I hope people don’t take this too far and only start training the stretched position. One of the biggest arguments for full ROM has always been to maintain good biomechanics in the real world and to equally strengthen your muscles, tendons, and ligaments through their full ROM. If people start ONLY doing stretched reps, I think you’ll start seeing more injuries and chronic postural/mechanical issues
Been doing only “stretched reps” for years, no injuries, stronger and in better shape than I ever was doing full ROM. Took me about 8 years to figure out that full ROM is bullshit. Maximum time under maximum (relative) pressure is king.
I think lengthened partials could be especially effective for pressing movements, because: 1. It is easier to keep upper back and overall posture tight without the top-half of ROM. I feel like I can focus better on moving the weight with proper tempo if I don't have to use so much mental focus on my posture. 2. triceps start taking over in the top-half of the range of potion (especially on barbell presses) This isn't necessarily a bad thing but still worth mentioning.
especially on barbell presses, i definitely feel my triceps and shoulder a lot more than my chest on bb bp when compared to dumbbells and the rear delt/chest fly press machine.
You won't implode on pulling movements if you bend your spine. Obviously talking about SOME of them like cable or machine work. Barbell compounds are obviously not worth the risk. But yeah, as long as it's a safe and controlled exercise, bending your back can give you an even bigger stretch.
After 50 plus years of training its always great to learn more merhods..i have used partial reps many times over the years..but i never was sure they were effective...having documented proof most definitely helps your training effectiveness...i will make sure i start applying these to all my body parts ..the key to being natty and 65 is not to over train also...recovering is very important..finding just the right workout that hits the sweet spot is most important to me...thanks for sharing 😊
im 51 now and been training with weights 37 yrs, like you i tto have to train smart, for instance using HIT fomat saves time but can cause us injury due to the intensity, so at 51 i dont want to live in the gym, life is too short so i want to get the most out of my workouts max benefits. like you i have tried partial reps before but i discovered i was getting burnt out much quicker compared to doing full reps.
I agree in part, however I think it's important to note that these methods to increase overall intensity should be applied for that reason, to reach a higher level of fatigue. Meaning I'd opt to do these long-range partials at the end of a set or workout after you've done your full ROM training. There is benefits to completing the full range of motion simply from a movement/mobility stand point and allowing different joints to rotate and operate well, but 100% love the long-range work for a pump!
@@mikopaqnot really. Long stretched partials are probably much much more hypertrophic fer muscle and grows more mind connection to ligaments and joints probably. And it also is a light cardio so to speak since ye are always under pressure throughout the set.
It was great coming on, Jeff! Happy to answer any questions about lengthened training as replies to this comment. And if you want some more content on the topic, feel free to check out the channel!
I'm confused doesn't the full ROM include the stretched motion too? For example when doing bicep curls i try to stretch and milk the eccentric motion this is my full ROM, is this what the analysts mean when they mention full ROM? Thank you in advance! Edit- if the prior statement is the case then how did this score better than full ROM is it because of doing extra lengthened partials at the end of the set?
@@arjunravichandran1768 The full ROM *does* include the lengthened position, but lengthened partials allow you to spend more time in that anabolic position. Likewise, even if a movement is hardest in the shortened position - lengthened partials cut that out, making the lengthened position challenging!
This is what I started doing about 8 months ago for my biceps as they are the hardest muscle for me to grow. And wouldn't you know it... my biceps started to blow up. I attribute it to the fact that I can use more weight and hit more quality lengthened partials than full ROM and stimulate greater muscle hypertrophy. It's also less taxing on the core as I don't have to stabilize through a full ROM and I don't end up cheating the weight up to get the full ROM. Surprisingly, I also began being able to engage my left bicep better (I've always struggled with mind-muscle connection to my left bicep). Not sure the mechanism behind that, but I can statically squeeze my left bicep SO MUCH better than I could 8 months ago. I just started about 7 weeks ago doing this for my chest as it's my second hardest muscle group to grow and I am actually starting to notice new growth (I know 7 weeks isn't much time and maybe it's placebo... but I'm going to keep going with chest and see what happens). One last fun fact... this is what I've always done with my calves (because going all the way to my tippy toes hurts my planter's). So I always did the bottom 50-60% of the range where I don't get planter's pain and my calves are literally the most developed muscle group on my body and all the guys at the gym would always tell me how they wish they could have my calves. I never really put 2 and 2 together until almost a year ago looking through some info on this topic.
I found the same with calves. Jeff turned me onto leg press calf raises and its basically a lengthened partial lift as you barely hit peak contraction but there is constant tension at the deep stretch. Easily my favorite calf exercise. I'll definitely experiment with them more on biceps as that has been a stubborn muscle for me as well.
Can vouch for calves. I don't have a good physique(yet) but I have gigantic calves. And i mean like big meaty and incredibly toned calves that look 3d from the front too. To get those, it took me pushing a lot of bikes. And when you grab the handlebar and push bikes, calves work hard while never reaching full contraction. So they are constantly working from full stretch i.e 0-70% rom. Try it out to see how it feels. This way, calves are trained with incredibly high volume. So there are no sets or limited reps. I used to push bikes from anywhere between 400m to 2km roads. Dont ask why cuz it's difficult to explain why i pushed bikes ;) In conclusion, 0% to 60% or 70% ROM with high volume. Just do standard calve raises with high volume in stretched positions, or push stuff for long distances.
Full ROM machine calf raises did some funny stuff to my right foot toes recently, sometimes they cramp just standing around. I'll definitely try just the bottom half.
Just be careful with fully lengthening your bicep behind your body. Forcing progression via extra weight too soon can cause a biceps tendon rupture which takes a long LONG time to recover from. Trust me!
Another exercise that I think gets a big boost in support from this is dumbbell pullovers. Always loved them myself, but everyone always said the resistance curve was bad. Looking a lot better these days
Today I incorporated long partials with 3 to 1 reps on cable flyes. You can definitely feel the intensity change between the 3 long partials and 1 full ROM! Thank you Jeff for always providing us amazing and thorough content!
Solid video. I’ve been mixing these in after decades of the same of workouts and noticing positive results. Great explanation of how it works. Can’t believe I’m just stumbling upon you now Jeff.
Interesting stuff. I think I'll still stick with full ROM for most sets just because of how satisfying it feels but using long length partials as a mechanical dropset on the last set of some exercises sounds like a great idea. Could see that working pretty well for cable flies too
@@nygeek6471 ya i watched the video. The leading researcher on the topic said he is only doing these partials in his training. I'm just saying I don't think I'd ever do that even if it does give a significant increase in gains over full ROM. I just enjoy full ROM too much
after watching sam sulek ive started doing partials at the end of most sets of most movements. have seen crazy growth over the last 8 months doing it, gained 8kg and still basically as lean.
I mean, Cbum has been doing this on preacher curls forever. As have probably decades of pro bodybuilders. Adding those partials is free and the basic logic back then and now has been "if I can still manage a couple of parial reps, that means the muscle isn't fully exhausted, so there is more growth to be had".
This is also something I do intuitively during my back training. Since the bottom stretch of pull-ups and rows is so gnarly and I can move through it even when I fail to finish the peak contraction, I’ve done a lot of sets where I focused on that. Fail full room and still milk it as long as I can reach the deep stretch. My back is now the most developed part of my body lol
@taeveo9471 he could have did body weight squats. With the aid roids give you. And studies show guys that take roids with not working out at all would gain muscle before a natural lifter that's lifting. That's my point
Kudos to you Jeff for being willing to change your mind on the dumbbell fly due to evidence. While I’ve always loved the science based approach, I think the some more old school body builders just stumbled upon these types of micro adjustments by focusing on the pump and neural drive components. So when they give tips and training suggestions they’re trying to explain these concepts their body just knows in simple terms. It’s great to have actual terminology placed on these small details that make a big difference. One concept worth thinking about is a matrix of the types of the different types of techniques and which ones you can combine for even more optimization. For example I imagine using drop sets with lengthening partials could yield good results.
Man I've always wondered about this. When I do curls, lateral raises, gosh, pretty much every exercise I do there's always this certain range/area where I don't feel any contraction or like the muscle is no longer being challenged and always wondered if I should just cut that portion of movement out but all the pros say "Full range of motion!!!!" lol Fantastic, the way we keep learning new stuff. This video makes TOTAL sense to me. Can't wait to start incorporating this from now on. Thanks a bunch!!!
