Thread: rack puls vs deadlifts

I would say it depends on what your looking for, I love deadlifts for the GH boost but if your looking for more traps and not the other benefits then you should be fine just don't take out squats.

As I understand it rack pulls put more focus on the back and less on the hams/glutes. I think it would be fine to use rack pulls instead of regular deads, as long as you throw in some posterior pulling somewhere else in your routine, e.g. Romanian deads, GHR's, Good mornings ect.

IMO, posterior chain is far more important than traps. You can always add in some shrugs/static holds/farmers walks to work traps, and throw in some rack pulls every now and again, keeping deads as they are.

Originally Posted by Gazhole

IMO, posterior chain is far more important than traps. You can always add in some shrugs/static holds/farmers walks to work traps, and throw in some rack pulls every now and again, keeping deads as they are.

Which is better for the lower posterior Gaz, regular deads or roman. deads?

Originally Posted by Moondogg

Which is better for the lower posterior Gaz, regular deads or roman. deads?

I find i can get far more hamstring involved in RDLs than with regulars, simply by pushing my ass backwards during the negative portion. Because of the static position, RDLs seem to be tougher on the lower back too. Which can either be a good thing or a bad thing.

For overall development though, go with proper deads every time. The main reason i mostly do RDLs is really just a form issue with me. I find full deads really really awkward since my back injury. Im working on flexibility, and its getting better every time i try. Just gonna be a long time before im totally comfortable in the starting position.

Which do you prefer, out of interest?

Originally Posted by Gazhole

I find i can get far more hamstring involved in RDLs than with regulars, simply by pushing my ass backwards during the negative portion. Because of the static position, RDLs seem to be tougher on the lower back too. Which can either be a good thing or a bad thing.

For overall development though, go with proper deads every time. The main reason i mostly do RDLs is really just a form issue with me. I find full deads really really awkward since my back injury. Im working on flexibility, and its getting better every time i try. Just gonna be a long time before im totally comfortable in the starting position.

Which do you prefer, out of interest?

Regular deads feel more comfortable to me. As you mentioned above, I find RDL tough on my lower back. I still include them in my routine, but I go lighter and slightly higher reps than I would ideally like.

Since switching to higher reps on the RDL's ive been doing heavy sets of 5x5 Good Mornings. These feel great, cause me zero lower back pain and im seeing some good growth in my hams and glutes. How does you back feel when you do GM's?

traps?? try hangcleans they blast the traps big time. I also do alot of rack pulls with a real squeeze at the top of the rep.