Having a strong, thick upper back is critical for any sort of heavy lifting...squats, deadlifts and even the bench press.
Rowing movements are excellent for building the upper back but you are limited by how much weight your ARMS can handle as well.
This "secret weapon" exercise takes the arms out of the equation, allowing your upper back to be loaded with as much weight as it can truly handle.
To do this, you're going to do a weird-looking variation of a Rack Pull (a.k.a. deadlift lockout).
Normally, the rack pull is done with the arms hanging down and the back fully stretched. It can be a good exercise and it can also be done like garbage and be a terrible exercise.
This variation has an important difference from the regular rack pull.
You're going to start each rep with your shoulder blades fully retracted (pulled back).
How To Do Upper Back Rack Pulls
In order to do this one, you'll need a power rack. Set the rails to a few inches below where the bar would be at the top of a deadlift. You can experiment with rail height for this one to see what feels best to you.
In terms of movement, you're going to do this one like a partial Stiff-Legged Deadlift, NOT a regular rack pull.
The first action is going to happen at the shoulders (and hips by default).
Start by gripping onto the bar about shoulder-width apart.
I definitely recommend using grip assistance as you'll want to do this with a double overhand grip and the weight needs to be very heavy to get the most out of this. Unless you're a gorilla, your grip won't be strong enough to maximize the loading on the upper back.
I'm using Haulin Hooks for this (much better than straps, I find).
Once you've gripped on, pull up on the bar with straight arms to pull the shoulders forward.
Now the key part...keeping your arms STRAIGHT, use your arms to pull your chest DOWN towards the bar.
This results in retraction of the shoulder blades. The video shows this very effectively.
Contract the muscles of the upper back as strongly as you can. FIGHT to keep those shoulder blades back.
Now lift the bar off the rails, like the top of a stiff-legged deadlift (NOT a regular rack pull...don't leverage the bar up with your knees).
Hold this retracted/elevated position for a few seconds, then allow the weight to stretch your shoulders forward again.
Then set the bar back down on the rails.
Reset completely then go again.
Do this one with lighter weight a little bit to get the method down, then go HEAVY. I'm using 455 lbs on the bar here...way more than I could row.
Aim for 3-5 reps per set...this one is best done with a lot of weight to get the most out of it.
And as I mentioned above, you can experiment with rail height in order to determine what feels best to you. It's not a lot of range of motion but the loading is fantastic.
Another excellent way to overload the upper back is the Top Stop Dumbbell Row.
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