It has always astounded us that even pro’s tend to stick to only the range of motion of a given exercise. Basically people only do exercises based on the resting position to the end of an exercise movement. In other words. the range people always get stuck using is the one that comes with the exercise. This means everything depends on exercise choice and how well it fits your body dimensions and skill level.
We find this astounding because it is so simple to break down any exercise into other ranges and find the ones which work best for you. We think this is largely overlooked because most folks often difficulty feeling their actual muscles working. Lack of mind-muscle feel makes it tough to decide if what you are doing is appropriate.
Example/test pattern (Push-ups, dumbbell squat and dumbbell curl
Instead of once again selling our view-point we suggest you just try it and make your own comparison to what you might normally do. This should suffice to at least peak your curiosity. We call this *Zone Training but you can call it fluid partials or whatever you like.
Here is the test pattern, take any exercise you are use to and try it like this:
Perform a rep in the bottom section of a familiar exercise (say about a third of the full range) then back to the start and do a full rep. Then don’t come all the way back to the start but follow up with another short rep at the end range of the exercise. If, after about 60 seconds, you don’t feel a big difference from just full reps then you may need other mind-muscle tools. We are pretty darn sure you will be surprised to note that even with lighter than normal weight you get a huge effect. Just do as many reps as you can.
Try a few different exercises and then tune back in because we have plenty of great patterns to experience. The short video demo should make this pattern easy to pick up on.
Be well, be strong,
Andrew and Tierney
* We co-wrote three books on the methodology which was originally developed by Brian Johnston founder of our Alma Matter the IART (International Association of Resistance trainers).
We are Ottawa based personal trainers specializing in 1-2-1 private high intensity exercise as detailed in the book ‘Body by Science’.
wefit.ca 