You know strength training offers many What Is the Rack Pulls Exercise and How Can It Benefit Runners. The Best QL Stretches and Exercises Races & Places, protect your joints, and increase range of motion. And research supports the idea that runners gain speedy advantages from Rack pulls are great for working on. In fact, a review published in the journal Sports Medicine For example, it helps runner’s economy or how much oxygen you need to run a certain distance—a marker of how efficiently you can clock miles.
Whether you’ve hit the weight room countless times or you’re new to picking up weights, it’s smart to add a move called rack pulls to your routine. This move—typically performed with a barbell—rate of perceived exertion RPE strength and power.
The Many Benefits of Rucking for Runnners improve performance, and how to safely and correctly perform a rack pull, we spoke with Rena Eleazar, P.T., D.P.T., C.S.C.S., a New York City-based physical therapist, strength and conditioning specialist, and founder of Match Fit Performance.
What are rack pulls and how do you do them?
strength training days We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. The difference: You set the weighted barbell on supports of a power rack or on blocks, so you’re not lifting the weight from the floor. This shortens the range of motion and can allow you to New to Strength Training? Try This Core Workout lifting those weights.
Eleazar says once you’ve set up your rack or blocks, start with an empty barbell to practice the movement. Then, slowly add weight onto the bar until you reach a proper “working weight” for the set, which should feel challenging but doable with consistent form.
To understand specifically how this exercise helps runners
Advanced Rack Pull
Eleazar demonstrates the rack pull exercise above, showing a beginner version without weight on the barbell and placed on barbell racks, and an advanced version with weight added to the barbell and placed on boxes. She recommends following this how-to for maintaining proper form:
- Stand in front of the barbell place on a rack or boxes, with the bar high enough that it’s just below the knees. Stand with feet hip-width apart, and keep feet flat on the floor with weight balanced in both feet throughout the entire move. Bend the knees softly.
- Keeping back straight, send the butt straight back, hinging at the hips. Limit forward bending from the lower back and pull shoulders down away from ears, making sure they don’t round forward as you hinge. Grab the bar with both hands, about shoulder-width apart.
- To do the pull, push feet into the floor and stand up tall, keeping the bar close to body.
- Lower the bar back down toward the rack or blocks, hitting that hinge position again.
- Repeat.
How do runners benefit from rack pulls?
Rack pulls are great for working on glute strength (which helps with power in your stride), is a great way for runners to gain back pain, are better than static stretches here, she adds mileage, says Eleazar.
“The rack pull helps to improve muscular endurance of the lower back and overall can help with generalized lower back tightness and stiffness,” she says. That muscular endurance of the low back means you can withstand the work and upright posture needed on a long run, so you won’t feel aches come the finish.
A Weight-Training Workout to Increase Speed hamstring flexibility (as many do), a rack pull can be a smart modification over a deadlift as it shortens the range of motion needed to reach the bottom of the move.
How should you incorporate rack pulls into your workout?
A proper warmup elevates the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) when selecting a weight. Aim for a 6 to 7 out of 10 in effort as you’re performing the move. You should feel the need to rest for about 1 to 2 minutes between sets. If you feel like you’re immediately ready to jump into the next set, you can probably increase the weight on the bar, she says.
As for reps, start with 3 to 5 sets and 5 to 8 reps, starting on the lower end and working your way up in volume and weight as you get stronger and more comfortable with the move. Eleazar also says if your goal is to build strength, make sure to increase the weight and decrease the reps. If your goal is to build muscle mass, increase the reps, and keep the weight around a medium effort.
“Rack pulls, when used as a main lift—a main lift is a compound movement performed after a warmup, at the beginning of a training session and usually the heaviest lift in a training session—often as a modification for deadlifts, they should be done at the beginning of a session with moderate to heavy weight,” Eleazar says.
“A main lift, like a rack pull, can be the first movement performed after a warmup. A proper warmup elevates the heart rate, mimics the movements you will be performing in a session, and mentally gets you ready to be present in the session. Dynamic stretches are better than static stretches here,” she adds.
Also, if you’re relatively new to strength training, Eleazar suggests incorporating rack pulls into your schedule two days a week. If you’re more experienced with lifting, add a third day. “When you’re in your running off-season it’s common to increase strength training days while running volume is lower,” she adds.
Jennifer Acker joined the editorial staff of Runner's World and Bicycling in January 2022. A former freelancer writer and NCAA runner, she started running as a kid and basically never stopped. She also loves outdoor adventures, like hiking, skiing, and mountain biking.
