Hail to the Dinosaurs!
One of our Dinos asked about doing
partial curls, pull-ups and rowing -
as in, can you do them and if so,
how do you do them - and are they
any good for building strength and
muscle?
Those are good questions, so I
thought I'd answer them in today's
email.
1. Can you do them?
Of course. You can do partials in
pretty much any exercise - with
the possible exception of very
short range movements like calf
raises, wrist curls or crunches.
Also - for safety sake - I would
not do partials on neck work.
2. Do they build strength and
muscle?
I like heavy partial curls - and
I think heavy partial pull-ups
have their place - but I don't
like heavy partials in rowing,
for the reasons discussed
below.
3. Heavy partial curls.
I cover these in detail in my
new course on heavy partials,
so you know I like them.
In fact, I like them a lot.
And you can build some
serious strength with them.
There's a true story in the
course that I won't share
now - but it will make you
a believer in this movement.
It made a believer out of a
smart-alec young physical
therapist - but again, I don't
want to give away the story.
Let's just say the old "Grab
my hand, hold as tight as
you can and pull on my arm"
test didn't go as expected
when he did it with the old
guy who'd been doing tons
of heavy partial curls and
other partial movements.
Do partial curls from the
start position, and make it
a short movement - 3 to 5
inches. Strict form, of course.
Arm power all the way. No
cheating. No bouncing.
Again, see the new course
for details.
And yes, you can use a straight
bar, EZ curl bar, thick bar, specialty
bar - or even sandbags or dumb-
bells.
4. Heavy Partial Rowing.
I'm not a fan. Heavy partial
deadlifts are better and safer,
and if you do them right, they
work the entire back.
Heavy partial barbell rows are
awfully hard on your lower back.
I'd skip them.
And I don't like heavy partials
with dumbbell rows. Pull-ups are
better and safer.
And that brings us to . . .
5. Heavy partial pull-ups.
You can do heavy-partial pull-
ups starting from the bottom
(arms extended) position.
Make it a 3 to 5 inch movement.
Strict form. Slow. No bouncing.
These are somewhat useful -
but frankly, they're a bit risky
and not as effective as regular
pull-ups.
6. The bottom line.
Heavy partial curls - very good.
Heavy partial rowing - skip it.
Heavy partial pull-ups - okay,
but not my top pick.
7. Further reading.
If you want to know more about
heavy partials - and to see a step
by step course on how to do them -
grab this little monster:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaurstrengthandpower-02.html
And be sure to let me know how
you like the course - and how it
works for you!
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
