A primer on
strength curves
Every exercise has a specific strength curve, which basically means that
they either get harder (descending), easier (ascending), or harder and then
easier (concave), throughout the range of motion because of the biomechanics of
the body.
Not a single exercise requires an identical amount of force to be produced
throughout a full range of motion. Some machines have been developed with the
hopes of creating a delicate balance in which the amount of force required
matches the amount of resistance provided, but even the most technologically
advanced machines still have their flaws.
Because of this, muscles are not thoroughly stimulated through a full
range of motion with a given amount of weight, because the amount of weight that
can be lifted through a full range of motion is limited only by how strong weight
can be lifted through the weakest range of the movement. Therefore, to fully
stimulate a muscle throughout its entire range, a different approach is going
to need to be taken than the traditional method in which you select a weight
and perform a full range of motion till failure, as this will only ensure that the
muscles are fully fatigued through the range in which they’re weakest.
Some examples that nearly anyone can relate to, to help drive the point
home, are the squat, bench press, pull up, and barbell curl. The first two
movements have an ascending strength curve, meaning that biomechanically we are
much stronger as we move from the lowest bar position in relation to the floor,
to the highest bar position in relation to the floor. In these examples it is
the top of the movement that is undertrained through traditional full range
reps.
The pull up has an opposite effect because it has a descending strength
curve, meaning that biomechanically we are much weaker the higher up we try to
pull our body. In this example it is the bottom of the movement that is
undertrained through traditional full range reps (although most people generally
fail to pull themselves through a full range of motion as is, and in those
cases it’s only the bottom of the range that is really trained at all).
The barbell curl, because of the mechanics of the body, as well as lever
lengths, has a concave strength curve, meaning that the weight becomes harder
to lift until the arm is parallel to the floor, but then becomes easier after
the halfway point as the lever is shortened in relation to the center of
gravity/base of support. In this example it is both the beginning and end range
of motion that is undertrained with traditional full range reps.
I’ve got some bad
news, and I’ve got some good news
People generally want to hear the bad news first because by contrast the
good news is much better, as well as the fact that they want to know what
they’re dealing with so they can mentally prepare. Often the bad news isn’t
that bad, and there’s an immediate sense of relief, and I expect the same to
happen here.
The bad news is that, doing what you’re already doing will not produce a
greater result, and if you want to see positive change, and make more progress
than you’re currently making, you’re going to have to adopt a mentality that is
open to change and doing things differently. In this case it means you’re going
to have to accept the idea that there is room for improvement to the strategy
you’re currently using.
The good news is that there’s a simple answer, and it has to do with
performing exercises with what you probably would consider ‘bad form’, or ‘ego
lifting’. You know those guys in the gym who put on more weight than they could
ever hope to lift through a full range of motion, but they want to look strong
so they perform only a partial range of motion? Yeah, those guys! Well, there
actually are benefits to lifting like that and benching only through the top
half of the movement or performing quarter squats. The only problem with the
guys who are generally seen doing this is that this is the only type of lifting
they do.
Because strength is gained in the range it is trained (actually there is
about a 15-20 degree carryover), the full benefits of actually going to the gym
and doing something won’t be reached if all you ever did was perform the
easiest part of a movement (irrespective of how much more weight you’re
lifting). While partial reps have a place in building strength and muscle,
without concurrently implementing full range movements, your efforts won’t take
you very far, and you easily could end up with an unnecessary injury.
If you’re going to
do it, do it right!
Partials should never be the backbone, or cornerstone of any routine. They
should not be the ‘go to’, but rather the secret weapon to catalyze newfound
development (whether that be strength or size) and break through a plateau. The
ultimate goal should determine how exactly you implement them in what would be
considered the ‘right’ way.
Partials for
strength
Depending on the movement, as well as the range of motion in terms of
distance the weight will be travelling, most people can handle anywhere between
120-150% of full range max, give or take, through a partial range. If you flip it
around, it means that certain muscles involved in a given movement are
essentially 20-50% under stimulated when performing that movement with a weight
that you can handle through a full range of motion, and that’s if you were
lifting a 1 rep max. Therefore, if you want to fully stimulate the muscles
involved, you’re going to need to use a heavier weight, albeit through a
limited range (working your way from the top down), or perform additional work
through a partial range (working your way from the bottom up).
