POWER RACK TRAINING FOR STRENGTH , POWER, AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

 

Part One:

A Basic, Full-Body Power Rack Program

 (Inspired by the Legendary Charles A. Smith)

illustrations as they appeared in one of Smith's rack training articles for Muscle Power

I keep a notebook on my person at all times to jot down ideas for articles and essays as they come to me.  My sons, of course, explain to me that I could make it easier if I just use a “notepad” on my cell phone.  But I won’t budge.  I’m pretty stubborn in that way, but it’s also because I don’t think we should be so quick to “throw out the old for the new.”  I bring this up for two points.  The first is that, looking through my notebook(s) of ideas, I realized that I haven’t written anything on “power rack training” in quite some time.  The 2nd is that you shouldn’t be so quick to get rid of “old” training ideas in favor of whatever “new-fangled” ones appear to work better; and, unfortunately, the lifting world seems to have forgotten some of the great exercises that can be done in the power rack.  (Hint: the power rack is for more than just “partials.”) So this short essay, and whatever ones that follow in this series (which, truth be told, may be a bit sporadic) is to help rectify both of these issues.  And since it’s been several years since I wrote an article dedicated exclusively to power rack training, I will have some tips and tricks that I haven’t presented before in prior articles on the subject.  For THIS article, we will focus on basic, full-body power rack training that is good for anyone starting out training “in the rack.”  Future articles will be even more “training-centric,” by focusing on training programs JUST for building muscle mass or JUST for strength and power without any hypertrophic increases, and perhaps—if there’s enough interest in it—some articles focusing JUST on specific bodyparts.

This article (and whatever in this series that might follow) is inspired by—and based on many of the training principles of—Charles A. Smith, who, primarily during the ‘50s, wrote hundreds of training articles.  At first he wrote for Rader’s IronMan, but soon caught the eye of Joe Weider who, once discovering Smith, asked him to work for his growing number of Weider publications.  These magazines included Your Physique, Muscle Builder, Muscle Power, Mr. America, and The Weightlifter, were all owned by Weider at the time.

One of the main “tools” in Smith’s very large and knowledgable mass-building toolbox during this writing heyday was the power rack.  He wrote several articles that were exclusively about rack training, but he also wrote a lot of articles—hundreds, in fact—where he included exercises performed in the power rack as part of an overall muscle-building, strength-gaining program.

Charles A. Smith inspired a lot of young lifters post-WWII, including many that would go on to become champions in weightlifting, powerlifting, or bodybuilding.  In addition to lifters, he also inspired different fighters since he wrote for the magazines Boxing and Wrestling (which, come to think of it, may have been owned by Weider, as well; it gives you the idea of Weider’s reach in the ever-expanding, early fitness market).  But Smith himself was inspired by J.C. Hise and Hice's mentor, Mark Berry, so this article will include those aspects of his rack training too.  I’m not going to go too much into the history of Hise and Berry, other than to mention that if you’re NOT familiar with either one, pick up the book Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks by Randall Strossen.  The subtitle of the book comes from the fact that Hise, employing the high-rep “deep-knee bend” programs of Mark Berry, once gained 29 pounds in one month, and eventually took his weight from 180 to 290 in approximately 18 months.  In a 1955 issue of Muscle Power, Smith wrote this regarding Hise and the almighty squat: “Years ago, Joseph Curtis Hise established that there were certain areas of the physique which exerted a “growing influence” over the rest of the development. He had started long before by following Mark H. Berry’s experiments with the Deep Knee Bend, and establishing Berry’s theories of Body Growth as the practical means of gaining weight. He used the deep knee bend with a couple of other exercises, stepped up his protein and starch intake, and gained all the power and bulk he wanted.”

