im doing these for the first time this week and i just wanted to know what sort of weight i should be pulling compared to the deadlift? i like to go to the gym with a number to shoot for in my head and i can deadlift 120kg for 5 reps.
thanks in advance, sieb
You’ll never know until you give it a try and find out. Depends on a lot of factors including body mechanics and pin height, everybody is different. I know guys who have rack pulls that are very close to their full deadlift number and I know guys who can rack pull 300lbs more than what they could ever get off the floor.
Personally if im pulling from high shin level I can usually go about 70 to 100 pounds above what I can pull off the floor. At the knee I can get up to 150 to 200 lbs.
Compared to everyone else here, I’m just a light-weight noob, so I didn’t even know that a rack-pull was a goal in itself; I use them as practice for my deadlift.
In other words: I’m currently deadlifting 165-lbs. So today, I did 5 rack-pulls at 170, which I hope to be able to deadlift next time.
Don’t know if this is a standard strategy or not.
I use rack pulls to get used to heavier weights for the deadlift, but it is a goal in itself. I always pull from just below the knee and I get about 100lbs more than my full dead. My PR in the RP is 590 right now.
I also sometimes do lockouts, mostly for overloading my grip and support structure.
Dragonmamma, at 165 for a full deadlift, you may be able to hit in the 225-255 range on a knee level rack pull, depending on grip. But work slowly, using low reps and singles to see what you can do.
You might be surprised on what a good RP can do for your full deadlift. Get some speed off the floor, pull heavy and lock it out.
-folly
You might consider doing rack pulls with your deadlift max or even more than your deadlift max.
[quote]folly wrote:
I use rack pulls to get used to heavier weights for the deadlift, but it is a goal in itself. I always pull from just below the knee and I get about 100lbs more than my full dead. My PR in the RP is 590 right now.
I also sometimes do lockouts, mostly for overloading my grip and support structure.
Dragonmamma, at 165 for a full deadlift, you may be able to hit in the 225-255 range on a knee level rack pull, depending on grip. But work slowly, using low reps and singles to see what you can do.
You might be surprised on what a good RP can do for your full deadlift. Get some speed off the floor, pull heavy and lock it out.
-folly[/quote]
Thanks for the input. I tend to be very conservative about increasing my weights because of a history of low back problems. (Been OK the past couple of years, knock on wood.)
It also depends you may be weak in the midrange top end and use the momentum to get the lock out from the bottom if so your rack pull could be the same or less then your full pull max. try and and find out
Phill
[quote]Phill wrote:
It also depends you may be weak in the midrange top end and use the momentum to get the lock out from the bottom if so your rack pull could be the same or less then your full pull max. try and and find out
Phill[/quote]
Good point. I have always been stronger with the shorter rom, so it didn’t occur to me.
By the way, listen to Phill. He knows his deads.
-folly
I use about the same weights for both.