rack pull

The Rack Pull is an extremely powerful exercise for strengthening the posterior chain, it can significantly enhance your deadlift performance and contribute to your overall strength and power both in the gym and in your everyday life.

Here we will delve into the muscles worked, how to perform the Rack Pull, benefits, common mistakes to avoid, reps and sets, how to progress this exercise, how and where to fit it into your workout plan and finally other exercises targeting the same muscle groups.

Muscles Worked When Performing a Rack Pull

Glutes: This collectively includes the gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus. Your glute muscles are what keep you upright, they also play a key role in extending the hip joint as well as hip rotation. Their engagement and strength is necessary for all deadlift variations.

Hamstrings: The muscles located at the back of the thigh, the hamstrings, are heavily involved during this exercise as they help in extending the hips and bending the knees.

Erector Spinae: The erector spinae muscles, which run along the spine, play a crucial role in stabilising the back maintaining good posture during rack pulls. They are also responsible for spinal extension.

Lats (a.k.a. latissimus dorsi): The lats are large muscles of the upper mid back. While rack pulls primarily target other parts of the back, the lats are still engaged to help stabilise the upper back and shoulders.

Traps and upper back: The trapezius muscles, located in the upper back and neck region, are used for scapular retraction and stabilisation during the lift, involving both the upper and middle parts of the traps.

Forearm and hand muscles: Grip strength is essential during rack pulls. Muscles in the forearms, wrists, and hands are engaged to hold and control the barbell throughout the movement.

Posterior Deltoids: While not as prominently engaged as in other back exercises, the back shoulder muscles do still contribute to the rack pull movement.

Core Muscles: Like many exercises, your core muscles play a vital supporting role.

You can use the muscle highlighted image at the top of this page for a visual guide of the muscles worked.

How to Perform a Rack Pull

Follow these steps for proper execution of the Rack Pull:

1. Set Up: Set up the rack to position the barbell just below knee height and start with an unloaded barbell. Ensure that the rack is stable and secure.

2. Prepare: Approach the barbell and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, as you would when preparing for a deadlift.

3. Grip: Bend at your hips and knees to lower yourself, reaching down to grip the bar with both hands. Your grip can be overhand, mixed (one hand overhand, one hand underhand), or any variation that you find comfortable.

4. Pull: With a strong and stable back, begin to lift the barbell off the rack. Keep the barbell close to your body and maintain a neutral spine throughout the movement.

5. Lock Out: Lift the bar until you stand fully upright, ensuring that you lock out at the top.

6. Engage: Pause for a moment at the top of the lift to emphasise the muscle engagement.

7. Rack the Bar: Lower the barbell back down to the rack through the same smooth and controlled movement.

8. Remember: This is essentially a deadlift performed with the bar at a higher starting position so you should pull the bar up from the rack with every single rep.

9. Go for reps

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Benefits of Rack Pulls

Rack Pulls are a powerful way to develop your deadlifting power, and the deadlift is the king of all exercise, so pay attention to the benefits of this exercise:

Posterior Chain Development: This exercise significantly builds the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings, contributing to improved strength in the posterior chain.

Enhanced Deadlift Performance: This can’t be said enough; by targeting similar muscle groups as the deadlift, the Rack Pull serves as a valuable accessory exercise to improve deadlifts.

Strength and Stability: Rack Pulls help build overall strength and stability in the core and lower body, which supports everyday functional strength.

Power: With a loaded barbell in the rack you can move a significant amount of weight through this very simple, yet powerful exercise.

Multiple Muscle Groups: Like deadlifts, the Rack Pull targets multiple muscle groups, more than most other exercises.

Rack Pull: Common Mistakes to Avoid

To maximise the benefits of the Rack Pull and reduce the risk of injury, be mindful of these common mistakes:

Form: Just like the deadlift, maintaining proper form is crucial when performing the Rack Pull. Avoid rounding your back or over-arching your lower back, as this can lead to injury.

Weight: You can move a lot of weight with the Rack Pull, you should leverage this opportunity to build your overall strength and power. But be mindful, too much weight could lead to injury, but not enough weight will limit your potential.

Failing to Progress: Don’t get comfortable, if you’re pulling a lot on your rack pull, make sure you are able to transfer this power to a full deadlift. The range of motion is not the same on both lifts, so be mindful that you’re not limiting yourself.

Reps and Sets

The number of repetitions and sets for the Rack Pull depend on where you are currently with this exercise.

Beginners: Start with simply mastering the move. Keep in mind that if you’re just starting out, 3 reps is a valid set.

To determine how many reps/sets of the Rack Pull you should start with, you first need to figure out how many reps you can comfortably perform. Then add 2, and perform that number of reps for 3 sets.

For example; let’s say you can perform 4 reps comfortably. Add 2 to make 6 reps. Perform those 6 reps 3 times over, allowing yourself sufficient rest inbetween.

Experienced lifters: You know your body and its abilities better than anyone, use your own judgment.

We recommend that you avoid performing more than 12 reps per set. If you’re comfortably performing 12 reps for up to 6 sets, it’s time to make the exercise more challenging.

How to Make the Rack Pull More Challenging

As with most exercises, you can make this exercise more challenging by increasing the weight you are working with. You should consistently be adjusting yourself to make sure you;re pulling from a good place. You can switch between conventional and sumo stance, and notice how your foot position hits differently. Keep adding weight to this exercise incrementally.

How to Incorporate the Rack Pull into Your Workouts

This is a powerful barbell exercise and should be prioritised towards the beginning of your back workout. If your back workout includes a deadlift, we suggest performing your Rack Pulls after the deadlift and before any other exercise.

You can learn more about exercise order here.

Exercises that Work Similar Muscles to Rack Pulls

To complement the benefits of the Rack Pull and further engage the posterior chain, consider including exercises like Romanian Deadlifts, and Good Mornings in your workouts. These exercises collectively contribute to balanced strength and stability in the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.

Check out more back exercises at the bottom of the page, or our entire exercise database here.

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