Later in the same article, Smith wrote this: “Since Hise’s time, we have further established that increases in weight and power are made in a series of cycles, and have charts of workout gains over time that support this contention to the hilt. There are very rarely gains which are steady and continued over a prolonged period. First there are fast gains, then a tapering off, as the lifter adjusts himself mentally to the increased muscle and strength. Then after a few weeks there is another spurt of power and bulk, and another tapering off, perhaps a slight decline, another steady climb, and so on.”  I included this excerpt because it will help you to understand the method of the workouts that follow, and the importance of cycling your workouts in some manner no matter what exact program you are on.

The Basic 3-Days-Per-Week Full-Body Rack Program for Strength & Power

Power rack training’s MAIN benefit is that it allows you to “start” your lift from any position that you would like.  If you’re struggling “coming out of the hole” in the squat, then you should do bottom-position squats, by placing the pins a little higher than waist level, forcing you to start from deep in the “hole.”  Conversely, if your sticking point on the bench press is a few inches off of your chest, you should do rack presses from just below your sticking point.  Another example would be if your deadlift stalls right above your knee.  In this case, you would start your lift from the “sticking” position in the rack.

Those are just a few examples of how beneficial rack training can be, and ways that you can take advantage of these “mechanical” benefits.  The following program uses these benefits, plus it’s just a good, “standard” example of the sort of full-body workout anyone interested in more strength, power, and mass should do before attempting any other program.

As the title shows, this is a 3-days-per-week program.  Any 3 non-consecutive days will work.  Most lifters like to train on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  When I was a competitive powerlifter, I always liked to begin my training week on Sunday, so I would have done this workout on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  I always enjoyed this schedule.  Lifting on Sunday evening helped because it sort of mentally “prepared” me for the week, and since I rarely had to work on the weekends, it meant that I could rest up all day Saturday and Sunday, before lifting Sunday evening/night.

Day One: Squat Emphasis, Overhead Press Emphasis

• Bottom-Position Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps.  These should be 5 progressively heavier sets.  The 5th set of 5 should always be a max effort.

• Bottom-Position Front Squats: 3 sets of 5 reps.  Once you are finished with the 5 sets of 5 on the regular squats, drop down in weight, and perform 3 straight sets of 5 reps on these. Here are Smith’s words on how to properly do this exercise: “Place the bar on the rack pins so it rests on and across the front of the shoulders when you are squatting down in a low position. Recover to an upright position with the weight. It is important to keep your back absolutely straight. Don’t allow it to bend forward or bow over. Lower slowly to the bottom position and repeat.”

Bottom-Position Front Squat

• Standing Overhead Presses: 5 sets of 5 reps.  As with the first exercise for Day One, work up over 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps.  The last set should be a “maximum effort” set.  Here is Smith’s advice: “Set the bar in the power rack so it is just above the top of the head. Stand immediately underneath it and grasp it with a shoulder width grip. Your upper arms should be as close to parallel with the ground as possible (see illustration). Press the weight out to arms’ length, lower SLOWLY as possible, and repeat. Make every effort to keep your body upright and lower slowly. Don’t look up at the weight.”

Standing Overhead Presses

• Steep Bottom-Position Incline Bench Presses: 3 sets of 5 reps.  Set the incline bench at a VERY steep angle, so that it works your front delts, triceps, and side delts more than your upper chest.  Set the pins so that you start the incline press practically on your neck!  As with the front squats, use the same weight on all 3 sets.  

• Chins: 5 sets of near max reps.  Work these hard, but leave about one rep in the tank.  Only add weight if you’re strong enough that you can easily get 8 reps on each set.  In that case, use a weight belt, and do some hard sets in the 5 to 7 rep range.

• Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 7 reps.  Finish Day One with 3 straight sets of 7 reps on barbell curls.

Day Two: Deadlift Emphasis

• Partial Rack Pulls (above-the-knee): 7 sets of 3 reps.  Begin Day Two with 7 progressively heavier sets of 3 reps.  More sets are needed because of the limited range of movement.  But as with the bottom-position squats and overhead presses from Day One, work up over 7 progressively heavier sets until you reach an absolute max set of 3 reps.

