Partial movements (M&F mag article)

[rerard]

I was reading an article this morning in Muscle & Fitness mag and was wondering what you guys thought about it. It was talking about using partial reps to build up strength in press exersizes. For example in bench you would start with 10% more than your 1 rep max but only go down a couple inches and do a couple reps like that. Each workout you would go down a little further, the idea being that eventually that would be your new max. Sounds great but my only question is, if your weak part of the movement is when the weight is down by your chest, then shouldnt you be working that area? What I mean is wouldnt it make more sense to do the bottom part of the rep (close to the chest) using less weight?

What do you guys think?

[NateDogg]

If your goal is strength, I am a proponent of training weaknesses in the movement you wish to be strong in. Therefore, yeah, if you're weak out of the hole, try setting pins in a power rack at about chest level and bench from the bottom up.

Welcome rerard.

I haven't read the article in M & F regarding partials, but about a year ago I was having real troubles with my shoulders. Going heavy for a long time took its toll on them. So for 3 months I did nothing but partials on all of my exercises, following the "Power Factor" theory of training. It worked wonders! My shoulders healed, and better yet, I didn't lose any size or strength.

What you describe sounds like a poor man's way to lift with chains. Will the system you describe work?Possibly. Doesn't seem too far fetched. Give it a try for a few months and see how it works.

[Jaster]

Yeah we use something like that in my powerliftin training.

[rerard]

Ok great, thanks for the feedback guys, ill give it a try.