The Lost Art of Power Rack Training!

In this article I will be referring to the four post 7ft+ power rack, which is 3 feet by 3 feet and has holes drilled into the uprights 3inches apart, so steel rods, called pins can be used. This type of rack is sometimes called a power cage or squat rack and im not referring to the half racks that seem to be floating about in gyms nowadays.

Its quite difficult to find the history of the power rack and its development but I think it was around the 1950’s the rack was invented and in the 1960’s Terry Todd and Dr Craig Whitehead popularised the rack with their research into the ‘theory of maximum fatigue’ (Rader, R 1964), and Ironman magazines founder Peary Rader wrote many articles on the rack and its uses. It was then patented in the 1980’s and the rack was produced. However it lost its appeal in the 1990’s and all its training secrets were forgotten and became lost to many. As Peary Rader said ‘this is a system that was much used by the old timers but has been neglected in recent years by modern lifters, it is very valuable and not to be minimized as to its importance’, while Brooks D Kubik in his book Dinosaur Training pg121 said ‘you can build superhuman strength without a lot of things, but you can not do it without a power rack, its a necessity for any man who is interested in reaching his physical potential’

In the past many bodybuilders trained within the rack but the sport itself has gotten away from the grit of strength training. There are however a few that have become champions and have used the rack as part of their training such as Ronnie Coleman the 8 times Mr Olympia and 6 times Mr Olympia Dorian Yates. Others that have used the rack as a part of their training also include Lee Priest, Nassa El Sombarty, Markus Ruhl and the mighty Greg Kovaks.

Now the reason why I mentioned these athletes is because they are as strong as they look. Most bodybuilders in my opinion look strong but are not. Ok I do understand that the sport of bodybuilding is about aesthetics, body proportions and chasing the pump and in my opinion strength is a by-product of their training. While powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters have the by-product of mass gain through their strength training.

In my opinion the power rack helps to ‘overload the muscles to a greater degree’, (Kubik, B, pg 22) and in my experience the beauty of the power rack allows the lifter to work at the weakest position i.e. the bottom position. At this position you have only your muscle strength to start the movement and your leverages are at their weakest. This weakness is due to leverage changes in the body resulting in leverages changes in the strength curve. The strength curve of a lifter does not slope down gradually but decreases down in steps, its abit like walking down a flight of stairs. That’s why in my opinion its harder to pull a deadlift off the floor than it is to pull the deadlift from mid thigh.

To give a better understanding of what I am trying to convey we can use the front squat as an excellent example. When the lifter uses a full range front squat they will  use momentum gained from the eccentric phase, (lowering the weight) of the lift then reverse direction at the bottom position to push past their sticking points in the concentric phase, (raising the weight) of the lift. Its this momentum that helps to complete the lift. Now if the lifter can front squat for example 100 kilos, (220lbs) in the full range they will, in my judgement, not be able to front squat that weight starting at the bottom position. This is because the lifter is starting from a dead stop with bad leverages and no momentum to carry the bar passed the upcoming sticking points. If the lifter does manage to squeeze the bar off the bottom position they will struggle with the load until they pass an inch or two beyond the middle position. The lift will become easier as the bar moves in an upward direction.

So what does the lifter do in this case? Well they would simply start to front squat from the weakest positions, i.e. bottom position & middle position in one workout and they could also use the top position in another workout or even use all three positions. This will also allow for sticking points caused by bad leverages to be worked and it will also give a greater overload onto the muscles, particularly the ligaments and tendons. BUT it’s important for the lifter to keep lifting with their full range movement as they will find that the carry over from this style of lifting will be minimal. This mistake was made by the US Olympic lifters, which saw a ‘decline in the fortunes of US Olympic Weightlifters’, due to an ‘over – emphasis on rack work, heavy partials, isometrics’, (Kubik, B, pg 26).

