Rationale for Partial Push-Ups?

[Hank_Z]

I understand that Herschel Walker, Woody Strode, Ted Skup and others purposely have purposely performed very high repetitions of partial push-ups.

I realize that some people who can't yet do a full push-up might start with partial push-ups. But that clearly doesn't apply to Herschell Walker and other very strong athletes.

What is the rationale of strong athletes who choose to perform partial, rather than full, push-ups?

Hank

[Andy62]

Only one or two seconds are required to take a press or a curl through the entire range of motion. The hardest part of the press or curl is not the start or the finish,but instead the middle part of the exercise where leverage causes the greatest effort. Yet the muscles are in this position for only a fraction of a second. The same is true of pushups.

[John Peterson]

Hello Hank_Z,

I have actually been privately e-mailed many, many times about this very thing. Is there a rationale behind it? I don't really know as relates to each of the men that you mention other than Mr. Walker. I say this because Herschel Walker stated in his book "Basic Training" that he performed his reps half way down in order to keep his triceps under tension. When I read that Hank I thought to myself that he probably did not 'lock out' at the top either if the goal was to keep the muscles under tension. It turns out I was right about that. I met him when I was with my friend Big Chick Huntsberry who ministered to the Minnesota Vikings before their games. On one occasion I had a chance to talk one on one with Mr. Walker and he was a great guy and he was very complimentary about the shape that I was in. I told him that I really enjoyed his book "Basic Training" and i asked about the half down Push-Ups. he literally got on the floor and said, "Herschel does most of his Push-Ups like this." I watched closely. He started at full extension, went half way down, and then came up to about 90% of a full lock-out at the elbow. This he said kept triceps under continual tension. Obviously, it did not take him long to knock off 100 in that fashion, probably a little over a minute or 70 seconds. BUT, I did notice that his body was in a straight line from his shoulders to his knees and that there was '"no sagging". I mention this Hank because there were several people that mentioned Martial Arts Master Jhoon Rhee's Push-Ups (as seen on the video clip on Youtube) were not in good strict form at all. This was obviously true. But I assure you that although Mr. Walker used a very limited range of motion, his Push-Ups were strict with no sagging at all.


---John Peterson

[Hank_Z]

John and Andy, Thanks for the info. When something that very skilled people do makes no sense to me, I want to know their reasoning.

John, thanks for the detailed information about Herschel Walker's push-ups. About two weeks ago, you said this of partial range push-ups:

"This limited range of motion will in fact, cause the muscles to shorten over time."

When muscles do shorten, what are the main negative consequences of that?


Hank

[mike]

I'm not John but shortening of the muscles can increase tightness and reduce mobility/flexibility. Classic bench press syndrome is having shorted pec minor muscles pulling the shoulders forward. This is why Atlas pushups take a while to work into for some, you have to stretch out your already shortend pectoral muscles to get the full range of motion.

[ben alexander]

I'm not John but shortening of the muscles can increase tightness and reduce mobility/flexibility. Classic bench press syndrome is having shorted pec minor muscles pulling the shoulders forward. This is why Atlas pushups take a while to work into for some, you have to stretch out your already shortend pectoral muscles to get the full range of motion.


I'm not John, but I remember reading in Basic Training, that Herschel mixed him partial range push-ups and sit-ups, with slower, full range variations. That way, he always got the best of both worlds, and avoided that problem altogether. He also emphasized the importance to streching, accompanied by pictures of the great man being pulled every which way by Cindy, his wife!

Ben

[kelbiz]

A good mix of any and all exercises can be used to develop an awesome program of fitness and strength. Partials one day, full range another, Atlas and Tiger Stretch. The same applies for squats, situps, whatever.

Whatever works for you!

Jack

[budgiefan]

I have very limited experience with partial push ups, having only done them a few times. What I noticed is, if you carve your range of motion out of the middle of the rep, you are under constant tension, which is exactly what makes the Atlas push up such an extraordinary exercise - TENSION!!!!!

[gruntbrain]

Partial range Power Cals may be a wise choice(helathy joints) esp. if doin' high reps. Consider adding full ROM DVRs/VRTs after partials( another joint health practice)

[Hank_Z]

Partial range Power Cals may be a wise choice(helathy joints) esp. if doin' high reps. Consider adding full ROM DVRs/VRTs after partials( another joint health practice)

Which DVRs/VRTs might make sense full ROM after doing partial push-ups?

[vegetus25]

Hank,

The easiest thing to do is a VRT bench in the ROM you didn't work when performing partials. Or you could do full range VRT benches. These benches are done while standing or lying on a bench.

[Hank_Z]

Thanks!:act-up:

[MikeNY]

Hank he best partial pushup with a full range of motion that is a fantastic booster rocket is the hollyweed protocol. It is simple, easy and builds full pushups fast!

The hollyweed is using door, wall and counter PUs, you do as many PU's as you can per set and as many sets as you can per day. It builds you fast and takes you from 0 PUs to 100 PUs in a set fast! You do the hollyweed in addition to your regular daily workout.

Hank try it you'll like it. Once I tried it and then hit like 160 to 200 extra partial PUs a day I was stunned!

[Andy62]

Several years ago I had a great conversation with Charles Atlas' star pupil Tom Manfre. He mentioned that he and Charles Atlas worked out together numerous times and that Charles Atlas did a lot of wall pushups,

[Hank_Z]

Mike and Andy,

Thanks for the advice to do "Hollyweeds." I used those by themselves (no regular push-ups of any kind) to go from my initial set of...[drum roll]...ONE rep to 12. Thanks for the reminder to keep using them!

And, Andy, thanks for sharing your conversation and information from Charles Atlas' students. That must have been such a pleasure to be able to talk to him. While you may have shared more information from that experience on this forum before, I'm sure a lot of people would be fascinated to learn anything more from your experience.

- Hank

[MikeNY]

Gordon has a lot of wisdom and we here on the forum benift from his search. He asks the right questions and is a seeker of knowledge.

Hank the hollyweed will be in John's new Pushup book. Even some of the extreme pushup guys doing hundreds of regular pushups per day; (in sets of 100 reps) here on the forum; tried and use the hollyweed.

Hank an 1100% improvement is dramatic!

[gruntbrain]

Hank
Try the "hollyweeds" using suspended rope instead of the wall

The point in performing full ROM DVR/VRT moves is JOINT Health - these can be done laying down( bench press) or standinp up. In any case, besides full ROM, perform pushes in multiple planes(no just straight up & down)