As a CrossFit coach, I often hear “the front rack position hurts” or “the bar is choking me!”. In my physical therapy practice, common complaints are finger, wrist, elbow, shoulder and back pain and occasionally numbness and/or tingling in the arms or hands.
Unfortunately the front rack position is not comfortable for most people because it is just not a position we are used to.
In the sports of Olympic weightlifting and CrossFit, it is difficult to avoid the front rack position. (though if you are not a competitor, things can always be modified!)
But…
…that doesn’t mean you have to live in pain.
There are lots of components to an optimal front rack position and optimal position will vary person to person. However, if you are lacking mobility in one or more areas, the front rack position can be even more uncomfortable and potentially lead to pain or injury.
Usually there is a downstream effect. Meaning that if you have wrist pain, most likely the cause is the thoracic spine or shoulder. (AKA something other than the wrist) If you know that your elbow mobility is limited due to biceps muscle mass, then you will have to make up for that in other areas. Either some other area is going to take a beating OR you need to really improve your mobility in those other areas to avoid pain or injury.
This athlete lacks external rotation leading to increased stress on his wrists & fingers in the front rack position.
What exactly do you need for a good front rack position?
wrist extension
elbow flexion
shoulder flexion/lat mobility
thoracic extension
muscular strength and endurance of your mid-back and shoulders
This athlete may benefit from strengthening her mid-back, which could help keep the elbows up. Her position may also improve with some cuing.
Helpful coaching cues:
“elbows up”
“chest up”
“spread your wings”
“lead with your elbows”
It is also important to mention that there may be issues with lower body mobility that could also affect the front rack position. If front rack position doesn’t improve with cueing or working on upper body mobility, then start looking at the lower body….but I’ll save that discussion for another day.
Want to learn how to improve
your front rack mobility?
Written by Beth Ansley, PT, DPT, OCS, CF-L1
For questions contact me at beth@arrowptseattle.com