Now why work the tendons and ligaments? Well the ‘tendons and ligaments have the potential overtime to become stronger’, (Coulson, M, pg72) & this is ‘achieved by weight bearing exercises’, (Coulson, M, pg72) that allow heat to build up and increase blood supply, which in turn expand the tendons and ligaments to eventually cause hypertrophy and this hypertrophy allows for increases in strength.  Its important to grow the tendons because, they are connected to the bone and must attach themselves to the new & existing muscle and muscle is created by the growth of new muscle tissue and not the thickening of existing muscle fibres, (Hyperplasia).

So ok with that bit of science imbedded in our minds how could the lifter work the tendons & ligaments and make use of the power rack? Well the lifter would use the power rack to build his strength at different levels i.e. setting the pins at different heights and working partial movements, which will allow strength to be built at each these steps allowing the elimination of any weakness in the full range lift

Now interestingly enough Dr Fred Hatfield, know by many as Dr Squat, who is the Co-Founder and President of The International Sports Sciences Association and had recorded lifts of a 1014lb Squat, 523lb Bench press, 766lb Deadlift, Snatch of 275lbs and a Clean & Jerk of 369lbs wrote in his book ‘Power: A Scientific Approach’ about tendon jerks. These were performed by a sharp sudden pull against a weight that couldn’t be moved by the lifter, i.e against a loaded deadlift bar, which was heavier than the lifter could be lift. His theory was that this jerking action allowed the tendons to grow in size and strength.

Dr Fred Hatfield like many before him such as William Booth, Bob Peoples, Paul Anderson, Anthony Ditillo, Bud Jeffries and many of the old time strongmen knew the power of tendon & ligament strength and also the power of training them through partial rep training in the power rack.

In my opinion and many others partial rep training is the most productive, most rugged and the most result producing strength building a lifter can do. Partial rep training builds confidence into the lifter for handling huge loads. It builds not only tendon and ligament strength but also very joint in the body. Also if the lifter keeps the partial lift as close as possible to his competitive lift then the transfer of strength will be an easy transition and fruitful.

However it takes time for partial rep training to become effective because the body will have to let itself adapt to this form of training and building the tendons and ligaments takes time. In my experience within a few weeks of partial rep training I became stronger and felt this strength throughout my body. Also there are some views on partial rep training that say that it has no carry over or that it is a form of training that gives and makes you only strong in a certain portion of the lift. Well as mentioned if the lifter keeps the partial rep as close as they can to the full range lift then the carry over will noticed and if each step of the strength curve is worked then strength will be gained though out the entire lift.

I would like to point out that powerlifters do a form of partial rep training when they do board presses on the bench press, deadlift rack pulls from below or just above the knees etc while Olympic weightlifters use block pulls and snatch grip rack pulls etc. As I mentioned in a pervious article we are weightlifters and we are judged on two lifts, so why not work partials into our programs for all the other lifts we do, just to help out main lifts!

So in ending this article I would like to say don’t let the power rack collect dust in the coroner of your gym. It’s a piece of equipment that can build tremendous strength right at the point where it is needed and its ability to help target the lifters weak points sets it apart from all other pieces of equipment that make promises but never deliver.

 

References

Peary Rader, "Power Rack Training for Maximum Muscular Development," Iron Man vol. 23, no. 6 (1964), pp. 22–27, 46.

Kubik B, D, (2010), ‘Strength Muscle & Power’, Brooks Kubik Enterprieses Inc, Louiseville USA.

Kubik B, D, Tendon & Ligament Strength http://ditillo2.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/tendon-ligament-strength-by-brooks.html

George, J (1926) The Key to Might and Muscle, Strength Books USA.

Coulson, M, (2011), The Fitness Instructors Handbook, A&C Black Publishers, United Kindgom.

Hatfield, F, (ANON) Power: A Scientific Approach, USA

Kubik, B, D, (1998), Dinosuar Training, Brooks Kubik Enterprieses Inc, Louiseville USA.

Ditillo, A, (1999), The Development Of Physical Strength, Hinbern, Michigan USA

Ditillo, A, (1999), The Development Of Muscular Bulk & Power, Hinbern, Michigan USA

Jefferies, B, (2005), partial Movements For Super-Human Strength, Strongman Productions, USA.

http://ukolympicweightlifting.co.uk/training/the-lost-art-of-power-rack-training/