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Have
you ever thought to yourself "I wish I didn't
have to do
the whole rep even though I know I'm supposed
to?"
Well,
guess what? You don't!
Not
only are partial-range reps perfectly "legal,"
they can be far more effective than full-range
reps for building serious strength as quickly
as possible.
Partial
range reps, which I will refer to as "partials"
from now on, are basically reps done in a specific
range of motion. A partial bench press, for example,
may involve doing only the top six inches of the
range of motion. Partial reps have one major advantage
over full range reps: you can target your resistance
to the specific range of motion you are working
in.
Think
of the bench press again. You know how much easier
the weight feels after you get past the sticking
point. Obviously, that sticking point is limiting
the amount of weight you are able to use on the
exercise.If you are only able to get 200 pounds
past the sticking point, but your chest muscles
are capable of handling 300 pounds once you're
past it, you will be limiting your ultimate muscle
mass and strength levels by only using 200 pounds.
This
is where partial training comes in. By working
only in the range of motion ABOVE the sticking
point, you can use far more weight and, therefore,
work your muscles at a far higher threshold. By
working at a higher weight, you will not only
be getting your muscles used to handling those
heavier weights, you will be building your connective
tissue to help handle those loads.
From
personal experience, I know how dramatic the effect
training the connective tissue to handle heavier
loads can be.
For years, I was stuck a maximum of 300 pounds
on the flat bench press. No matter how hard I
worked, nothing seemed to help. Then I discovered
partials.
By
working partials consistently, I brought my max
bench press up to 350 pounds in a matter of months.
It made me realize that my connective tissue strength
was holding me back, not my muscle strength, and
nothing builds connective tissue better than extremely
heavy weights.
To
give you an idea of the kind of weight your body
may be capable of moving with partials, while
at a bodyweight of approximately 210 pounds, I've
done top range partial bench presses with 750
pounds and top range partial squats with 1100
pounds. Partials with this extremely heavy weight
builds up incredible connective tissue strength
and helps you build strength extremely quickly.
Partials
are useful not only in the ranges of motion where
you can use the heaviest weights, but in the ranges
of motion where you are at your weakest. Using
the barbell squat for an example, think of where
the weakest point in the range of motion would
be. The very bottom, right?
Now
imagine setting up a barbell in the power rack
at the very bottom position of the squat. You
get under the bar, then, starting from a dead
stop, you squat the weight up a few inches then
lower it back down to the safey rails.
All
of the stress of the exercise is placed on your
muscles in their least favorable leverage, which
will build up your weakest point. This can dramatically
increase your strength and power in that weak
range, which can have a dramatic effect on how
much weight you'll be able to use for full range
reps.
Partial
training concepts can be applied to almost any
exercise you can imagine, however partials are
certainly more appropriate for some exercises
than others. This is especially true of exercises
that already have a short range of motion or need
a full range of motion to be effective.
Some
exercises partials work very well for include:
bench press (a barbell is much better than dumbells
as you can use the power rack rails to easily
adjust your range of motion), squats, deadlifts,
barbell and dumbell curls, barbell shoulder press,
dips, close grip bench, pushdowns, bent-over rows,
and calf raises.
There
are several very important things to note about
partial training:
1.
You should keep some full range movements in your
program. Don't do partial movements exclusively
for too long. I would recommend alternating sessions
of partial and full-range training.
2.
Training with extremely heavy weights is extremely
demanding on the body. You may find you need more
time to recover from partial training sessions
than regular training sessions.
3.
Because this training strongly affects the connective
tissue, it's a good idea to supplement with
nutrients that support the joints. These include
Vitamin C (helps support collagen formation),
calcium, glucosamine and chondroitin, MSM, and
gelatin. These nutrients will help your body to
recover faster from this heavy training.
4.
Heavy partial training should not be done long
term. I normally limit partial training to 6 weeks
at a time, returning to full-range training for
awhile. Taking time off partials not only allows
your body time to recover from the extremely heavy
weights but gives you a chance to put your newfound
connective tissue strength to work in full-range
training.
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Partial
Rep Pointers
Describing
how to do partials for every exercise I mentioned
previously is beyond the scope of this article,
but here are some pointers that will help you
use partials in your workouts.
1.
The power rack is your best friend. By setting
the heights of the safety rails appropriately,
you can stop the barbell at nearly any point in
the range of motion of almost any barbell exercise.
2.
Before you do a heavy partial rep, be sure to
prepare yourself. Tighten up your muscles and
prepare mentally. Partials are very different
than full reps because of the far greater weights
you'll be able to use.
3.
Set aside your preconceptions of how much weight
you're capable of lifting. You really will
be amazed by how much more you can lift when you
only work in your strongest range of motion.
4.
Don't forget about working in your weakest
ranges of motion too. It may not be as glamorous
but working the weak range is very important for
building up maximum full-range strength.
5.
Work your poundages up gradually but don't
be afraid to push yourself. Just because you can
lift a ton more immediately doesn't necessarily
mean you should. For the first few sessions, only
go about 10 to 20% over your full range one-rep
max. You need to give your body a chance to adapt
to this totally different type of stress.
Your
progress should be steady after that. Increases
of up to 50 pounds or more per session are not
uncommon on some of the larger muscle exercises
such as bench press or squats. Try to move your
poundages up each session, even if it's
only by 5, 10, or 20 pounds.
6.
Have fun!! You'll relish the incredulous
looks you get from other people when you get to
the point where you can lie down under a bar loaded
with 7 plates on either side. You may have to
apologize to others for using all the weight plates
though!
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To
sum it up, partials are an extremely valuable
training technique. They can help you blast through
strength plateaus by building up not only your
muscles and connective tissue, but your confidence
with very heavy weights as well.
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