7 Rack Pull Alternatives for a Thicker Upper Back and Traps

The best Rack Pull alternative for your situation

What a Rack Pull alternative has to replace

A rack pull is the top half of a deadlift. The bar starts on pins or blocks at about knee height, you pull from a dead stop to lockout, and because the hardest part off the floor is gone you can handle more weight than your full deadlift. That overload lands on the erectors holding the torso flat, the upper traps holding the shoulders against a bar that wants to pull them down, and the lats pinning the bar to your thighs. Grip is often what gives out first.

So the swap you pick has to keep heavy weight in the hands over a short hinge, or at least the heavy hold. You can lose the pins and the dead stop if you add a pause. What you cannot lose is load: a light version of a short-range lift trains very little, which is why the dumbbell picks lean on grip, pauses and slow reps.

7 Rack Pull alternatives, best first

1. Trap Bar Deadlift

Barbell · Gym · Intermediate · Best with a barbell

Flip the bar to the high handles and you get a pull that starts a few inches above floor height, closer in range to a rack pull than a full deadlift is. Every rep still begins from a dead stop with the load hanging at your sides, where the traps and erectors hold it. It suits a lifter in a busy gym who wants that heavy top-half work without waiting for a rack.

Swapping it in: Use the high handles for 4 sets of 4 to 6, starting a little below your rack pull weight. For an even shorter pull, rest the plates on low blocks.

2. Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift

Machine · Gym · Beginner · Best on a machine

Set the Smith safeties at knee height, start every rep with the bar resting on them, and you have a rack pull on rails. The fixed track stops the bar swinging away from your thighs, so the lats do slightly less, but the erectors and traps still hold a heavy load at lockout. It is the machine pick when the power racks are busy or your gym has no barbell pins.

Swapping it in: Rest the bar on the safeties between every rep, not just the first, and use 4 sets of 5. Lower for three seconds to the pins instead of dropping it.

3. Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Dumbbell · Home or gym · Beginner · Best with dumbbells

Dumbbells only get so heavy, so this swap works by keeping the range short and the effort high. Hinge until the dumbbells reach the top of your kneecaps, then stand and squeeze. The traps and erectors still hold a load at arm’s length, and without straps your forearms will be working hard by the last rep. It suits someone who owns heavy adjustable dumbbells.

Swapping it in: Take 4 sets of 8 to 10 with a two-second hold at the top of every rep. If the heaviest dumbbells feel light, slow the lowering to four seconds.

4. Deadlift

Barbell · Gym · Advanced · Best with a barbell

Taking the bar all the way from the floor puts the hardest stretch of the pull back in, and the legs pick up the start. The upper back and traps still get a heavy lockout, only at a lower weight than the pins allowed. Take it when your gym has no pins or blocks, or when you have leaned on partials long enough and want the full range back.

Swapping it in: Start at 70 to 80 percent of your rack pull weight for 3 sets of 3 to 5 and build back up. Add a two-second hold at lockout to keep the trap work.

5. Farmer Carry

Dumbbell · Home or gym · Beginner · Best at home

A rack pull is mostly a heavy hold with a short hinge in front of it, and carrying heavy weight keeps the hold. The upper traps resist the load dragging the shoulders down, the erectors keep you upright, and the grip works for the whole walk. There is no hinge, so it covers the support work only. It suits home training with anything heavy you can grip.

Swapping it in: Carry the heaviest pair you can hold tall for 4 rounds of 40 to 60 steps. Pair it with a hinge such as the Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift in the same session.

6. Barbell Shrug

Barbell · Gym · Beginner · Best for beginners

When what you wanted from the rack pull was bigger upper traps, the Barbell Shrug isolates that part directly. It keeps the heavy barbell in your hands and loses the hinge, so the erectors and lats do very little. It is simple to learn and simple to load, which suits a beginner who wants trap size without first mastering a heavy partial deadlift.

Swapping it in: Take 3 sets of 10 to 12 with a one-second pause at the top. Pair it with a Back Extension or another hinge to cover the erectors it leaves out.

7. Kettlebell Swing

Kettlebell · Home or gym · Intermediate · Best with a kettlebell

The rack pull’s range is the part of the pull where the hips snap through, and the swing trains that same finish at speed. The erectors hold your torso against a moving bell and the upper traps catch it at the top of each rep. It will never match the load, so it suits a home session or conditioning block where heavy barbell work is not an option.

Swapping it in: Run 5 sets of 12 with a heavy bell and 60 seconds of rest. Finish each rep standing tall with the glutes tight, the same lockout you want on a rack pull.

Illustrations adapted from Everkinetic via workout-guide, CC BY-SA 4.0. Full credits.

Side by side

How to choose

A rack pull does two jobs: heavy top-half hinging and a heavy hold for the traps and grip. Pick the swap that covers the job you care about.

• Gym, rack busy: Trap Bar Deadlift from the high handles, or the Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift from the safeties.
• Want the full range: Deadlift.
• Home with dumbbells: Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift stopped at the knee, plus a Farmer Carry.
• Trap size above everything: Barbell Shrug.
• One kettlebell: Kettlebell Swing.

Beginners are better served by the Trap Bar Deadlift than by partials, since it teaches a full pull and still loads the traps. BackMaxx scores your traps and lower back separately, which tells you which of the two jobs to prioritize.

Full Rack Pull guide: form, muscles worked and mistakes →

Which of these does your back actually need?

BackMaxx scores your lower back and the five other back zones from one photo, then builds each session around whichever one is furthest behind.

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