One caveat for using partials to increase strength is that, even though
you may be able to handle loads in excess of 120% of full range max through a
partial range of motion, it is in your best interest to limit the volume of
work performed with more than 120% of full range max, as loads above 120% do
not involve the same motor patterns as those for a max effort (100%), therefore
having less than optimal carryover to increasing your current full range
maximum (although the confidence that is built by lifting weights that far
exceed your full range max will have positive carryover).
On the flip side, loads under 90% also do not involve the same motor
pattern as a full range max (100%), so it’s best to adjust your workouts so
that the majority of work that is performed is with loads that represent
between 90-120% of full range max. Even if you could lift in excess of 120% of
full range max, your efforts may be better suited to using under 120% but
making up for it with an increase in volume (just do more sets and reps).
Top down, chrome
spinnin’
When working from the top down, you’re deliberately choosing to devote
time and energy to developing the top of the movement because you can handle the
greatest amounts of weight in comparison to what you can handle through a full
range. By prioritizing this part of the movement you expose your neuromuscular
system to greater loads than would otherwise be possible. At the completion of
the desired amount sets and reps, you then switch gears and focus on performing
the movement with a greater and greater range until reaching full range.
Obviously you will need to adjust the weight accordingly as you will be
battling both fatigue, and increased range of motion, however, performing heavy
partials first can have a potentiating effect which will make the lighter
weights feel lighter by contrast, and you may be able to perform either more
reps, or use slightly more weight.
Here’s an example of a ‘top down’ workout used to improve performance in
the deadlift:
A: Top ¼ deadlift (above knees), 4 X 4-6, 2 min rest (perform as much work
with 120% of full range max as possible, while limiting the amount of work you perform
over 120%)
B: Top ½ deadlift (below knees), 4 X 4-6, 2 min rest (perform as much work
with over 100% of full range max as possible)
C: Deadlift (from floor), 3 X 6-8, 2 min rest (perform as much work with
no less than 90% of max as possible)
Bottoms up, cheers
As you may have predicted, the bottoms up variation takes a reverse
approach to overloading the range of motion in which you are strongest. With
the top down approach the goal is to overload the range in which you are
strongest by simply lifting more weight, but with the bottoms up approach the
goal is to continue performing reps through the range in which you are
strongest after completing the desired amount of sets and reps through a full
range. This way you’re able to attack the movement through its full range while
you are fresh, so there’s no guessing as to whether or not you’ve made progress
since the last training session, as fatigue can’t be a limiting factor. The
best thing about this method is it removes the need to perform warm up sets as
you move through each variation of the movement, and you should be able to at
least use the same amount of weight, if not more (as high as 20-30% more), because
the full range is used to warm up for heavy partials. This is also referred to
as ‘stacking’ because you’re stacking similar exercises together to improve the
efficiency of the workout by reducing the amount of time wasted warming up.
Here’s an example of a ‘bottoms up’, or ‘stacking’, workout used to
improve performance in the deadlift:
A: Deadlift (from floor), 4 X 3-5, 2 min rest (perform as much work as
possible with over 90% of max)
B: Top ½ deadlift (below knees), 3 X 5-7, 2 min rest (perform as much work
as possible with over 90% of full range max, and increase weight as much as you
can)
C: Top ¼ deadlift (above knees), 3 X 5-7, 2 min rest (perform as much work
as possible with over 90% of full range max, and increase weight as much as you
can)
Partials for size
More often than not, the purpose of a training technique geared around
using more weight is usually to build upon your strength levels. But that
doesn’t mean that you can’t use the same technique to build muscle. All that
really needs to be done is a few minor adjustments to some of the parameters to
increase the overall time under tension. Yes, this means that by simply using
slightly less weight and combining that with reduced rest periods, you can use
the exact same examples above to put muscle on.
If you wanted to really crank up the volume and density to really maximize
the hypertrophic response, you could perform the workouts in superset fashion.
With the top down model you would need to rest long enough to adjust the
weight, as well as adjust the bars in the power rack to allow for more range
(or you could have a separate barbell ready to go from the floor if that’s an
option). With the bottoms up model you simply rep out, and as fatigue begins to
limit performance, simply reduce the range of motion to the part where you are
strongest only (these are often referred to as ‘burns’, and generally work very
well with isolation movements – preacher curls, leg curls, triceps pressdowns, etc
– in which you continue to perform very small partial reps upon reaching full
range failure. You’ll know right away why they call them burns).