8:34 Seeing bro Jeff doing some pretty intense stuff always cracks me up. Certainly seems like an advanced intensity technique for sure that we’ll catch up eventually. 😁 Really awesome to see Dr. Milo on the channel. He’s been doing great work in the research field. It’s absolutely fantastic to see him getting recognition that he clearly deserves. Thank you for featuring qualified and experienced people like him and introducing me to many of them. Your videos have been immensely helpful. Your hard work is highly appreciated. Incorporating lengthened partials to maximize hypertrophy is certainly a good idea. I loved your recommendations of using them as an intensity technique and also doing them exclusively for some exercises. I use both full range of motion and lengthened partials and it’s been working like a charm. Excellent video and highly insightful. Everything was explained in a very comprehensive manner. This is a very complete video that deals with all aspects of lengthened partials. 🙏💪👍
100% convinced that a combo of full rom & lengthened partials will prove to be the best approach. After all, reduced injury risk when you end up outside of the partial range you train, strength, capacity and lean mass across the entire length of the muscle are all important. And if all your squats, rows, presses happen in the lengthened partials over 20+ years time, I just can't see that producing a better result than doing both lp and full rom will provide. Solid video as always 👊☕
Agreed. Even in full rom lifts, I've been trying to take more time in the second half of the eccentric phase recently. Seems to be the best SFR for certain movements (like hack squats and incline press) over lengthened partials -- for me, atleast.
@@ayubshaik2907 Just stuff with lots of protein. Eggs are expensive now. Protein infused drinks and yogurts cost a bundle. I can't afford pork anymore which is where I got a lot of protein and I can only get a few chicken wings. Milk is the only thing I could afford but it made me pee all the time
Nah, chicken breast is more protein-efficient per calorie than most raw why protein powder. Just get chicken breast, rice in bulk, and broccoli, and you're good to go.
By "YouSum Live" 00:00:10 Long length partials surpass other techniques in muscle growth 00:01:45 Long length partials may be superior to full range of motion 00:02:00 Long length partials trigger the most muscle growth 00:02:46 Long length partials are recommended by leading researchers 00:03:36 Long length partials enhance hypertrophy training 00:08:25 Partial reps should maintain control and form 00:09:25 Limiting range of motion on partials is crucial 00:10:12 Combining full range and partials is optimal for growth By "YouSum Live"
I've been incorporating more and more lengthened partials in my training ever since I found Dr. Wolf's youtube channel at the end of the summer. Chest supported rows, pull up machine, peck deck have been really good. Tricep and bicep exercises too. Great pumps and pretty awful/good soreness, if that means anything. Hardest thing for me in the beginning was to standardize my reps: full rom is full rom and you know when you've done it. I needed to reprogram my brain a little bit to get used to the shorter rom.
Agreed, Ive been adding them as intensity techniques (as Jeff and others recommend) and I have been liking them a lot. I usually only add them to the last set of the last week of my mesocycle because tracking them is difficult. I feel like the most growth I've seen is doing these on rows and pull-downs because the peak contraction fatigues so much earlier than lengthened partial reps.
Key points: * Long length partials are a type of exercise that involves doing half reps in the stretched part of the range of motion. * They are more effective for muscle growth than short length partials or full range of motion exercises. * They can be used as an intensity technique to extend the last set of an exercise beyond failure. * They can also be used on every rep of a set. * When doing long length partials, it is important to maintain good control and limit the range of motion enough. * Long length partials are not a replacement for full range of motion exercises, but they can be a valuable tool for building muscle.
I've been saying the same thing about dumbell flys since the evidence for stretch mediated hypertrophy became known to me. There is a reason that all the bodybuilders from back in the day did them and it's because they're effective. It's also changed the way I look at the seated chest press machine in my gym. I used to stay away from it because at the end of the movement my hands were no closer together than when they'd started (which as we know is the one of the main functions of the chest muscle - bringing the upperarm across the body) the movement, so I thought it was a bad chest exercise. I could feel all the tension in my chest mostly at the start of the movement and less so at the end, and I thought (to be fair, intuitivel) feeling the muscle contracting hardest at the end point of the movement was the most important aspect of an exercise for hypertrophy. Now we know that's not the case I am going to put it back in my training plan for sure.
I’ve been enjoying the new bodybuilding workout program, Jeff. It’s been really kicking my butt and it’s a great way to improve my technique. I feel that I’ve been stagnating for a long time in the gym. I’m not quite 100% as I have a sprained shoulder that needs to finish recovering, but I’m excited to really fulfill my potential with this program when it’s better.
Bought you new program, do partials and they are amazing! You could feel the difference especially during integrated patitals. Now I treat full ROM rep as a sort of "rest" rep, because *properly* doing just partial is so much more difficult.
Really appreciate the detail in this video. I feel like bodybuilders have been doing LLP for decades but they weren’t called LLP… just “partials.” It’s great to have more research to support the method and use in programming 👌
If yall haven’t, the squats Jeff was doing where you just skip the lockout are actually KILLER, even if you don’t go for partials try that on leg press and squat, insane pump
i've actually been thinking of implementing these long stretch partials into my workouts (possibly for every rep) because my elbows are a bit F'd. they like to click when i try a full range. i'm glad the science behind these types of reps are coming out to show good results.
Noobie bodybuilding has become the cult of full ROM. Which I believe should only be used for certain exercises such as deadlifts and possibly bench press. Almost everything else, you get so much more out of it from doing “long length partials.” I haven’t done full ROM in years. The fact that maintaining the ROM with the maximum amount of tension is heresy to so many fitness enthusiasts is disappointing.
I remember the day when people would make fun of Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman for not going all the way up on their bench presses and many other movements. It’s just funny to see how bodybuilders who train instinctively get scrutinized for their training methods, but they always seem to be ahead of the curve in terms of methods.
was so curious about this (cuz of sam, obviously). Love that you covered it. Awesome content as always Jeff! It's insane to think L partials could be better than full rom. Trying them after the set starts failing is actually extremely difficult -- it's incredible to watch sam blast out like another 5-10 partials after. I try and I can just get like 2 or 3.
I've started doing stretch partials and they are the biggest game changer I've incorporated in the years of training I have been doing. As you mentioned, it doesn't even seem to have much opposition in the fitness community.
@@NikateeN You could either do stretch partial "pumps" after your set using full range of motion, or do accessory exercises with heavier weights with partials. For example, after finishing my weighted pull ups workout with 65 lbs, I would do scapular pulls with 125 lbs.
This is pretty interesting. Tom Platz talked about this in his group training video, the one where he dry humped the air while doing leg extensions. He might not have known the science behind it, but he knew they worked. Ahead of his time.
Out of all the TH-camrs that talk about weight lifting, I've come to like Jeff Nippard the best. His videos have a lot of actual science behind them, not the "bro science" that is so prevalent in gyms. However, I'm almost 50, so I've adopted a hybrid system for my workouts, based on a couple of his videos. This is my full body split, mainly because I'm in law enforcement and I work 12 hour shifts with rotating off days: Week 1 Friday - work out Saturday - work out Sunday - work out Monday - rest Tuesday - rest Wednesday - work out Thursday - workout Week 2 Friday - rest Saturday - rest Sunday - rest Monday - work out Tuesday - work out Wednesday - rest Thursday - rest Back to week 1 This split gives me some extra rest time after 2-3 days of working out, but I'm still hitting full body multiple times within any seven day period. The work out days are while I am on duty (we have a gym - lunch break is spent there), and the rest days are when I am off duty. However, I do various forms of cardio on my off days (including heavy metal drumming...yes, it's cardio!!!) even if it's just walking. I really enjoy this split and it works great for my almost half a century old body.
On week 2 of the bodybuilding PPL prog - so damn good. I was initially against the 4 days in & 1 day off split as I like to keep my days the same but honestly it’s been amazing + holds me accountable to be up early for the gym, even if it’s a weekend! Thanks Jeff!
This is mad interesting. I've always did long-length partials till failure on some exercises, but never had dedicated routine for it because I didn't know it actually had any benefits. Looking forward to implementing this into my push, pull, legs split. May alternate days between full ROM and long-length partials.
@@aaryamanrattan8662 I wish I had more to share with you, but I haven't been able to be as active in the gym as I wanted to because of life😅. However, I incorporating them into my brief at-home workouts, and the results have been nice. For example, after integrating partials into my push ups for a couple weeks, then doing sets without them, I feel a lot more explosive, and can do a greater number before failure. Same for my bodyweight squats.
