FREE Fitness Articles For Your Website! Increase your site traffic now! Use the professionally-written fat loss, muscle-building and exercise articles you find in the BetterU News Archive FREE on your website. Click here for details

NOTE: All articles in BetterU News are written by Nick Nilsson -
http://www.fitstep.com/ unless otherwise credited.

---

Partial Training For Full-Powered Results Training in a partial range of motion can be the key to blasting your way past strength plateaus quickly. Find out why always using a full range of motion may actually be hurting your progress!

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.

---

Partial 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!

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.

Want more articles like this? Subscribe to BetterU News now! E-Mail:

---

Learn: -Training Secrets That Will Show You How To NEVER Hit a Plateau in Your Training Ever Again. -Programs That Will Build Your Glutes Larger, Rounder and Firmer Quickly. Guaranteed!! -How To Do Exercises That Are So Unique, You’ll Gain Muscle in Places You Never Even Knew You Had! Sound interesting? Find out more at: http://www.fitness-ebooks.com

---

Secret Training Tip #427 - Chain & Plate Side Delt Laterals An incredible new side delt exercise that will help you build a dramatic V-taper.

The lateral or side deltoids are what make your shoulders wider. You can’t change your bone structure therefore building these muscles is the only practical way to accomplish that increased width

I’ve come up with a variation of the side delt lateral raise that places not one but two distinct angles of tension on the delts at the same time. Normally, when you do dumbell laterals, you only get tension on the delts because gravity acts directly on the dumbells, pulling them straight down. This new exercise also adds tension on the delts laterally (directly out to the sides). Combined, these two angles of tension make for a far more effective movement for training the side delts. (There will be a link where you can see pictures of the set-up as well as how the exercise is performed at the end of the article.)

For this exercise you will need the following equipment: two single cable handles, barbell weight plates, two clips, and a three-foot length of chain or cable (if you use a cable, you must have loops you can hook the handles onto at both ends. This is why I prefer the chain. You can get a three-foot length of chain for a few bucks at any hardware store - it’s worth it!). Be sure you get a fairly thick quality of chain that is rated to at least several hundred pounds or more.

Even though the motion itself is exactly like the dumbell lateral, the application of tension is very different. You will get more tension for a longer period with this exercise, and it's all concentrated on the lateral delts.

For pictures on how to set up and perform this exercise, go to the following URL:

http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue16-delt.htm

Want more articles like this? Subscribe to BetterU News now! E-Mail:

---

Nine More Of The Most Outrageous Exercises I’ve Ever Seen... You’ll be amazed that people don’t put themselves in the hospital with these exercises. The scariest part is, I’ve actually witnessed people doing them!

When you’ve been training and going to gyms for as long as I have, you witness some pretty bizarre interpretations of exercises. I’m all for variety and experimentation (in fact, I wrote a book about it called "The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of - http://www.thebestexercises.com) but these exercises go above and beyond (and not in a good way).

A word of warning: do not try these exercises EVER!

1. Trampoline Presses - set yourself up on a bench press station with approximately 5 to 50% more weight than you can safely handle. Unrack the bar, drop it on your rib cage at 200 m.p.h., then use the elasticity of your bone and cartilage to get the weight back up. Your rib cage should bend inwards at least 2 to 3 inches on each rep.

2. Dumbell Bowling - this one works only with round dumbells. Do a set of dumbell flyes. At the end of the set, don’t set the weight down gently. Roll them out of your hands directly to the sides in an attempt to knock over the people to either side of you. A broken toe gets you 5 points while a broken ankle gets you 20.

3. Spastic Colon Squats - you don’t want to know.

4. Behind-The-Neck Pulldowns to the Waist - take a wide grip on the pulldown bar. Set the weight as light as possible. If you can attach a helium balloon to it to further reduce the resistance, that’s even better. Pull the bar down behind your head. Continue the motion down your middle back until the bar is level with your waistband. Let the bar up as fast as possible and repeat.

5. Wide Grip Spaz-Chicken Pushdowns - hook a pulldown bar to a high pulley. Take a wide grip on the bar (near the ends). Do a quick pushdown movement from there. You will look like a chicken having a panic attack.

6. Finger-In-The-Light-Socket Pull-Ups - this one doesn’t require much of an explanation as you’ve probably seen it in action before. If you’ve ever seen someone thrash around so hard to complete a pull-up rep that they kick themselves in the teeth, you know what I’m talking about.

7. Bug Masher Push-Ups - this is a variation of the push-up that requires a lot of abdominal flexibility. Get into the top push-up position. Now, without bending your arms, slap your pelvis against the ground as though trying to squish a bug with it. Flop up and down repeatedly like this until you either rupture something or someone comes up and asks you if you’re okay.

8. Hack Machine Back Breakers - set up in the hack squat machine facing the machine instead of the normal way (facing out). Unrack the sled then lower it down like a front squat. Be sure to round your back completely over as you lower the sled down in to the squat. Your body should resemble a "C" shape (note: this posture may become permanent after a few sets).

9. Barbell Bench Presses in a Deserted Gym - this exercise is the most dangerous one of the bunch. I used to go to a gym that operated on a card-lock system so people could get in and work out after hours when there was no supervision. I came into the gym later in the evening one day and found somebody lying on the bench with a heavy barbell stuck on his chest and yelling for help. I ran over and pulled it off him as fast as I could. When I asked him how long he had been stuck under the bar, he told me about half an hour!!

To finish up on a similar but unrelated topic, I have one final word of advice: always make sure the treadmill has come to a complete stop before you bend down to tie your shoelace. Neglecting to do so can result in you being rolled off the end like a turtle on a conveyor belt. I’ve seen it happen and it’s not pretty (darn funny but not pretty).

To read the prequel to this article entitled "The Top Ten Most Outrageous Exercises I’ve Ever Seen" go to the following URL:

http://www.fitstep.com/Misc/Newsletter-archives/issue5.htm

Want more articles like this? Subscribe to BetterU News now! E-Mail:

---

Are You Interested in Building Larger, Firmer, Rounder Glutes? Look no further. "Gluteus to the Maximus" has arrived! You simply will not find a more comprehensive guide to building and shaping your rear end. Don't just take my word for it, read what people who have read the book have to say... http://www.fitness-ebooks.com

Want More Powerful Fitness Information? Read another issue of BetterU News now!