rack pulls?
 

did them for the 1st time yesterday.

loved them, nice ego lift for me. nice lifting 100+ lbs more than my deadlift

how effective are they for the unequipped lifter?

how should i cycle them into my training?

where should i put the pins, when starting? (had them above my knee)

any other usefull info on them?

I was always told not to go too far over your max deads with them. Why? Not sure. Maybe someone has an opinion on this.

How was your grip?

Not as effective as in the suit but can be useful for sticking points, learning to get your hips through, and overload training.

Depends on where your sticking point is and what other weaknesses need to be worked on. But in general you couldnt go wrong with cycling them in three week waves, with pulls from the floor, and band pulls or deficits.

Just below your sticking point. If you dont know where that is I would do them about 3 inches below the bottom of you knee.

Don't use a deadlift bar to do rack pulls unless you own it. It will warp the bar.

:ditto:

Also, you can factor in the standard 17" or 19" height for the rack pulls, seem to be good levels for rack work.

Be sure to dig those heels down too man, no lifting with the toes or flat footed... get those heels down!:rockon:

Rack pulls is a great exercise. I would rotate my mex effort movement with rack pulls and suspended good mornings every week. I also lifted raw and this worked very well for me.

For instance for RP if my max was 400 off the floor:
week 1: 135x8, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x3, 365x3
week 3: 135x8, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 395x2
week 5: 135x8, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 395x2, 405 x 2, 450 x 2
week 6: 135x8, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3, 395x2, 425 x 1, 450x 1, 475 x1

This is just kind of a set up I use to use. But then again, I was being trained by a professional PL, Jim Hoskinson.

i went pretty far over my max dead... maybe this was stupid...????

i set the pins high, at the top of my knee cap, just to see how much weight i could hold/lockout

i got to 495 and thenmy grip/body was done. i dont get how i was having grip issues, and now from not doing shit, its no longer a problem....

currently i dont really have one specific sticking point. it almost seems to change every week. ive pretty much been able to add 10 lbs weekly, or every two weeks


thanks man
i may try this once i hit a 405 DL and lower the pins.



***___________***

i guess for now i'll do deads one week and rack pulls the next.


right now im starting from very high, slightlyy above knee. i will keep this up for a few weeks and then lower it to slightly below.

Good idea. That's how I've used them in the past. Unfortunately though my gym has replaced the power cage with a more modern squat rack. It is impossible to adjust the safety bars much below mid thigh level. I think it is ok to vary the height from session to session, but just for the record, I preferred about 1" below the knees.

I think they are good, but I also think you don't want to go way over your DL # due to possibly snatching with your back off of the rack. You are less likely to put this same type of strain (the snatch) in the middle of a full dead lift. If you snatch on a deadlift, your legs will absorb some and your back won't feel the full brunt of it.

Get yo' minds out of the gutter....not that kind of snatch. ;)

Once a month or once every other month since they are very stressful on the C.N.S. For practical use they should be worked out usually to a heavy single.Get some measuring tape and set the pins to about 18inches for fair game.

If you want to do rack pulls more frequently than just once a month, I suggest altering the heights each time to lower around 12-15in' and if less frequent from 18' as high as 20-22 inches for variety.

More importantly, why the hell are you awake at 2AM when you have a meet in the morning???????