Thanks for all this information you consistently put out for free. These videos in conjunction with your new PPL programming has been feeling far superior to anything I’ve previously done while incorporating less volume than I’m accustomed to. Game changer, to say the least.
This is a game changing video. I've long heard of using partials, particularly from John Meadows, but he presented them as something extra when you've failed at full ROM, getting a little more TUT, something additional that's better than nothing .... (He also, of course, did heavy, high-rep lateral raises ...) But this puts a new spin on it - partials for their own sake, with their own merits and benefits. I started experimenting in the gym yesterday - leg presses with partials alone, partials after full ROM, alternating a few reps of each ... Chest press machine alternating full ROM with partials in a single set, or doing countdowns: 5 full ROM + 5 partials, then 4 each, 3, 2, and 1, or 5, 3, 1, or 5, 3, 2, depending on how you're feeling (all with no breaks). Of course, 1 1/2s are another familiar version. Wondering whether 21s arm curls might not be as useful as 14s - skipping the upper half (non-stretched) partials. In any case, I'll be using this technique a lot, now that I've come to think of partials in this new way. Thanks, Jeff.
The thing I noticed with the long length partial squat was the lack of lockout at the top. The lockout at the top of the movement is where there is minimal activity and effort. A built in, sneakey rest. By not returning to full upright position a substantial load is maintained through the entire set. Same thing with push ups. I've always believed in full range of motion, but keeping the elbows bent for the entire set generates a more intense exercise.
you should also mention the fact that not all the muscles benefit from stretch mediated hypertrophy. for example, for biceps a mid position curl would work the best. also you should also take in account the fact that longer length training produces more muscle damage so you'd need to adjust your volume for each different muscles depending on the amount of longer and shorter length training
At present, the evidence is consistent in all muscles that have been studied: lengthened training grows more muscle than shortened training. This includes the quads, hamstrings, glutes, adductors, calves, biceps and triceps.
Its probably most beneficial to do them on a movement where the hardest part of the range of motion is in a lengthened position. But If a movement is shortened biased (ex. Spider curls), then I’m going to make sure I go through the part of the range where most of the work is being done. Or else just don’t pick shortened biased movements
The scientist he interviewed said the opposite in a comment above. He said to do them for exercises where the short part is the hardest like many back, rear delt or biceps exercises.
Not only is this a game changer for benching,but it massive strengthens the lower part of the move where most are likely to fail,so keeping you safe if there's no spotter.
Jeff, first, you're almost to 4M subs, so early congrats! Second, Sam Sulek is quickly catching up on your 3.98M subscribers. I think he's at 2.15M as of yesterday!
Love it. What about a video on benefits on staying natural? Keeping hormones regular, acne, blood pressure. I'm sure there's way more. Keep it up Jeff!
About the only benefit is not having the negatives of steroid abuse😂😂. Otherwise you'll be smaller,weaker,look worse than an enhanced guy, people also don't realise you do not need some turbo cycle to become elite if your genetics respond so you can still be healthy enough and live long. Life is sht do what you want no difference dying at 40 or dying at 50 to something worse than heart failure or liver failure, as a man your chances of having a happy family with these hores out there is slim to none so why bother stressing.
Have there been any studies on the relationship between long-length partials and strength? If your goal is stronger pull ups, would adding long-length partials be detrimental or beneficial?
John Meadows was on to this before any study came out. He has one and a half reps, bottom-half partials, and 1/2 and 3/4 reps in programs from 10 years ago. He wrote it in programs as the primary rep style, and as an intensity technique. Dips, pec deck, rear delt flys, laterals, pull downs, hacks and the list goes on. You can use this on any movement.
Sergio Olivia trained this way. I saw an article about his philosophy and training. Good stuff on this channel. It's helping me make gains at almost 67 year's old
The science based community finally figuring out what gym bro's have known for decades. Training to failure and hitting partials to failure elicits a lot of growth. The idea of doing your last set as all partials is something I hadn't considered previously and I'll most certainly give that a try.
Love this vid. I'm left wondering about using long lift partials with weights you wouldn't be able to do with FROM, and then switching to lower weights after to FROM or combinations of. Great stuff! Really got the wheels turning and expanded my thinking.
That would only work well for exercises like rows where the hardest part is the shortened position though. Sure you could bench a weight too heavy for FROM from chest up until your sticking point maybe, but the setup would be rough. Only doable with safety bars then. Depends on the exercise I guess, OHP you could just do the setup but never reach lockout. Reminds me of rack pulls above the knee done with much more weight than people could deadlift FROM, although those technically would've been shortened partials. Or maybe not, if they were done for the traps instead of the posterior chain. Interesting topic indeed.
I've seen people at the gym doing this, and when I've asked them they normally say they have bad joints and get less pain doing partials. So it's good to know I can do partials if I've got a bit of elbow pain, and not lose any gains. As if I get elbow pain I normally do isolation exercises like flys, so I don't damage my elbows.
Hey Jeff, I am a huge fan of your effort to provide updated while highly useful, nuanced, and actionable advice on the internet. In your "How To Train Like A Minimalist" video, you mentioned how drop sets can be used to allow for more high tension reps while reducing time in the gym. Connecting this video with the minimalist video, it appears to me that long-length partials could be more effective in a minimalistic routine, compared to drop sets, to both save time while stimulating hypertrophy, would you agree (if not why)? Or is this just majoring in the minors?
IMO they both have their utility, but you know they're not mutually exclusive, you could certainly combine them in whatever fashion suits you. However I believe drop sets only has evidence as a good time saving tool, whereas lenghtened partials seems to be a superior hypertrophy method overall (compared to full ROM) and should probably have some place in any hypertrophy routine whether minimalistic or not. My 2 cents, no expert
Long length partials, a technique focusing on exercising muscles in their most stretched position, have been shown by multiple studies to be more effective for muscle growth than both short-length partials and, in some cases, even full range of motion exercises. Leading researchers and the speaker support incorporating this technique into hypertrophy training for a potential 5-10% improvement in muscle growth. However, it's recommended to balance long length partials with full range of motion exercises for the best overall results.
What I like about the evidence is that it's telling me not to end a set just bc I can't get the weight past the sticking point. Sure I can sometimes cheat it past to full contraction, but now I have good reason just to keep repping from full stretch to halfway knowing it's giving great growth potential (it also never ceases to amaze me how we get all this great info for free!).
I think a key point is being overlooked in these studies! These studies were designed by selecting a weight that would lead to failure at a fixed number of reps. But what is "failure"? As Jeff pointed out in the video, many exercises at full ROM only become possible to continue at partial ROM. So, in these studies, the full ROM group would have had to stop if they couldn't complete the next rep at full ROM. The long length partial ROM test subjects on the other hand would be able to push themselves much harder. In other words, I think a test group using full ROM until it was no longer possible, and then switching to partial ROM for the last few 'close to failure' reps, would probably see similarly improved results over the "I stop once I can't do full ROM" group.
WOW!!!! I was taught this type of workout by a bodybuilder about 40 years ago. I guess he was way ahead of his time! He called them "sevens" where you did a set of 21 reps (7 upper, 7 lower, 7 full range). I tried it a few times, then forgot all about it. Thanks for the incredible instructions. I will work these back into my workouts.
I'm 68 years old and thought I'd heard of everything, but this is new to me. I've tried partial reps, but long-length reps is an interesting twist. I'm definitely going to try this - thanks for posting!
Jeff, I think you should examine the same topic considering joint and connective tissue health. Because muscle growth is not the only physical benefit of weight lifting.
The best way to apply this is pushing more reps through partials once you reach failure at full ROM. Beyond muscle growth, it's vital to teach our bodies to move as they're intended avoiding injuries and imbalances.
love the idea of some researchers in lab coats getting a quail to get absolutely yoked out his gourd, some dude spotting the quail as it benches 250 grams, completely shattering previous quail based wing exercise records
You can get gigantic pumps if you do stretch partial pull ups. You only do the bottom third of the pull up, but you have to make sure the lats and biceps stay engaged the entire time (never let go of tension at the bottom and end up in a dead hang position... but about as close to a dead hang as you can get without actually releasing tension). I find these work especially well with wide grip underhand pull ups, but they do require very good stability and external rotation your shoulders, but they put the lats on stretch way more than overhand pull ups.
