Pushing sleds, carrying stones, and tossing barrels...

I just posted last week's workout log. As you can see, two decent workout sessions last week. I was particularly proud of my partial squats, as I worked up to 3 sets of 6 at 735 pounds. It was super fun!

This week, however, I am changing things up. I needed to drop a few more pounds, and I still want to increase strength. So, I opted for a week of strength and athletic conditioning exercises. Monday I started with stone carrying and sled pushing. The sled was loaded up with 400 pounds. The stones were actually boxes, so a bit easier to handle, but filled with between 50 and 125 pounds. I also did weighted step-ups where I lunged upward while carrying the stones.

In terms of reps, I am not sure exactly how many I did. I just know that I alternated between the movements for about 3 hours. You can bet I was pretty sore and tired afterward.

Then yesterday I did barrel tossing and dragging. The drags were something like a farmer walk, where your shoulders and calves start to burn at the end of the eighty yard mark.

Today was a bit lighter, but I did a few more barrel tosses just to keep things moving. I'll likely take a rest day tomorrow and Friday, and then go back into a regular workout on Saturday. So far though, it feels great. Some good conditioning and I am still chipping away at the weight. Hoping to come into nationals leaner than I have been in a few months, and a lot stronger too!

The Art of Partial Reps

Likely, you have seen plenty of people doing partial reps at your local gym. Many of them unfortunately are just using improper form, and never actually complete a full range of motion during any of their training sessions.

However, before you go around judging people who do partial reps and slapping them with your protein shaker, there are many benefits to them! I first encountered them in high school. My coach talked about them as a tool for busting through plateaus. But, since then I have seen them in many routines. Many powerlifters use them of course, but so do bodybuilders and your casual gym-goer. The key to get the most out of them, is to use them correctly.

There are two main ways to integrate partials into your routine. The first is to use them for every training session for your major lifts (squats, bench press, and deadlifts) for 2-3 weeks. The other way (which is what I am experimenting with now) is to pick one day a week to use partials, while keeping the other days the same.

A partial rep can technically be applied to any portion of the movement, but generally when discussing partials, we are talking about the last 4-6 inches of a movement. It is the point where your muscles and joints have the most leverage, and therefore can produce the most power. You'll be able to push far heavier weights if you focus on this small portion of movement- just make sure you have a power rack to protect yourself.

No, seriously, if you don't have a power rack, don't do partials!

In my normal squat training programs, I work with 400-500 lbs, give or take fifty pounds. However, with partials I work several sets of 6 reps with as much as 735 pounds. The idea is that due to the massive amount of overload with the added weight, the tendons, ligaments, and muscles are forced to adapt to something they have never done before. Sometimes it also tricks the brain into thinking that normal heavy days where you train with full range of motion repetitions at 90-95% are lighter.

You can see in the video that the catch pins are set nice and high in the rack. This provides optimal safety. I squat 551. My body is nowhere near prepared to try a full squat with 735 pounds. Also, I train alone, but even if I had a spotter I wouldn't want to try this kind of weight without the pins. Safety first.--Just another plug for power racks--

After squats I moved right into partial bench presses. I usually pattern my training to mirror Powerlifting Meets, and the order is always Squats, Bench Press, and then Deadlifts.

For my working sets on partial bench, I used 415 lbs. Last month I got 363 in the meet, so it is more than I can do, but frankly it is not super impressive as far as powerlifters go. Still, it's impressive for me and that's what counts. (I did get 505 today as well, but could only do one partial with it.)
For squats I did several sets at 735 with 6 reps each. For the bench, I kept reps at 5. You can see that I am not bouncing off of the catch pins, that would jar the body. (And wreck the rack...)

You can also set up the power rack for partial deadlifts. Technically they are called "rack pulls." You can use the catch pins to set the bar above or below the knee joint, but you want to focus on the top part of the lift. I haven't used these before so I am still getting used to the movement. For now I am only doing sets of 505 with singles, doubles, and triples. It's actually quite a bit lower than my max of 562, but I want to make sure I have the form exactly right before I throw on heavier weights.

If you want to incorporate partials, be sure you have a power rack. (Yes, I am repeating that again.) Also, make sure you focus on the last four inches of the major movements. Many natural strongmen who performed legendary feats of strength used partials. (Look up George Jowett for just one example.)

Here are a couple of good links if you want to look at more information on the subject.

https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/training-partials-for-stronger-tendons-and-bones

 http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2008/07/tendon-ligament-strength-by-brooks.html

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-training-your-tendons-is-important-and-11-ways-to-do-it/