Here are examples of a ‘top down’ and ‘bottoms up’ workout used to build
muscle using the deadlift:
A1: Top range deadlift, 4 X 8-10, 10 seconds rest
A2: Full range *deadlift, 4 X 10-12, 2 min rest
*This is where having a separate barbell with the right amount of weight
ready to go would increase the efficiency of the set/workout.
A1: Deadlift (from floor), 4 X 12-15, *NO REST
A2: Top ½ deadlift (below knees), 4 X 8-10, *NO REST
A3: Top ¼ deadlift (above knees), 4 X 6-8, 3 min rest
*No rest is needed because you simply just keep going and reducing the
range on the fly as fatigue sets in. The rep recommendations listed are just
that, recommendations, as fatigue is likely going to make it hard to plan, or
predict, just how many reps you’ll be able to get as the set/workout
progresses.
For variety, here’s an example of a ‘burn’ using triceps pressdowns:
A1: Full range pressdowns, 20 reps, NO REST
A2: Lockout pressdowns (performing only the bottom of the range of motion),
20 reps, 2 min rest
The goal with burns would be to match your partial range rep total with
your full range rep total. If you complete 20 reps with a full range, then the
goal is to get 20 partials. These can be done with nearly every exercise.
Depending on the movement, you may even be able to use more weight as you
fatigue, and after reaching full range failure! Yes, you did read that
correctly, and yes, you could essentially perform an ascending superset in
which you increase the weight for your partials after reaching full range
failure.
Impossible? No,
but easier said than done...
Given that time under tension is of paramount importance when training to build
muscle, one way to implement partials to really take your training to the next
level would be to perform a drop set with a full range of motion to ensure as
many motor units are recruited and fatigued as possible throughout a muscle’s
entirety, before performing partials through a very limited range with a
heavier weight.
For example, the straight-arm raise (either laterally, laterally while
bent over, or to the front while upright) is an exercise in which the length of
the lever arm becomes increasingly longer with every degree in which the arm is
raised away from the center of the body. This means we become significantly
weaker as the arms are raised away from the body (descending strength curve).
On the flip side, this suggests that we are significantly stronger through the
first few degrees of range. Therefore, because of the strength discrepancy
between the first few degrees of range, and the last few degrees of range, it
is not unreasonable to think that you couldn’t perform a drop set, or two, to
failure through a full range before picking up a heavier weight than you
started the set with, and banging out a few partials.
Here is an example of a full range drop set with an ascending partial
using a straight-arm raise (lateral raise, bent over lateral raise, front
raise, doesn’t matter):
A1: Straight-arm raise, 4 x 6-8 reps, rest 10 seconds
*A2: Same straight-arm raise with 20-25% less weight, 4 x 6-8 reps, rest
10 seconds
*A3: Same straight-arm raise with 20-25% less weight again, 4 x 6-8 reps, rest
10 seconds
A4: Partial straight-arm raise with 20-25% more weight than you started
with, 4 x 4-6 reps with a 2 second pause at the peak contraction, 2 min rest
*These sets are not completely necessary, so if performing a triple drop
set is something that doesn’t appeal to you, you could easily go from one full
range of motion set right into the partials. Also, if you wanted to go down the
rack and perform several drops in one shot before attempting partials, then
that’s your prerogative.
Partial the range,
double the results, can’t beat that!
By now it’s got to be pretty clear that partials can be used in many
different ways to kick your training into overdrive. The only limitation really
is your imagination, as pretty much any exercise can be modified in such a way
that you can overload a muscle more through a partial range of motion, than
would happen naturally through full range of motion training. They can be used
to increase strength because of the potentiating effect that lifting heavier
weights has. They can be used to build muscle because they allow you to
increase the time under tension upon reaching full range failure by modifying
the range of motion. In some situations there’s a great enough discrepancy
between full range and partial range strength that you can even use more weight
upon reaching full range failure to push your body beyond its limits. Or, they
can even be used to both pre-exhaust, and post-exhaust a muscle, sometimes within
the set! On that note, here is one final blueprint.
Here is an example of how to use partials to both pre-exhaust (which will
make the full range weight feel lighter by contrast), and post-exhaust (which
enables you to prolong the time under tension, and do so by using a greater
load) a muscle, using the standing calf raise:
A1: 12 half reps, 2-3 second pause in stretched position
A2: 12 full reps w/20-25% less weight
A3: 12 half reps again w/10-15% more weight than was used for full range,
4-6 second pause in stretched position
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