I tried it when I was experimenting with single set to failure combined with constant time under tension - this pretty much enforced lengtened partials to stay in the movement range that kept high tension on the muscle, although for some exercises (like curls) it also meant not going to full extension, beacuse that's where the tension is minimal. I grew way more muscle than ever before, that being said I was (and still am) a relative beginner so I would grow no matter what, and the extra growth could be attributed to consistently hitting true failure for the first time, and then going beyond it with drop sets. Pumps were insane. Sets were significantly harder than the regular ones due to lack of "mini rests" in the locked-out position, and the burn would start hitting very early in each set. It took a lot of willpower to grind through that burn and hit failure. Thank you Jeff for the idea of having every other rep being a lenghtened partial, that sounds like a reasonable middle ground that also keeps sets comparable to each other (unlike dumping on the lenghtened partials onto the last set).
This shows true science. The ability to admit that one opinion was incorrect for a new opinion that is showing more promise. love the honesty over pride
those partials are that effective not because of the stretch, but because of the lack of pause / constant tension which is not happening when locking out each rep
Anecdotally, I've always done partials on my calves, for no reason other than a trainer suggested it, and over the years i saw much faster growth in my calves than anywhere else
Keep in mind that the anterior shoulder is vulnerable to anterior subluxation in the fully horizontally abducted position especially when externally rotated. A friend permanently injured his shoulder by doing this technique and "popped" his shoulder out doing "flies" on a machine.
I unintentionally figured this out 20-25 years ago when I built massive legs simply by playing soccer for hours daily, without ever going to the gym. Running/sprinting doesn't use full range of motion (no locking out knees or hitting your butt with your heels etc.) and yet it worked. On a slightly related note, I didn't have access to any supplements, so I figured out that they were also not necessary. I just ate lots of dairy, chicken and some veggies. And no, I'm not some genetic freak, just an average dude.
I'm sorry but running around for hours is NOT normally conducive to big legs, quite the opposite in fact, so chances are you ARE genetically gifted in that regard. There's virtually no pro footballer with muscular legs, no distance runners, distance cyclists etc. Muscles that can perform for hours and hours without stopping are usually very thin to allow for more efficient energy use.
Bodybuilders have been doing this decades and people thought it was stupid because it wasn't full ROM. Just goes to show that maybe we should listen to the professionals when it comes to bodybuilding
My assumption is that full-rom lifter often don't put in as much effort into their lifts. You might reach "failure" as in you can no longer do another rep with full range of motion but still have so much extra left in the tank. By making the lift easier (lightening the load with a drop set, making the form less strict by cheating, or in this case limiting range of motion) you can grind out a bit of extra from your muscles which results in more gains. Pretty simple.
You should take into account the research on proxima/distal hypertrophy with long length partials causing more distal hypetrophy and movements with a full contraction against resistance causing more proximal hypertrophy. This could be a big disadvantage for pec training for instance, where we really want the inner chest to fill in and doing only lengthened partials would in theory strongly bias the outer as opposed to inner pec.
My two cents after 27 seconds in. Partials allow focus on smaller muscle groups while saving energy on the large muscle groups. If your large muscles fatigue then partials are just harder to do. With more focus placed on smaller muscle groups you can increase definition and all around size because your smaller muscles will be bulging too.
If you only train a partial range of motion you’ll develop a dysfunctional muscle and imbalance betweeen your strength curve . Kinda common sense why full range of motion prevents injury and people who train partials always end up injured when their muscles get forced into a full range of motion beyond its capabilities
Yes. Most people skip the negative which is perfect to do slowly. Your muscles will recruit the most fibers going slowly. You can even see it. It’s the slow motion more than partial. A pause at the reversal part is even better. You’ll burn ATP like crazy. You can even do less reps which is great for the joints.
Actually its the gentics most ethic cultures respond to the pump differently than others . Ive tried full range and it doesn't work for me but short range works for me . I found out with my uncle that is built and used his methods .
- Remember the way many bodybuilders train? Partials basically - Remember Tom Platz his hamstring curls? - Remember Arnold's flies? - Ever heard of "1,5 reps"?
That cable bicep curls "partials" is what I did years ago.... called 7-21's, 7 bottoms, 7 tops, 7 full range with max weight.... massive growth excercise.
It's ALL I do...as do my trainees. The best move I've made in 46 years of dedicated training. I knew about them in 2003, but the penny didn't drop till a few years later. You have to choose the best exercises for the job. For lats. parallel pulldown, using JUST your lats. Seated db laterals and/or high pulls (below belly button height) are prime medial delt builders. Everyone sees a dramatic change in width and thickness within 2-3 weeks. My book; Heavy Duty Memoir explains how best to put them into effect.
As you mentioned in the video, this would work great for Incline Smith Machine Press. Even though I always instinctively knew never to lock out on chest presses because you lose mechanical tension on the targeted muscle, which is the chest, this takes it to another level. I really like the technique you used on the pec dec and could also be applied to chest presses as well if you still want some of that contracted position at the top end. I love that we are learning more and more every day about training in real time. We are seeing innovation in hypertrophy right before our eyes and actually have the means of testing to our for ourselves in the earlier stages of training as opposed to body builders in the Ronnie Colman era. You would have to be a fool not to take advantage of this new information.
Been doing this mostly for shoulders and biceps and it works amazing, didn't know it has such a scientific significance. Thanx Jeff for highlighting the research
I hope people don’t take this too far and only start training the stretched position. One of the biggest arguments for full ROM has always been to maintain good biomechanics in the real world and to equally strengthen your muscles, tendons, and ligaments through their full ROM.
If people start ONLY doing stretched reps, I think you’ll start seeing more injuries and chronic postural/mechanical issues
Exactly
🤔
Like Jeff said, do it for last set or 2 only. Else use integrated partials. But FROM is a must.
Been doing only “stretched reps” for years, no injuries, stronger and in better shape than I ever was doing full ROM. Took me about 8 years to figure out that full ROM is bullshit. Maximum time under maximum (relative) pressure is king.
why would doing only lengthened partials lead to injuries? how are ligaments and tendons not involved in lengthened partials?
The smartest intensity technique is to watch Jeff Nippard while you lift.
Epic.
Instead of
Bro 🥹
Yeah, you get additional IQ gains.
Watch Blood and Guts.
I think lengthened partials could be especially effective for pressing movements, because:
1. It is easier to keep upper back and overall posture tight without the top-half of ROM. I feel like I can focus better on moving the weight with proper tempo if I don't have to use so much mental focus on my posture.
2. triceps start taking over in the top-half of the range of potion (especially on barbell presses) This isn't necessarily a bad thing but still worth mentioning.
exactly
Good idea. I might try that on my next dumbbell pressing exercise.
especially on barbell presses, i definitely feel my triceps and shoulder a lot more than my chest on bb bp when compared to dumbbells and the rear delt/chest fly press machine.
💯
You won't implode on pulling movements if you bend your spine. Obviously talking about SOME of them like cable or machine work. Barbell compounds are obviously not worth the risk.
But yeah, as long as it's a safe and controlled exercise, bending your back can give you an even bigger stretch.
After 50 plus years of training its always great to learn more merhods..i have used partial reps many times over the years..but i never was sure they were effective...having documented proof most definitely helps your training effectiveness...i will make sure i start applying these to all my body parts ..the key to being natty and 65 is not to over train also...recovering is very important..finding just the right workout that hits the sweet spot is most important to me...thanks for sharing 😊
Who said i followed his advice...i train instinctively and always switch things up.
@wiccanwarrior9 "newby nonsense" while he cites over 10 different supporting clinical research studies.
Yall are deeply pathetic, insecure people.
im 51 now and been training with weights 37 yrs, like you i tto have to train smart, for instance using HIT fomat saves time but can cause us injury due to the intensity, so at 51 i dont want to live in the gym, life is too short so i want to get the most out of my workouts max benefits. like you i have tried partial reps before but i discovered i was getting burnt out much quicker compared to doing full reps.
@wiccanwarrior9 "nonsense" coming from a wiccan is some goofy bull though lol.
GODDAMN HOW OLD ARE YOU
I agree in part, however I think it's important to note that these methods to increase overall intensity should be applied for that reason, to reach a higher level of fatigue. Meaning I'd opt to do these long-range partials at the end of a set or workout after you've done your full ROM training. There is benefits to completing the full range of motion simply from a movement/mobility stand point and allowing different joints to rotate and operate well, but 100% love the long-range work for a pump!
