I just have a question about programming the Rack Pull from Mid-Shin as the primary “Pull” movement instead of the competition deadlift. In this scenario, I would be programming a Snatch-Grip Rack Pull from Mid-Shin as the secondary pull for the week.
The reasons why I decided to do this are as follows: 1. I do not plan on competing in powerlifting;
2. My main goal for the pull is hypertrophy of the Upper back;
3. I have a tendency to injury myself via lower back tweaks mid to late in a strength program involving competition deadlifts;
I want to know if this kind of switch is something people do. Should i change the set/Rep schemes? I wont be changing anything else in the program except this (consider the Bridge 1.0 or 2.0 for this scenario). I realize that most of you would scoff at dropping the competition deadlift, but for the intention of avoiding this debate, please consider that lift unavailable altogether.
Any input on this subject is appreciated. Thank you,
This isn’t the SS forums, we wouldn’t scoff at anyone for wanting to modify their training to their own unique goals and needs.
You could do rack pulls, though I’m not sure it would fully satisfy condition #3, as mid shin rack pulls are not going to be any less fatiguing on the lower back when you consider the fact that while it’s a reduced ROM it also uses more weight (especially if you belt up like a main lift). However, have you ever considered pulling sumo? I think that would check all the boxes you have listed. It would also be easier to find variations to supplement the lift.
I see, since i havent actually done any Rack pulls yet, i thought the stress would be reduced, but now that i think about it you might be right. I thought it might be due to the movement itself and reducing the ROM would help. I do, however, want to give it a try for a month to see how my body reacts to it.
I remember Jordan saying he trained an ex-girlfriend’s father (who was also a doctor I think) who repeatedly tweaked his back doing deadlifts, so he eventually just had him do rack/block pulls instead.
Is that really true about the Traps And the sumo deadlift? I’m willing to give it a try for a month (after this Rack pull experiment) after watching a few instructional videos claiming it takes pressure off the lower back. Although, i always thought it was “glutes and hips” builder. Whereas the conventional deadlift - more of an “Upper back” builder.
Conventional and sumo work all the same muscle groups, but at different levels. Conventional deadlift hits a bit more lower back, rhomboids, and hamstrings. Sumo hits quads, glutes, and traps a bit more. Traps benefit from the more vertical angle. If you think about it, what are the traditional trap exercises? Shrugs and farmers walks, both are at a vertical back angle. Most people that get lower back pain in conventional can pull sumo pain free, me included. Check back in and let us know how the rack pull experiment goes!
Would you say adding weighted (but submaximal) hyperextensions would help or just add additional stress that’s unneeded? I was planning on doing around 50total reps of weighted hypers to see if it could “add” muscle to the lower back area… I don’t know if any of that is good or makes sense.
Well the Bridge does a good job of stressing the lower back 3 days per week, so I don’t think it’s necessary. I think that you’re going to get lower back gainzZz by simply running the program. You would also likely have to alter the stress in the program to accommodate them. I would try sumo long before I added in hyperextensions.
Hypers are pretty worthless IMO. Did them for years before deadlifting and there was little gained from them. After deadlifting consistently for 1 year I had more back strength and size gains then all those years of hypers. Besides, if you’re doing the Bridge the last thing you need to do is dillute your effort by adding hypers. IMHO of course.
In the interests of being ‘bullish’ on conventional dead’s, I’d re set at a non back tweaking load and work up from there.
If hypertrophy be the goal, I’d say you would be better served by high (er) volume of movements like rowing and its many variations and chins every other day.
But he says he’s looking for upper back gainzZz (point 2 in the original post.) I wouldn’t expect much hypertrophy from rack pulls or deadlifts in the region he’s concerned with.
I have been doing this, all pulls are from mid shin.
I get tweaks far less often, although if I push the intensity hard I still am at risk. My back is sensitive to tweaks, so is my dads so it probably somewhat genetic.
I train 4 days a week. for lower body i’ve been doing
day 1.squat
day 2. rack pull + leg press
day 3 squat
day 4 rack pull
1st rack pull is lighter. 4 sets of 5 to 7 reps @ rpe 6,7,7,7
2nd rack pull is heavier. 5 sets of 4-6 reps @ rpe 6,7,8,8,8
depending on the cycle, I combine 7s with 6s, 6s with 5s, and
5s with 4s. 4 weeks a cycle, then low stress week. So far it’s working
You really don’t think that doing rack pulls, deadlifts, and pendlay rows on main lift days… and 2 density blocks for upper back work on GPP days is not enough to hypertrophy the ever-living shit out of the upper back??? That’s 5 days a week of upper back work… a royal boat load of upper back volume. My upper back personally has blown up since I started BBM programming. You are seriously underestimating deadlifts and their variations as an upper back builder, especially within the context of the full program.