I appreciate your input oldmma... Thank-you.
I did do the rack pulls the night before last and really started of light just to make sure I got my form down first before attempting to go heavy and naturally I worked my way up to what really felt suitably heavy for me.
One thing I think I should of mentioned in my original post is my reasoning for incorporating the rack pulls into my routine are not necessarily to build strength but more for variety. In the last several weeks doing the deadlift has been a trigger for my sciatic nerve to flare up leaving me feeling a bit crippled for a day or two and it has mattered on how light I backed my wieght off either.
Anyway, I started to do the rack pulls for reps rather than heavy wieght and at first I was concerned that this would not be a good idea. However, I did get alot of feedback from some other reliable sources that this was alright considering my goals.
After actually doing the pulls, I think for the interim I'm going to do them at least once a week for a few weeks as a replacement for my dl and then reincorporate deads back into the routine. I will however vary the hieght level at which I do pull from. I started at my knees so next week I'll lower my pins a notch and feel my way around it. Oh and the good news, the day after I did the pulls my sciatic nerve absolutely did not flare up but my back felt torn up!!!! Well, in a good way!