Well said! You are 100% correct.
@coolguitargear Changing up your routine regularly will allow you to experience growth spurts regardless of your gimmick.
Jeff said the same thing. Even gave examples of incorporating long-range partials into full range. Did you watch it all? 😜
@@mikopaqnot really. Long stretched partials are probably much much more hypertrophic fer muscle and grows more mind connection to ligaments and joints probably. And it also is a light cardio so to speak since ye are always under pressure throughout the set.
@@samdennis9654 There's no such thing as a long range partial idiot. Either it's full range of motion or partial.
It was great coming on, Jeff! Happy to answer any questions about lengthened training as replies to this comment. And if you want some more content on the topic, feel free to check out the channel!
Wth, you are so fast Dr.
I'm confused doesn't the full ROM include the stretched motion too? For example when doing bicep curls i try to stretch and milk the eccentric motion this is my full ROM, is this what the analysts mean when they mention full ROM?
Thank you in advance!
Edit- if the prior statement is the case then how did this score better than full ROM is it because of doing extra lengthened partials at the end of the set?
does it work for strength training?
@@arjunravichandran1768 The full ROM *does* include the lengthened position, but lengthened partials allow you to spend more time in that anabolic position. Likewise, even if a movement is hardest in the shortened position - lengthened partials cut that out, making the lengthened position challenging!
What are some of the best exercises to incorporate Long Length Partials other than what Jeff has listed?
This is what I started doing about 8 months ago for my biceps as they are the hardest muscle for me to grow. And wouldn't you know it... my biceps started to blow up. I attribute it to the fact that I can use more weight and hit more quality lengthened partials than full ROM and stimulate greater muscle hypertrophy. It's also less taxing on the core as I don't have to stabilize through a full ROM and I don't end up cheating the weight up to get the full ROM.
Surprisingly, I also began being able to engage my left bicep better (I've always struggled with mind-muscle connection to my left bicep). Not sure the mechanism behind that, but I can statically squeeze my left bicep SO MUCH better than I could 8 months ago.
I just started about 7 weeks ago doing this for my chest as it's my second hardest muscle group to grow and I am actually starting to notice new growth (I know 7 weeks isn't much time and maybe it's placebo... but I'm going to keep going with chest and see what happens).
One last fun fact... this is what I've always done with my calves (because going all the way to my tippy toes hurts my planter's). So I always did the bottom 50-60% of the range where I don't get planter's pain and my calves are literally the most developed muscle group on my body and all the guys at the gym would always tell me how they wish they could have my calves. I never really put 2 and 2 together until almost a year ago looking through some info on this topic.
I found the same with calves. Jeff turned me onto leg press calf raises and its basically a lengthened partial lift as you barely hit peak contraction but there is constant tension at the deep stretch. Easily my favorite calf exercise. I'll definitely experiment with them more on biceps as that has been a stubborn muscle for me as well.
Can vouch for calves. I don't have a good physique(yet) but I have gigantic calves. And i mean like big meaty and incredibly toned calves that look 3d from the front too. To get those, it took me pushing a lot of bikes. And when you grab the handlebar and push bikes, calves work hard while never reaching full contraction. So they are constantly working from full stretch i.e 0-70% rom. Try it out to see how it feels. This way, calves are trained with incredibly high volume. So there are no sets or limited reps. I used to push bikes from anywhere between 400m to 2km roads. Dont ask why cuz it's difficult to explain why i pushed bikes ;)
In conclusion, 0% to 60% or 70% ROM with high volume. Just do standard calve raises with high volume in stretched positions, or push stuff for long distances.
Full ROM machine calf raises did some funny stuff to my right foot toes recently, sometimes they cramp just standing around. I'll definitely try just the bottom half.
Just be careful with fully lengthening your bicep behind your body.
Forcing progression via extra weight too soon can cause a biceps tendon rupture which takes a long LONG time to recover from. Trust me!
💯🫡
Another exercise that I think gets a big boost in support from this is dumbbell pullovers. Always loved them myself, but everyone always said the resistance curve was bad. Looking a lot better these days
Great point. One could definitely a video on all those excercises.
Noticed from experience myself too!
100%, it has an awesome stretch and is a great exercise
I use cable instead of dumbbell by exercising the pullover， the resistance curve goes way more better and lengthen my ROM。
Always did this for flies as well.
Today I incorporated long partials with 3 to 1 reps on cable flyes. You can definitely feel the intensity change between the 3 long partials and 1 full ROM! Thank you Jeff for always providing us amazing and thorough content!
Solid video. I’ve been mixing these in after decades of the same of workouts and noticing positive results. Great explanation of how it works. Can’t believe I’m just stumbling upon you now Jeff.
Interesting stuff. I think I'll still stick with full ROM for most sets just because of how satisfying it feels but using long length partials as a mechanical dropset on the last set of some exercises sounds like a great idea. Could see that working pretty well for cable flies too
You don’t do it only. See Mike mentzer. You fail for full ROM, but can still do partials in lengthened. Jeff talks about it at 4:15
@@nygeek6471 ya i watched the video. The leading researcher on the topic said he is only doing these partials in his training. I'm just saying I don't think I'd ever do that even if it does give a significant increase in gains over full ROM. I just enjoy full ROM too much
after watching sam sulek ive started doing partials at the end of most sets of most movements. have seen crazy growth over the last 8 months doing it, gained 8kg and still basically as lean.
I mean, Cbum has been doing this on preacher curls forever. As have probably decades of pro bodybuilders. Adding those partials is free and the basic logic back then and now has been "if I can still manage a couple of parial reps, that means the muscle isn't fully exhausted, so there is more growth to be had".
@@DJcs187 so you switch to the partials when you're close to failure?
This is also something I do intuitively during my back training. Since the bottom stretch of pull-ups and rows is so gnarly and I can move through it even when I fail to finish the peak contraction, I’ve done a lot of sets where I focused on that. Fail full room and still milk it as long as I can reach the deep stretch. My back is now the most developed part of my body lol
So with the pull up will the partial be not pulling to the top or not coming all the way day?
@@kingdevine7374 Not pulling to the top.
If you look at Ronnie Coleman's old training DVDs, he did exactly this. Especially in squats and bench.
Yeah I noticed that too
Almost every old bodybuilder did it but since the whole "it's not optimal bro" became a thing in fitness people stopped doing it.
He also took body crippling roids
@@newnewfolk21What's your point?
@taeveo9471 he could have did body weight squats. With the aid roids give you. And studies show guys that take roids with not working out at all would gain muscle before a natural lifter that's lifting. That's my point
Kudos to you Jeff for being willing to change your mind on the dumbbell fly due to evidence.
While I’ve always loved the science based approach, I think the some more old school body builders just stumbled upon these types of micro adjustments by focusing on the pump and neural drive components. So when they give tips and training suggestions they’re trying to explain these concepts their body just knows in simple terms.
It’s great to have actual terminology placed on these small details that make a big difference.
One concept worth thinking about is a matrix of the types of the different types of techniques and which ones you can combine for even more optimization. For example I imagine using drop sets with lengthening partials could yield good results.
Man I've always wondered about this. When I do curls, lateral raises, gosh, pretty much every exercise I do there's always this certain range/area where I don't feel any contraction or like the muscle is no longer being challenged and always wondered if I should just cut that portion of movement out but all the pros say "Full range of motion!!!!" lol Fantastic, the way we keep learning new stuff. This video makes TOTAL sense to me. Can't wait to start incorporating this from now on. Thanks a bunch!!!
8:34 Seeing bro Jeff doing some pretty intense stuff always cracks me up. Certainly seems like an advanced intensity technique for sure that we’ll catch up eventually. 😁
Really awesome to see Dr. Milo on the channel. He’s been doing great work in the research field. It’s absolutely fantastic to see him getting recognition that he clearly deserves. Thank you for featuring qualified and experienced people like him and introducing me to many of them. Your videos have been immensely helpful. Your hard work is highly appreciated. Incorporating lengthened partials to maximize hypertrophy is certainly a good idea. I loved your recommendations of using them as an intensity technique and also doing them exclusively for some exercises. I use both full range of motion and lengthened partials and it’s been working like a charm. Excellent video and highly insightful. Everything was explained in a very comprehensive manner. This is a very complete video that deals with all aspects of lengthened partials. 🙏💪👍
Always dropping these gems we appreciate you Jeff🙏
100% convinced that a combo of full rom & lengthened partials will prove to be the best approach. After all, reduced injury risk when you end up outside of the partial range you train, strength, capacity and lean mass across the entire length of the muscle are all important.
