Running the rack: why use one weight when you can use 'EM all? Use this technique and grow like crazy

Muscle & Fitness, April, 2006 by Chris Lockwood

IN his poem "If," Rudyard Kipling unknowingly penned poetic justice to the art of training to failure when he wrote, "To force your heart, and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone." Kipling understood what it meant to take your body beyond normal limits; to muster heart and desire from a layer so deep within you, you don't recognize the summoning voice inside your head. Many sports have their equivalent "poetic" phrase. For a triathlete, it's putting one foot in front of the other; for the boxer, three more minutes could mean a lifetime. And in bodybuilding, it's called running the rack.

WHY RUN THE RACK?

Running the rack is really any monster set during which you don't allow your muscles to fully recuperate between repeated sets of the same or similar exercise(s). Each set within a monster set is performed using a different weight, and reps are determined predominantly by hitting a point of near muscle failure.

In basic terms, the purpose of running the rack is to progressively overload a muscle or group of muscles to stimulate and innervate as many muscle fibers as possible, initiating the complex physiological process of muscle growth. However, numerous factors--from the metabolic to the hormonal--influence hypertrophy, but because muscle protein accumulation, synthesis and amino acid transport into the muscle cells is determined by intensity and duration of muscle tension, running the rack is a great way to create that anabolic environment for growth within the working muscle.

Straight drop sets are the most common and rudimentary of the burnout sets, but a plethora of other rarely explored rack runs can be added to your workouts or used to replace your current program altogether. With adequate rest between multiple sets as well as between bodypart workout days, you could very well make running the rack your only form of training. Whether you're hitting bent-over rows, shrugs or biceps curls, M&F has compiled seven strategies to help you attack the rack. But first:

* Running the rack is just as applicable for use on a machine or with other free-weight exercises, but for our purposes, we'll stick with examples using dumbbells.

* Perform at least two low- to moderate-intensity warm-up sets before attempting any of these workouts as the first or only exercise of a bodypart.

* Training to failure doesn't mean you can use sloppy form as your muscles begin to tire. Rather, training to failure means that you lift a weight as many times as you can to successfully accomplish the movement with proper form; any forced reps should still be in proper form. Be smart.

1) STRAIGHT DROPS

Nothing fancy here--these are your basic monster drop sets with no prescribed guidelines. For example, on dumbbell rows you might go from a set with 100 pounds to failure, to a set with 80 pounds and finish up with 65 pounds to failure.

STARTING WEIGHT 5-10 rep max (RM)

DROP IN WEIGHT, FROM SET TO SET 5-20 pounds

REPS PER DROP SET to failure

TOTAL DROP SETS no fewer than 3

TOTAL RACK RUNS 1-5

TIP

If you're running tight on time and need to cut your workout short, replace your normal sets of each exercise of a given workout with 1-2 straight drops only.

2) DOUBLE DROPS

Double D's come in two forms: compound and super. Compound doubles combine two moves that work the same bodypart, whereas super doubles consist of alternating between drop sets of two opposing muscle groups. Double D's will likely drain you for the rest of your workout, so use these as either a replacement for your last two exercises of a bodypart or the only exercises for a bodypart.

STARTING WEIGHT 5-10RM for each of the two compound or super double exercises chosen

DROP IN WEIGHT, FROM SET TO SET 5-20 pounds

REPS PER DROP SET to failure

TOTAL DROP SETS no fewer than 3

TOTAL RACK RUNS 1-5

TIP

A bent-over dumbbell row (for back) followed by a flat-bench dumbbell press (for chest) is one example of a super double; an incline dumbbell curl followed by a dumbbell preacher curl (both for biceps) is an example of a compound double. Of course, double drops are most effective when you go right into the other bodypart or exercise, so whenever possible, be close to the next machine, bench or next set of dumbbells with which you plan to work.

3) ONE-HIT WONDER

Though similar to Straight Drops, the One-Hit is performed as a separate exercise that allows for a modest rest period between the completion of your last set of a regular move and the start of a One-Hit. Additionally, a One-Hit drops in the smallest dumbbell increments available (for example, 100-95-90-85-80), instead of allowing you to randomly choose a lower weight with each consecutive set.

STARTING WEIGHT 3RM

DROP IN WEIGHT, FROM SET TO SET 5 pounds (or smallest increment possible)

REPS PER DROP SET to failure

TOTAL DROP SETS at least 5

TOTAL RACK RUN 1-3

TIP

One-Hits are a good supplement to an already rigorous program. If you follow a 3-4-days-per-week routine, occasionally replace each lift with just one monster One-Hit on a training day.