Power Rack Training. By Martin Petro WNBF Pro
I`ve been training for many years now. I discovered Power Rack Training in 2012 and 2013 thank you Ian Duckett – lifetime Natural Bodybuilder, friend and great old school man. I never looked back.
I`ve been training on and off in power rack ever since. The results are amazing. My strength level went through the roof. All my big lifts – squat – deadlift – benchpress – shoulder press – barbell rows – barbell curls – close-grip benchpress – improved enormously! I was strong as an ox. I came to the point where I had to stop Power Rack training for a while as it was so hard and demanding, it was scary!
Used correctly the Power Rack can produce stronger muscles, tendons, ligaments and sinews. Exercises in the Power Rack can help people break through their individual sticking points in varying exercises. Take the bench press for instance; let’s say our guy regularly fails the bench press mid-way during the ascent of the bar. To overcome the problem the guy can set the rods on the Power Rack so that the bench press is begun at the mid-way level. The athlete then trains this particular portion of the movement. Because the range of movement is less than a full bench press more weight can be used, thereby strengthening the muscles but also stimulating tendon and ligament strength. The athlete simply pushes the bar from the rods to the lockout position and then lowers it to the rods again. No bounce should be used – the bar is pushed from a dead stop position – this in itself will increase strength – with the added bonus that the athlete always works out in safety.
The Power Rack can be used very effectively on the big four: The Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift and Shoulder press. These compound movements should always be the key movements in anyone’s routine who wants to get bigger or stronger. Quarter squats, half squats, heavy lockouts in the bench press, partial deadlifts, rack shoulder press at 80 degree bench are all exercises that can be used. With two sets of rods one can push from a dead stop from one set of rods and then hold against another set of rods above the bar for an isometric hold. A little bit of ingenuity and one can find a variety of safe and effective movements within the Power Rack.
One of the main faults of trainees is that of over-training and because of the heavy poundage’s involved in Power Rack training it is very easy to overtrain. Employ three to five sets at most and keep the reps low – we are trying to build strength here and not fitness. Use partial movements only once you have warmed up and preferably after you have performed the full movement. For example, once you have completed your desired sets of normal deadlifts, three sets of heavy lockouts would stimulate further your back and trap development. But just because three sets are good it does not mean six sets are twice as good. Stimulate don’t annihilate!
Make sure you are warmed up, make sure that your lifting style is good and then slap those plates on. If you want to look strong then you actually have got to get strong! So formulate a workout plan, train hard and smart, supplement wisely, and use the Power Rack training to your advantage.
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