And if all your squats, rows, presses happen in the lengthened partials over 20+ years time, I just can't see that producing a better result than doing both lp and full rom will provide. Solid video as always 👊☕
Agreed. Even in full rom lifts, I've been trying to take more time in the second half of the eccentric phase recently. Seems to be the best SFR for certain movements (like hack squats and incline press) over lengthened partials -- for me, atleast.
So how do you implement this in practice? Every other rep is a partial or at the end of a set for intensity ?
I can't do weight training anymore because I can barely afford the food. Everyone makes it seem so easy but it's very expensive to become strong
I can afford it but i cant even eat enough
@@jeffk4710 I found it difficult at first but you get used to it. I just couldn't afford the food and wasn't getting enough sleep
What food are you talking about? Like a general 'nothing to eat' case or 'gym specific' costly food?
@@ayubshaik2907 Just stuff with lots of protein. Eggs are expensive now. Protein infused drinks and yogurts cost a bundle. I can't afford pork anymore which is where I got a lot of protein and I can only get a few chicken wings. Milk is the only thing I could afford but it made me pee all the time
Nah, chicken breast is more protein-efficient per calorie than most raw why protein powder. Just get chicken breast, rice in bulk, and broccoli, and you're good to go.
By "YouSum Live"
00:00:10 Long length partials surpass other techniques in muscle growth
00:01:45 Long length partials may be superior to full range of motion
00:02:00 Long length partials trigger the most muscle growth
00:02:46 Long length partials are recommended by leading researchers
00:03:36 Long length partials enhance hypertrophy training
00:08:25 Partial reps should maintain control and form
00:09:25 Limiting range of motion on partials is crucial
00:10:12 Combining full range and partials is optimal for growth
By "YouSum Live"
Really want to hear Dr.Mike's opinion on this topic. This is so interesting. Would definitely use it for my focused muscles. Thanks you, Jeff.
Mike did a video with Milo a few months ago - th-cam.com/video/c90y7RQo_lQ/w-d-xo.html
He mostly shares this opinion. Also, he already has a joint video with Wolf regarding this topic.
Yeah there was even a clip of it in this very video just without the audio.
He started incorporating them into his training
I've been incorporating more and more lengthened partials in my training ever since I found Dr. Wolf's youtube channel at the end of the summer. Chest supported rows, pull up machine, peck deck have been really good. Tricep and bicep exercises too. Great pumps and pretty awful/good soreness, if that means anything. Hardest thing for me in the beginning was to standardize my reps: full rom is full rom and you know when you've done it. I needed to reprogram my brain a little bit to get used to the shorter rom.
Noticed much new growth?
@@Sir_Porridge I feel like my lats, bis and tris have grown more than I expected.
Agreed, Ive been adding them as intensity techniques (as Jeff and others recommend) and I have been liking them a lot. I usually only add them to the last set of the last week of my mesocycle because tracking them is difficult. I feel like the most growth I've seen is doing these on rows and pull-downs because the peak contraction fatigues so much earlier than lengthened partial reps.
You're a beast Jeff! Thanks for the consistently trust-worthy information
Key points:
* Long length partials are a type of exercise that involves doing half reps in the stretched part of the range of motion.
* They are more effective for muscle growth than short length partials or full range of motion exercises.
* They can be used as an intensity technique to extend the last set of an exercise beyond failure.
* They can also be used on every rep of a set.
* When doing long length partials, it is important to maintain good control and limit the range of motion enough.
* Long length partials are not a replacement for full range of motion exercises, but they can be a valuable tool for building muscle.
Watch 8:34 on x1.75 speed, trust me
That was silly
Why not 2.0x?
😉😉😉
I fuckin can’t stop laughing
😂😂😅 man damn
I've been saying the same thing about dumbell flys since the evidence for stretch mediated hypertrophy became known to me. There is a reason that all the bodybuilders from back in the day did them and it's because they're effective.
It's also changed the way I look at the seated chest press machine in my gym. I used to stay away from it because at the end of the movement my hands were no closer together than when they'd started (which as we know is the one of the main functions of the chest muscle - bringing the upperarm across the body) the movement, so I thought it was a bad chest exercise. I could feel all the tension in my chest mostly at the start of the movement and less so at the end, and I thought (to be fair, intuitivel) feeling the muscle contracting hardest at the end point of the movement was the most important aspect of an exercise for hypertrophy. Now we know that's not the case I am going to put it back in my training plan for sure.
I’ve been enjoying the new bodybuilding workout program, Jeff. It’s been really kicking my butt and it’s a great way to improve my technique. I feel that I’ve been stagnating for a long time in the gym. I’m not quite 100% as I have a sprained shoulder that needs to finish recovering, but I’m excited to really fulfill my potential with this program when it’s better.
Bought you new program, do partials and they are amazing! You could feel the difference especially during integrated patitals. Now I treat full ROM rep as a sort of "rest" rep, because *properly* doing just partial is so much more difficult.
Really appreciate the detail in this video. I feel like bodybuilders have been doing LLP for decades but they weren’t called LLP… just “partials.” It’s great to have more research to support the method and use in programming 👌
If yall haven’t, the squats Jeff was doing where you just skip the lockout are actually KILLER, even if you don’t go for partials try that on leg press and squat, insane pump
i've actually been thinking of implementing these long stretch partials into my workouts (possibly for every rep) because my elbows are a bit F'd. they like to click when i try a full range. i'm glad the science behind these types of reps are coming out to show good results.
Noobie bodybuilding has become the cult of full ROM. Which I believe should only be used for certain exercises such as deadlifts and possibly bench press. Almost everything else, you get so much more out of it from doing “long length partials.” I haven’t done full ROM in years. The fact that maintaining the ROM with the maximum amount of tension is heresy to so many fitness enthusiasts is disappointing.
I remember the day when people would make fun of Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman for not going all the way up on their bench presses and many other movements.
It’s just funny to see how bodybuilders who train instinctively get scrutinized for their training methods, but they always seem to be ahead of the curve in terms of methods.
Jay would NEVER lock out with dumbells. He always said he feels it better doing presses like that.
was so curious about this (cuz of sam, obviously). Love that you covered it. Awesome content as always Jeff! It's insane to think L partials could be better than full rom. Trying them after the set starts failing is actually extremely difficult -- it's incredible to watch sam blast out like another 5-10 partials after. I try and I can just get like 2 or 3.
I've started doing stretch partials and they are the biggest game changer I've incorporated in the years of training I have been doing. As you mentioned, it doesn't even seem to have much opposition in the fitness community.
Out of curiosity, how you implementing them?
@@NikateeN You could either do stretch partial "pumps" after your set using full range of motion, or do accessory exercises with heavier weights with partials. For example, after finishing my weighted pull ups workout with 65 lbs, I would do scapular pulls with 125 lbs.
Jeff saying Full ROM isnt really important feels like when my mom told me Santa wasnt real
This is pretty interesting. Tom Platz talked about this in his group training video, the one where he dry humped the air while doing leg extensions. He might not have known the science behind it, but he knew they worked. Ahead of his time.
just watching him perform the set makes me wanna hit the gym
Been training this for the last 3 months and its made a huge difference!
Do you use it only at the last set of an excercise?
@@gianluca4893 nope, every set
This is good evidence for continuing your set past failure to complete full range and perform a few LL partials at the end of your set.
Out of all the TH-camrs that talk about weight lifting, I've come to like Jeff Nippard the best. His videos have a lot of actual science behind them, not the "bro science" that is so prevalent in gyms. However, I'm almost 50, so I've adopted a hybrid system for my workouts, based on a couple of his videos. This is my full body split, mainly because I'm in law enforcement and I work 12 hour shifts with rotating off days:
Week 1
Friday - work out
Saturday - work out
Sunday - work out
Monday - rest
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - work out
Thursday - workout
Week 2
Friday - rest
Saturday - rest
Sunday - rest
Monday - work out
Tuesday - work out
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - rest
Back to week 1
This split gives me some extra rest time after 2-3 days of working out, but I'm still hitting full body multiple times within any seven day period. The work out days are while I am on duty (we have a gym - lunch break is spent there), and the rest days are when I am off duty. However, I do various forms of cardio on my off days (including heavy metal drumming...yes, it's cardio!!!) even if it's just walking. I really enjoy this split and it works great for my almost half a century old body.
