Are rack pulls just as effective at building a wide and powerful back as deads?
For me they are better. Pulls from the floor are primarily a hip glute and hamstring exercise for me, so pulling from an elevated posititon shifts the emphasis onto the back. Both are useful of course and you could train from the floor till you stall(as long as you aren’t slammming weights haha) and then put the bar in the rack and pull from mid shin-knee level.
Powerful yes, probably moreso, since the higher starting position deemphasizes the legs and focuses on the back, but they probably won’t widen your back. Thicken yes, widen, no.
[quote]Scott M wrote:
For me they are better. Pulls from the floor are primarily a hip glute and hamstring exercise for me, so pulling from an elevated posititon shifts the emphasis onto the back. Both are useful of course and you could train from the floor till you stall(as long as you aren’t slammming weights haha) and then put the bar in the rack and pull from mid shin-knee level. [/quote]
LOL i swear to god i feel like im famous on this board for that topic. Anyway thanks for the help
I don’t get how they widen your back? I’ve never felt them in this way. I can understand how they work the spinal erectors, forearms, and traps but not back width. Wide grip or even medium grip pullups and pull downs did the trick for me.
Plus you’ll be using more weight 
Wide? Probably not.
HEAVY rack pulls from above the knee will really do wonders for your erectors and upper back.
You’ll be able to use heavier weight, too. Thus, if you need to use straps, use them.
I did my rack pulls today from a bout an inch below the knee. Awesome pump…What would produce the best results for overall back development? above the knee or right below?
Rack Pulls are excellent for building a thicker and denser back, and helps keep a tight core. as for where to pull from, I like just below the knee level, But its wherever is comfortable in that area.
Recommend doing these on back days then (or as a back exercise)? If so, where would you place it in the workout? I’m guessing close to the beginning. I usually start out with bent over rows and then pullups. I guess put them first?
[quote]v1king wrote:
Recommend doing these on back days then (or as a back exercise)? If so, where would you place it in the workout? I’m guessing close to the beginning. I usually start out with bent over rows and then pullups. I guess put them first?[/quote]
For me they are without a doubt the most demanding exercise I do, so I’d definitely make them numero uno in the workout.
Damn and I just did back today! 
Will give them a try next week. Although I’m a bit scared of building up my traps; they’ve always been a bit out of proportion making my shoulders look small and frame look skinnier.
All Forms of the deadlift work lats in addition to the spinal erectors and upper back. So doing heavy rack pulls probably can help getting a wide back, but nothing beats pullups.
I did rack pulls(heavy) and didn’t get a great back pump. Maybe I need to up the reps, but I did sets of 12(stiff legged dead) last night with 225…that was rough. Talk about a pump.
I just got done watching a bunch of you tube videos of rack pulls. I thought about doing them at once, but never committed myself to them. I now am definitely going to be doing them on my back days. My back is so hard to develop and I am sure these will break the ice and start some nice growth.
Plus, my shins are so fucked up from deads it will be nice to do a heavy back exercise without destroying them even more, lol.
[quote]football061 wrote:
Plus, my shins are so fucked up from deads it will be nice to do a heavy back exercise without destroying them even more, lol.[/quote]
Why are you beating up your shins doing deads?
[quote]animalmj wrote:
football061 wrote:
Plus, my shins are so fucked up from deads it will be nice to do a heavy back exercise without destroying them even more, lol.
Why are you beating up your shins doing deads?
[/quote]
The occasional bar drag against the shin. Scrapes the shit outta my leg.
I was bleeding last night. I pussed out so I switched to Stiff legg for the last two sets.
haha, have to love the shin bashing during deads, I have a nice scars on both my shins from a good scrapes. As for timing, i usually do them after deads when I’m not hitting anything below 8 reps, but if I’m maxing out i wont do them. stretch lots after if you do both in one day or you gunna be one sore mf the next day.
[quote]tw0scoops2 wrote:
I was bleeding last night. I pussed out so I switched to Stiff legg for the last two sets.[/quote]
I usually end up bleeding every time I do them. I have two scabs, one per shin, and drag marks that never go away, haha. Plus I’ve got no hair where the drag lines are. Shit just doesn’t grow back