from the floor.
You can turn it into more of an upper back move by concentrating on squeezing your scapulae together at the top. Picture your rear delts hitting each other behind your neck. You’ll wake up the next day with new kinds of soreness.
[/quote]
Bump Harry.
[quote]harris447 wrote:
I do rack pulls religiously as one of my back width exercises. (Been training DC–and wil continue to do so–for a while now.) They are perhaps my favorite exercise of everything I do in the gym.
I’m the opposite of the past few posters: can barely get the bar off the ground on heavy deads, but it moves smoothly after that. I can pull about a hundred pounds more from my knees than from the floor.
You can turn it into more of an upper back move by concentrating on squeezing your scapulae together at the top. Picture your rear delts hitting each other behind your neck. You’ll wake up the next day with new kinds of soreness.
[/quote]
When u initially pull it off the rack, dont u use ur upper back right there in the initial pull? that was where i felt it the most, as i couldnt bend down low enough to let my legs and lower back take some of the brunt.
[quote]DominicanDL wrote:
I can’t say I get much from rack pulls. Last time i did them I felt in an awkward position with a lot of weight. A big part of pulling is the momentum you generate exploding off the floor. [/quote]
I agree, I think I strained my levator last time I did rack pulls by trying to use too much back to get the lift started.
I can definitely get more weight with a rack pull, but it doens’t have great carryover to a pull from the floor.
Lifting for size and doing reps I think it’d be a lot more effective than a ME movement.
Your having form problems lower the load and do the exercise right it will be nearly all glute and hamstring then.
Get that bar on your legs, arch your back hard have the head high just as if you had pulled it the from the floor.
Have pressure on the bar dont JERK. then GO dont pull UP so much as squeeze the glutes and drive your ass and hips toward the bar. thei will activate the glutes and hams have your body straighten and well lift the load.
Main things, having that bar on your legs, tension before the initail pull, back arched hard ass back. everything tight, then drive the hips activate those butt cheeks and you got it.
Many times people will go to heavy to start and then they stroing back the lift. learn to get those glute to activeate and slowly raise the load.
[quote]Bootsie wrote:
harris447 wrote:
I do rack pulls religiously as one of my back width exercises. (Been training DC–and wil continue to do so–for a while now.) They are perhaps my favorite exercise of everything I do in the gym.
I’m the opposite of the past few posters: can barely get the bar off the ground on heavy deads, but it moves smoothly after that. I can pull about a hundred pounds more from my knees than from the floor.
You can turn it into more of an upper back move by concentrating on squeezing your scapulae together at the top. Picture your rear delts hitting each other behind your neck. You’ll wake up the next day with new kinds of soreness.
When u initially pull it off the rack, dont u use ur upper back right there in the initial pull? that was where i felt it the most, as i couldnt bend down low enough to let my legs and lower back take some of the brunt. [/quote]
Your legs shouldn’t be doing anything, really. Just set them around shoulder width and kep a small bend in your knee.
As for upper/lower back…I never see/feel this exercise in such
isolationist" terms.
I always (and this exercise WILL injure you if you fuck around while doing it) picture my back as the supports of a crane. My lower and upper back are straight and they move as one, almost as if my spine had been fused with Adamantium rods and could not flex at all.
When you initialy set up, the bar should be touching your legs and your head shold be IN FRONT of the bar. Don’t use your legs to drive, just straighten up your body like there was a rope attached to the top of your head.
Hope this helped.
[quote]Phill wrote:
Your having form problems lower the load and do the exercise right it will be nearly all glute and hamstring then.
Get that bar on your legs, arch your back hard have the head high just as if you had pulled it the from the floor.
Have pressure on the bar dont JERK. then GO dont pull UP so much as squeeze the glutes and drive your ass and hips toward the bar. thei will activate the glutes and hams have your body straighten and well lift the load.
Main things, having that bar on your legs, tension before the initail pull, back arched hard ass back. everything tight, then drive the hips activate those butt cheeks and you got it.
Many times people will go to heavy to start and then they stroing back the lift. learn to get those glute to activeate and slowly raise the load.
[/quote]
listen to this guy. he knows what he is talking about. Especially the part about not jerking the bar. You will feel a lot of stress in your upper back if you are starting the movement with your arms bent. Also, don’t make it a stiff legged dead like most do. As you pull, push your hips forward and flex the ass. I pull in the mid 700’s off the floor and close to 900 of a pin right below my knee. This is a great exercise to develop grip strength and finishing your pull. It will also make your deads off the floor not feel so heavy becuase you should be able to pull way above your floor pull off the pins.
meat
Not to highjack the thread, but I have been having lower back problems lately when I deadlift or rack pull. I am trying DC training after doing a Westside type of program. I think the problem arose a couple of weeks ago from doing too many weighted hyperextensions. Then when I deadlifted last week I think I exacerbated the problem. I have fairly long arms and legs for height, and I think I have been stiff legging the weight up too much. Any techniques you guys know of to get my form back on track? I love going heavy and I don’t want to abandon deadlifting altogether.
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
It will also make your deads off the floor not feel so heavy becuase you should be able to pull way above your floor pull off the pins.
[/quote]
Definitely agree with this. There is also some crossover in “feel” with this.
Because my rack pulls are well beyond my max squat, being able to lock out that weight makes a max squat weight feel more comfortable on the shoulders.
And for deadlifts, pulling more than your max in the rack may not completely carry over, but it let’s you know that if you can get it up off the ground you can certainly hang onto it and probably lock it out.
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=586815
The above article might be of some help to you.
My weak point is mid shin, I can explode off the ground with the weight, but once I get 1/3 of the way up I just seem to stop.
Give the article a read, it helped me.
[quote]Dre Cappa wrote:
Not to highjack the thread, but I have been having lower back problems lately when I deadlift or rack pull. I am trying DC training after doing a Westside type of program. I think the problem arose a couple of weeks ago from doing too many weighted hyperextensions. Then when I deadlifted last week I think I exacerbated the problem. I have fairly long arms and legs for height, and I think I have been stiff legging the weight up too much. Any techniques you guys know of to get my form back on track? I love going heavy and I don’t want to abandon deadlifting altogether.[/quote]
if you could video tape yourself and post it that would help greatly. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack giving you tips not seeing you actually pull.
meat
I don’t currently have a way to videotape myself, but as soon as I do I will post a link of it so you guys can give me some feedback.
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
Dre Cappa wrote:
Not to highjack the thread, but I have been having lower back problems lately when I deadlift or rack pull. I am trying DC training after doing a Westside type of program. I think the problem arose a couple of weeks ago from doing too many weighted hyperextensions. Then when I deadlifted last week I think I exacerbated the problem. I have fairly long arms and legs for height, and I think I have been stiff legging the weight up too much. Any techniques you guys know of to get my form back on track? I love going heavy and I don’t want to abandon deadlifting altogether.
if you could video tape yourself and post it that would help greatly. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack giving you tips not seeing you actually pull.
meat[/quote]