On week 2 of the bodybuilding PPL prog - so damn good. I was initially against the 4 days in & 1 day off split as I like to keep my days the same but honestly it’s been amazing + holds me accountable to be up early for the gym, even if it’s a weekend! Thanks Jeff!
How’s it göong
This is mad interesting. I've always did long-length partials till failure on some exercises, but never had dedicated routine for it because I didn't know it actually had any benefits. Looking forward to implementing this into my push, pull, legs split. May alternate days between full ROM and long-length partials.
I would love to know your observations and learnings incorporating them after 4 months.
@@aaryamanrattan8662 I wish I had more to share with you, but I haven't been able to be as active in the gym as I wanted to because of life😅. However, I incorporating them into my brief at-home workouts, and the results have been nice. For example, after integrating partials into my push ups for a couple weeks, then doing sets without them, I feel a lot more explosive, and can do a greater number before failure. Same for my bodyweight squats.
Thanks for all this information you consistently put out for free. These videos in conjunction with your new PPL programming has been feeling far superior to anything I’ve previously done while incorporating less volume than I’m accustomed to. Game changer, to say the least.
This is a game changing video. I've long heard of using partials, particularly from John Meadows, but he presented them as something extra when you've failed at full ROM, getting a little more TUT, something additional that's better than nothing .... (He also, of course, did heavy, high-rep lateral raises ...) But this puts a new spin on it - partials for their own sake, with their own merits and benefits. I started experimenting in the gym yesterday - leg presses with partials alone, partials after full ROM, alternating a few reps of each ... Chest press machine alternating full ROM with partials in a single set, or doing countdowns: 5 full ROM + 5 partials, then 4 each, 3, 2, and 1, or 5, 3, 1, or 5, 3, 2, depending on how you're feeling (all with no breaks). Of course, 1 1/2s are another familiar version. Wondering whether 21s arm curls might not be as useful as 14s - skipping the upper half (non-stretched) partials. In any case, I'll be using this technique a lot, now that I've come to think of partials in this new way. Thanks, Jeff.
which one do you like the most now after experimenting with all of them?
The thing I noticed with the long length partial squat was the lack of lockout at the top. The lockout at the top of the movement is where there is minimal activity and effort. A built in, sneakey rest. By not returning to full upright position a substantial load is maintained through the entire set.
Same thing with push ups. I've always believed in full range of motion, but keeping the elbows bent for the entire set generates a more intense exercise.
you should also mention the fact that not all the muscles benefit from stretch mediated hypertrophy. for example, for biceps a mid position curl would work the best. also you should also take in account the fact that longer length training produces more muscle damage so you'd need to adjust your volume for each different muscles depending on the amount of longer and shorter length training
At present, the evidence is consistent in all muscles that have been studied: lengthened training grows more muscle than shortened training. This includes the quads, hamstrings, glutes, adductors, calves, biceps and triceps.
Using exclusively LLP on hamstrings sounds like a great recipe to not be able to sit down for a week. 😂
@@WolfCoachingall heads of the shoulder as well?
Its probably most beneficial to do them on a movement where the hardest part of the range of motion is in a lengthened position. But If a movement is shortened biased (ex. Spider curls), then I’m going to make sure I go through the part of the range where most of the work is being done. Or else just don’t pick shortened biased movements
The scientist he interviewed said the opposite in a comment above. He said to do them for exercises where the short part is the hardest like many back, rear delt or biceps exercises.
Te quiero mucho nippardo y su mentalidad de cambiar de opinión al saber cosas nuevas sin miedo a ser criticado
Not only is this a game changer for benching,but it massive strengthens the lower part of the move where most are likely to fail,so keeping you safe if there's no spotter.
Jeff, first, you're almost to 4M subs, so early congrats! Second, Sam Sulek is quickly catching up on your 3.98M subscribers. I think he's at 2.15M as of yesterday!
Love it. What about a video on benefits on staying natural? Keeping hormones regular, acne, blood pressure. I'm sure there's way more. Keep it up Jeff!
About the only benefit is not having the negatives of steroid abuse😂😂.
Otherwise you'll be smaller,weaker,look worse than an enhanced guy, people also don't realise you do not need some turbo cycle to become elite if your genetics respond so you can still be healthy enough and live long.
Life is sht do what you want no difference dying at 40 or dying at 50 to something worse than heart failure or liver failure, as a man your chances of having a happy family with these hores out there is slim to none so why bother stressing.
@@fotis3v480Whoa that comment took a turn at the end 💀
@@fotis3v480r u ok?
Yeah that turned into some real venting and coping mechanisms at the end there. Like he was trying to convince himself lol
@@fotis3v480 you good bro?
Have there been any studies on the relationship between long-length partials and strength? If your goal is stronger pull ups, would adding long-length partials be detrimental or beneficial?
PRISON WORKOUTS WIN AGAIN.
dont romanticize prison
@@cannabico6621he’s not
@@cannabico6621ur just such a bundle of joy arent you
When prisons had weights, they would do a lot of rep and half work. Emphasizing the stretch
John Meadows was on to this before any study came out. He has one and a half reps, bottom-half partials, and 1/2 and 3/4 reps in programs from 10 years ago. He wrote it in programs as the primary rep style, and as an intensity technique. Dips, pec deck, rear delt flys, laterals, pull downs, hacks and the list goes on. You can use this on any movement.
Sergio Olivia trained this way. I saw an article about his philosophy and training. Good stuff on this channel. It's helping me make gains at almost 67 year's old
The science based community finally figuring out what gym bro's have known for decades. Training to failure and hitting partials to failure elicits a lot of growth. The idea of doing your last set as all partials is something I hadn't considered previously and I'll most certainly give that a try.
gym bro's mostly do mid range partials, never really going in a deep stretch with good control. imo
Dude, I just want to know the clipper length you use for that beard.
Love this vid. I'm left wondering about using long lift partials with weights you wouldn't be able to do with FROM, and then switching to lower weights after to FROM or combinations of. Great stuff! Really got the wheels turning and expanded my thinking.
That would only work well for exercises like rows where the hardest part is the shortened position though. Sure you could bench a weight too heavy for FROM from chest up until your sticking point maybe, but the setup would be rough. Only doable with safety bars then. Depends on the exercise I guess, OHP you could just do the setup but never reach lockout.
Reminds me of rack pulls above the knee done with much more weight than people could deadlift FROM, although those technically would've been shortened partials. Or maybe not, if they were done for the traps instead of the posterior chain.
Interesting topic indeed.
I've seen people at the gym doing this, and when I've asked them they normally say they have bad joints and get less pain doing partials. So it's good to know I can do partials if I've got a bit of elbow pain, and not lose any gains. As if I get elbow pain I normally do isolation exercises like flys, so I don't damage my elbows.
john meadows use to preach doing heavy long length partials for lateral raises for years. true bodybuilding legend
I remember his advice! Works wonders.
Hey Jeff, I am a huge fan of your effort to provide updated while highly useful, nuanced, and actionable advice on the internet. In your "How To Train Like A Minimalist" video, you mentioned how drop sets can be used to allow for more high tension reps while reducing time in the gym. Connecting this video with the minimalist video, it appears to me that long-length partials could be more effective in a minimalistic routine, compared to drop sets, to both save time while stimulating hypertrophy, would you agree (if not why)? Or is this just majoring in the minors?
IMO they both have their utility, but you know they're not mutually exclusive, you could certainly combine them in whatever fashion suits you. However I believe drop sets only has evidence as a good time saving tool, whereas lenghtened partials seems to be a superior hypertrophy method overall (compared to full ROM) and should probably have some place in any hypertrophy routine whether minimalistic or not. My 2 cents, no expert
Appreciate it!@@psycholars1
Dr.Mike is absolutely fuming
0:25, the guy with the hat; Arnold in disguise..?
Nah that's Sam Sulek, check him out
As a trainer, I’ve been doing this and teaching this for YEARS. Wow. I had no idea it was actually studied. Thx for this
Long length partials, a technique focusing on exercising muscles in their most stretched position, have been shown by multiple studies to be more effective for muscle growth than both short-length partials and, in some cases, even full range of motion exercises. Leading researchers and the speaker support incorporating this technique into hypertrophy training for a potential 5-10% improvement in muscle growth. However, it's recommended to balance long length partials with full range of motion exercises for the best overall results.
