Rack Pulls and Haltings didn’t carry over to regular deadlift

[Nate Mielke]

I’ve been doing rack pulls and Haltings for 38 weeks now and I’m two weeks out from a powerlifting meet and tested my strength and to my dismay it doesn’t appear the strength from these lifts carried over. I ended rack pulls at 640 x 4 (hitched rep 5 so I didn’t count it) & Haltings at 570 x 8 and I loaded 635 on the bar after warming up with 585 and the weight shot off the ground but as soon as it hit the point above the knees where I normally stop during Haltings it died. I’m inclined to think that maybe this strategy works well for some but it doesn’t appear to have done much for me as I deadlifted 615 before starting this approach and haven’t even gone up 20lbs after 3/4 of a year.

[Kazzin]

I’ve also found rack pulls to be entirely trainable but not have any real carryover. Was listening to a podcast with Marty Gallagher the other day and he claimed to have observed the same thing with his training back in the day. Was nice to hear some confirmation from someone else on the matter.

[ReconquistaBarbell]

My deadlift tends to stall just above the knees like you're describing. I've used the halting/block pull with good results before, but I have to really fight to keep my shoulders in front of the bar and load the hamstrings properly.

I pull in the low 500's at around 198 bodyweight, in case that's relevant.

[AndrewLewis]

You must have started haltings at like 475x8 and rack pulls at 545x5. Why so light if you were deadlifting 615?

[Nate Mielke]

I started light because

A) I’d never done them before and knew that if I hopped into heavy weight the form would be atrocious

and

B) What’s the rush? I’d rather start lighter and make steady progress than start too heavy and hit a plateau early.

I’ve heard Andy Baker talk about how rack pulls never did much for him so I’m wondering if coaches who’ve had clients try this and other people on here have had similar experiences? It seems to have created a giant sticking point in my movement pattern. It feels like I could deadlift 700+ to right above my knees but I can’t lock out 635.

[Satch12879]

I started light because

A) I’d never done them before and knew that if I hopped into heavy weight the form would be atrocious

and

B) What’s the rush? I’d rather start lighter and make steady progress than start too heavy and hit a plateau early.

I’ve heard Andy Baker talk about how rack pulls never did much for him so I’m wondering if coaches who’ve had clients try this and other people on here have had similar experiences? It seems to have created a giant sticking point in my movement pattern. It feels like I could deadlift 700+ to right above my knees but I can’t lock out 635.

The intention is to do them heavy, because as a partial, you're trying to overload one portion of the movement pattern. If that one component portion you're trying to train is only stressed marginally more than when you're doing the entire movement, then what's the benefit? That was Andrew's point.

During the 38 weeks, did you attempt any deadlifts at all, even just a single or was this entirely haltings and rack pulls?

As usual, Andy may be onto something, as mileage may vary. There was some talk a while ago about post post novice deadlift training, i.e., using variants and partials, may have an anthropometric component or emphasis. Yes, some people might not respond to say rack pulls or they get extremely sore, but deficit deadlifts don't have the same effect. I believe this was Santana's experience several years ago.

To your situation, however, I'm tending toward agreeing with Andrew. I can't see 640 rack pull on a 615 conventional deadlift helping appreciably.

[Cole Gorton]

I would try another variation thats closer to the parent lift if I were you

ie: deficits, SLDL, SGDL ....

There is your advice from a dude that hasnt pulled 500 yet lol

[ReconquistaBarbell]

I’ve heard Andy Baker talk about how rack pulls never did much for him so I’m wondering if coaches who’ve had clients try this and other people on here have had similar experiences? It seems to have created a giant sticking point in my movement pattern. It feels like I could deadlift 700+ to right above my knees but I can’t lock out 635.

I recently listened to Andy in a podcast talking about exercise selection, and if I understood correctly, he basically says that the carryover of assistance exercises varies for people.

I have a client that has a very similar build than mine, could pull 350x5 from the floor but failed on the third rep of a rack pull with the same weight. We stuck with rack pulls for a while and now he pulls 350 from the floor on his medium day.

If this guy could, let's say, pull 405x5 from the rack on his very first day, that would probably indicate that it wouldn't be a very useful assistance exercise...

[Mark Rippetoe]

If this guy could, let's say, pull 405x5 from the rack on his very first day, that would probably indicate that it wouldn't be a very useful assistance exercise...

How about if he goes to 425?

[ReconquistaBarbell]

How about if he goes to 425?

Good question... According to people that say such and such exercises may or may not carryover to the main lifts, that could have no effect on his regular deadlift, if I understand their point correctly. I was just trying to help clarify the issue.

My experience or that of people I train, with rack/block pulls has always been positive though, but all the people that I prescribed partials to struggled with them on the beginning, just as an observation.