Rack Pulls from just above the knee

• Upright Barbell Rows: 5 sets of 3 reps.  Upright rows work your pulling muscles in a unique way compared to the partial rack pulls, so I still want you to use 5 progressively heavier sets on these, as well, instead of just straight sets.  Work up to a max set of 3 reps.  Here is Smith’s advice: “Place the bar in such a position that you can grasp it with your hands when you stand upright before it. Your hand spacing should be three or four inches apart, although this can be varied. Pull the bar up to the chin, then lower slowly and repeat. Don’t cheat in this exercise even if it means using less weight.”

Upright Barbell Row

• Barbell Clean and Press: 5 sets of 3 reps.  Since you worked your legs and upper body so hard on Day One, treat this exercise more as an active recovery movement.  Utilize the same weight on all 5 sets.

Day Three: Bench Press Emphasis

• Flat Bottom-Position Bench Presses: 5 sets of 5 reps.  Set the pins as low as you can to your chest.  Work up over 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps.  The last set should be all-out for 5 reps.

Bottom-Position Bench Press

• Flat Mid-Range Bench Presses: 5 sets of 5 reps.  Once you reach your maximum weight on the bottom-position presses, add weight to the bar, but set the pins so that you will be starting from the mid-point of the press.  Perform these for 5 straight sets of 5 reps.

• Bottom-Position Split Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps.  Perform these for 5 progressively heavier sets of 5 reps.  Work these pretty hard.  The nature of the exercise itself will prevent you from lifting as heavy as you did on the Day One workout—which is a good thing—and will “prep” you for your next Day One workout session.

Bottom-Position Split Squats

• Power Cleans: 5 sets of 3 reps. Treat this one as an “active recovery” exercise.  Your back will be sore from the Day Two movements, and power cleans will also work your back in a different, variegated manner from what was performed on Day Two.  A good weight to use would be one where, if you were to only perform one set all-out you would get around 10 reps.  Use the same weight on all 5 sets of 3 reps.

• Barbell Curls: 3 sets of 7 reps.  Do this exercise the same as it was worked on Day One

Additional Tips to Get the Most Out of the Program

• This is a fantastic program for anyone that has some experience with basic, full-body training, and wants to take their training to the next level but doesn’t want to use a split program.

• This program is also excellent for anyone, no matter their “level,” who has never done any serious, heavy power rack training.  OR for anyone that hasn’t done any heavy, 5x5 style training either.

• The tips that follow (all italicized below), come directly from the writings of Charles A. Smith:

• On the days when you take your workouts, train with everything that's in you, with every ounce of your energy and enthusiasm.

• On the days you are supposed to take a rest, do just that, REST. Forget that such things as barbells exist. Forget that an activity such as weightlifting plays any part in your life.

• There are some individuals with an inexhaustible supply of energy. They can train every day in the week and never hit a sticking point. A few hours rest, a day spent at the beach and they're all ready to go. But the normal individual who has to work for a living should remain content with three or four training periods weekly. Work out hard more often than this and you'll soon be walking on your knees, wondering why your press or snatch or clean and jerk has suddenly dropped thirty pounds.

• Avoid the athlete's UNHOLY THREE . . . COKE . . . CANDY . . . CAKE. If you don't then you are headed for training trouble. The sport you are in is most strenuous. It results in tissue broken down rapidly, tissue that must be replaced. The building blocks of your body are the proteins. See that your meals contain an adequate supply of these.

Closing Thoughts

In the next installment of this “rack training” series, I will discuss a program JUST for building muscle once a sticking point has been reached in the program above.  If you have any questions, or subjects that you would like to see covered, regarding training in the power rack, send me an email or reach out in the comments section.

SOURCES

“Rack Training for Power and Bulk,” Charles A. Smith, Muscle Power magazine, 1954

“Stay Away from that Sticking Point,” Charles A. Smith, Muscle Builder magazine, 1957