What I like about the evidence is that it's telling me not to end a set just bc I can't get the weight past the sticking point. Sure I can sometimes cheat it past to full contraction, but now I have good reason just to keep repping from full stretch to halfway knowing it's giving great growth potential (it also never ceases to amaze me how we get all this great info for free!).
I think a key point is being overlooked in these studies! These studies were designed by selecting a weight that would lead to failure at a fixed number of reps. But what is "failure"? As Jeff pointed out in the video, many exercises at full ROM only become possible to continue at partial ROM. So, in these studies, the full ROM group would have had to stop if they couldn't complete the next rep at full ROM. The long length partial ROM test subjects on the other hand would be able to push themselves much harder.
In other words, I think a test group using full ROM until it was no longer possible, and then switching to partial ROM for the last few 'close to failure' reps, would probably see similarly improved results over the "I stop once I can't do full ROM" group.
WOW!!!! I was taught this type of workout by a bodybuilder about 40 years ago. I guess he was way ahead of his time! He called them "sevens" where you did a set of 21 reps (7 upper, 7 lower, 7 full range). I tried it a few times, then forgot all about it. Thanks for the incredible instructions. I will work these back into my workouts.
I'm 68 years old and thought I'd heard of everything, but this is new to me. I've tried partial reps, but long-length reps is an interesting twist. I'm definitely going to try this - thanks for posting!
Jeff, I think you should examine the same topic considering joint and connective tissue health. Because muscle growth is not the only physical benefit of weight lifting.
This is a win for Vince Gironda, 3/5ths of the movement aka muscular range of motion, not skeletal.
The best way to apply this is pushing more reps through partials once you reach failure at full ROM. Beyond muscle growth, it's vital to teach our bodies to move as they're intended avoiding injuries and imbalances.
thank you for being concise at straight to the point. the video is now muted and playing in the background so you get the view. love u.
been using this for years. now i know there's a name for it
love the idea of some researchers in lab coats getting a quail to get absolutely yoked out his gourd, some dude spotting the quail as it benches 250 grams, completely shattering previous quail based wing exercise records
You can get gigantic pumps if you do stretch partial pull ups. You only do the bottom third of the pull up, but you have to make sure the lats and biceps stay engaged the entire time (never let go of tension at the bottom and end up in a dead hang position... but about as close to a dead hang as you can get without actually releasing tension). I find these work especially well with wide grip underhand pull ups, but they do require very good stability and external rotation your shoulders, but they put the lats on stretch way more than overhand pull ups.
please make a video demonstrating long lengthened partials for every exercise
I tried it when I was experimenting with single set to failure combined with constant time under tension - this pretty much enforced lengtened partials to stay in the movement range that kept high tension on the muscle, although for some exercises (like curls) it also meant not going to full extension, beacuse that's where the tension is minimal.
I grew way more muscle than ever before, that being said I was (and still am) a relative beginner so I would grow no matter what, and the extra growth could be attributed to consistently hitting true failure for the first time, and then going beyond it with drop sets. Pumps were insane. Sets were significantly harder than the regular ones due to lack of "mini rests" in the locked-out position, and the burn would start hitting very early in each set. It took a lot of willpower to grind through that burn and hit failure.
Thank you Jeff for the idea of having every other rep being a lenghtened partial, that sounds like a reasonable middle ground that also keeps sets comparable to each other (unlike dumping on the lenghtened partials onto the last set).
This shows true science. The ability to admit that one opinion was incorrect for a new opinion that is showing more promise. love the honesty over pride
those partials are that effective not because of the stretch, but because of the lack of pause / constant tension which is not happening when locking out each rep
Anecdotally, I've always done partials on my calves, for no reason other than a trainer suggested it, and over the years i saw much faster growth in my calves than anywhere else
Keep in mind that the anterior shoulder is vulnerable to anterior subluxation in the fully horizontally abducted position especially when externally rotated. A friend permanently injured his shoulder by doing this technique and "popped" his shoulder out doing "flies" on a machine.
I unintentionally figured this out 20-25 years ago when I built massive legs simply by playing soccer for hours daily, without ever going to the gym. Running/sprinting doesn't use full range of motion (no locking out knees or hitting your butt with your heels etc.) and yet it worked. On a slightly related note, I didn't have access to any supplements, so I figured out that they were also not necessary. I just ate lots of dairy, chicken and some veggies. And no, I'm not some genetic freak, just an average dude.
I'm sorry but running around for hours is NOT normally conducive to big legs, quite the opposite in fact, so chances are you ARE genetically gifted in that regard. There's virtually no pro footballer with muscular legs, no distance runners, distance cyclists etc. Muscles that can perform for hours and hours without stopping are usually very thin to allow for more efficient energy use.
Wide bench press is essentially a “partial rep” since the full range is limited
Bodybuilders have been doing this decades and people thought it was stupid because it wasn't full ROM. Just goes to show that maybe we should listen to the professionals when it comes to bodybuilding
My assumption is that full-rom lifter often don't put in as much effort into their lifts.
You might reach "failure" as in you can no longer do another rep with full range of motion but still have so much extra left in the tank. By making the lift easier (lightening the load with a drop set, making the form less strict by cheating, or in this case limiting range of motion) you can grind out a bit of extra from your muscles which results in more gains. Pretty simple.
I've been doing that my whole life. I got it from Lou Ferrigno in Pumping Iron. People often criticized me for it. But I'm like it works!
You should take into account the research on proxima/distal hypertrophy with long length partials causing more distal hypetrophy and movements with a full contraction against resistance causing more proximal hypertrophy. This could be a big disadvantage for pec training for instance, where we really want the inner chest to fill in and doing only lengthened partials would in theory strongly bias the outer as opposed to inner pec.
My two cents after 27 seconds in. Partials allow focus on smaller muscle groups while saving energy on the large muscle groups. If your large muscles fatigue then partials are just harder to do. With more focus placed on smaller muscle groups you can increase definition and all around size because your smaller muscles will be bulging too.
Jeff I'm already waiting for your dedicated long length partials program.
The editing is progressive overloading for real! In love with those muscle tissue animations
If you only train a partial range of motion you’ll develop a dysfunctional muscle and imbalance betweeen your strength curve . Kinda common sense why full range of motion prevents injury and people who train partials always end up injured when their muscles get forced into a full range of motion beyond its capabilities
Yes. Most people skip the negative which is perfect to do slowly. Your muscles will recruit the most fibers going slowly. You can even see it. It’s the slow motion more than partial. A pause at the reversal part is even better. You’ll burn ATP like crazy. You can even do less reps which is great for the joints.
Actually its the gentics most ethic cultures respond to the pump differently than others . Ive tried full range and it doesn't work for me but short range works for me . I found out with my uncle that is built and used his methods .
- Remember the way many bodybuilders train? Partials basically
- Remember Tom Platz his hamstring curls?
- Remember Arnold's flies?
- Ever heard of "1,5 reps"?
That cable bicep curls "partials" is what I did years ago.... called 7-21's, 7 bottoms, 7 tops, 7 full range with max weight.... massive growth excercise.
Almost 4,000,000 congrats. Thanks for always being positive and sharing your thoughts and research.
It's ALL I do...as do my trainees. The best move I've made in 46 years of dedicated training. I knew about them in 2003, but the penny didn't drop till a few years later. You have to choose the best exercises for the job. For lats. parallel pulldown, using JUST your lats. Seated db laterals and/or high pulls (below belly button height) are prime medial delt builders. Everyone sees a dramatic change in width and thickness within 2-3 weeks. My book; Heavy Duty Memoir explains how best to put them into effect.
As you mentioned in the video, this would work great for Incline Smith Machine Press. Even though I always instinctively knew never to lock out on chest presses because you lose mechanical tension on the targeted muscle, which is the chest, this takes it to another level. I really like the technique you used on the pec dec and could also be applied to chest presses as well if you still want some of that contracted position at the top end. I love that we are learning more and more every day about training in real time. We are seeing innovation in hypertrophy right before our eyes and actually have the means of testing to our for ourselves in the earlier stages of training as opposed to body builders in the Ronnie Colman era. You would have to be a fool not to take advantage of this new information.
Been doing this mostly for shoulders and biceps and it works amazing, didn't know it has such a scientific significance. Thanx Jeff for highlighting the research