There are two primary assistance exercises for the deadlift. When we say assistance exercises in in this context, we’re talking about pieces of the full deadlift that have been pulled out of the deadlift and exercised separately. The first is the rack pull which is the top 2/3 of the pull, and the second is the halting deadlift which is the bottom 2/3 of the pull. We’ll deal with the halting deadlift in another post. Today we’re going to talk about the rack pull.

The rack pull is an extremely important exercise because it allows you to train a significant part of the range of motion of the deadlift with a weight that is heavier than you can deadlift. For example, when Mark Rippetoe was competing a long time ago back, he did a 635 lb set of five rack pulls for a 633 lb single deadlift. So it allows you to overload. It’s an overload exercise.

There are some coaches substituting a rack pull into a novice lifter’s program in lieu of teaching them how to pull the bar off the floor correctly and let’s make no mistake that’s what they’re doing when they do that. They’re not satisfied with their lifter’s lumbar extension. So you make it easier to obtain by going into the the rack instead of learning how to teachthe lumbar extension off the floor. This is terribly critical that you develop this ability as a coach and if everytime you have some problems you default to a rack pull, you’re never going to get this done. You’re just bailing out of your job.

The rack pull is an advanced lifter´s exercise. It’s introduced in late intermediate lifters. It’s not used for novices at all. There’s no excuse for that. Unless you’ve got some specific pathology there’s no reason to use this exercise until it becomes necessary to continue to advance a heavy competitive deadlift.

Having clarified all the above, I’m going to show you exactly what we do to set up the rack pull. When you are set up in the rack to do a rack pull, notice that the bar is just below your knee. It’s below the tibial plateau. It’s not halfway down your shin. It’s higher than that, but it’s not at the knee level. It is below the patella, below the tibial plateau (that little bump underneath the patella on your shin). That’s the right height to pull from. There’s not that much human variation. You’ll be within 2 inches of this position right here whether you’re short or tall. So this is the thing you’re going to look for. It’s right below the knee.

The stance will be the same you use for the deadlift. So it’s probably narrower than you’ve been using because a narrow stance is more efficient on the deadlift. And for the rack pull you’re going to use a double overhand grip with straps. Go ahead and take your grip on the on the bar. Make sure that’s even.

Once you get your grip on the bar, you’re going to set the the low back in position. This is the hard part of any pull. Every pull challenges you to put your low back into extension. So go ahead and hit. If you see all the wrinkles coming into a lifter´s shirt, that’s how you tell he’s in extension. Now drag the bar up your shins. The focus is always on tight back. That’s the whole emphasis of this lift. It´s tight back. Down the bar. Let’s do it again. Each time you set the spine into extension everytime and hold it, pull and chest is up, so that all of the back is tight. Again. Big breath, reset the back and pull. That’s the procedure. It may take you some time to figure out how to do this with your back, but it’s critical that you learn. You should already know this because you’ve been deadlifting and the deadlif trequires this lumbar extension.

There’s not just a lot of technique to think about in a rack pull. The movement pattern is short. The kinetic chain is the whole body. You have to retain your grip on the bar. So we’re going to use straps at work set weights for rack pulls. But as far as the pull itself is concerned, the primary emphasis is the lumbar extension which you should already have known since you’re already deadlifting. The lumbar extension is a critical part of every pull from the floor whether it’s a deadlift, a clean, a snatch, a rack pull or a halting deadlift. Lumbar extension is the key to any pull from the floor. So you should already know this but if this is news to you, then you need to pay very close attention to your lumbar extension when you rack pull so that you get caught up with your lumbar extensor strength.

One other thing to think about in a rack pull is that you stay out over the bar as long as you can. In other words, you maintain a more horizontal back angle for as long as you can. Eventually you’re going to have to stand up but if you can maintain a horizontal back angle for a set of five with a weight you can only deadlift for a single, then this is a significant improvement in your back strength and will contribute to higher single effort deadlifts.

So just like any other pull that we do off the floor out of the rack, the thing actually starts with a knee extension. That’s what starts the bar up. Even a rack pull starts with the knee extension. Then you stay out over the bar and you fixate your entire consciousness on your low back to keep it flat during the movement pattern.

Bibliographic references:

• Starting Strength. (2025). The Rack Pull: Why, When, and How [Video file]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/PMqH4cOoN_A?si=BMB6tmYsPYMjB_Sl
• Rippetoe M. (2011). Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd Edition. The Aasgaard Company.