Pull This.

Is it just me or does it seem like the majority of barbell vertical pulls typically fall into two distinct ideals... Swear by them, or avoid them at all costs. And obviously, it’ll depend on the sport or goals. But across the board other than say, powerlifting, you'll have athletes/coaches that decide that they are a staple or just not worth doing.

I believe it all stems from the deadlift and the "risk to reward" concept. You know… That doing the movement has a higher chance of causing injury then the benefits you'll get out of doing it. And from what I've noticed, this concept is applied to barbell vertical pulls the most, e.i., deadlifts, bent-over rows, rack pulls, and even upright rows.

I’m thinking it's because they load the spine completely, whether that's directly or indirectly, and they're easy to overload too quickly if you're not abiding by progressive overload, on top of being difficult to coach correctly. And to be honest, these are all somewhat valid points. A bit flawed, but I understand.

Let’s get back on track, we can dive into all that in another article. Today we’re talking Rack Pulls. What they are, why you should do them, and how to do them.

So what exactly is a rack pull? Simply put, it's a deadlift, but starting from a raised position instead of the floor. You'll typically set it up inside a power rack using the pins, or by stacking blocks/mats under each plate, with the bar sitting somewhere around knee height. That height can move up or down depending on what you're chasing, but somewhere in that range is where most people start. It's that shortened range of motion that takes so much of the leg drive out of the equation and dumps the work onto your back.

As far as how to actually do them, treat the setup the same way you would a deadlift. Same stance, same hip hinge to get down to the bar, same brace before you pull. Grip is going to come down to preference and what you're training for that day… double overhand if you're working on grip strength, mixed or strapped if you just want to get after the back work without your hands giving out first. Once you're set, drive down through the floor, get the slack out of the bar, and finish by driving your hips through until you're standing tall. And don't just care about the pull up… control the bar back down to the pins just as much as you controlled it up. That eccentric portion is doing just as much work for you as the concentric.

I'm going to tell you right now, I'm on the side of barbell vertical pulls being a staple in almost every strength training program. They're in my opinion not only one of the best bang for your buck type of movements, they build real strength and size throughout the body.

They are a good go-to as a vertical pull for your back, being that it does not demand as much from the legs as the deadlift and keeps most of the load on your back. And with that, you can really overload just your back, particularly your upper/mid to increase size and strength. Then you have the range of motion coming from either right under or right above your knees… With this lower range of motion of the rack pull, compared to the deadlift, your grip doesn't become a limiting factor for longer, giving you the ability to, again, overload it, along with increasing volume if desired.

You don’t have to replace the deadlift, but you also don’t have to do it. The standard deadlift is a great exercise, but if you’re wanting to do rack pulls, just ensure you have exercises like the squat and RDL in your program to compliment it.