My training cycle is set up where I’ll do 2 weeks of a deadlift variation for 2 weeks, then a squat variation for 2 weeks, then deload. So far, I only do conventional deadlifts, back squats, box squats, and anderson squats. I want to add in rack pulls, deficit deadlifts, front squats and half squats.
Should half squats be used at an ME movement? I want to use them so I have more power at the top end of the movement, which should help my jumping. Since they’re quad dominant, I was thinking about setting up workout like this. Back squats, then front squats, then box squats, then half squats.
Also, rack pulls and half squats are partial movements. Should I keep them together for the weeks I use them, or should I pair it up with a full range movement? An example would be using rack pulls then box squat, or deficit deadlift then half squats. Does it really matter?
[quote]DjSm28 wrote:
My training cycle is set up where I’ll do 2 weeks of a deadlift variation for 2 weeks, then a squat variation for 2 weeks, then deload. So far, I only do conventional deadlifts, back squats, box squats, and anderson squats. I want to add in rack pulls, deficit deadlifts, front squats and half squats.[/quote]
Partial ROM training is great for building strength, but you do want to make sure to still get in some full ROM work. Bud Jeffries (and before him, Paul Anderson) has talked a lot about this.
They can be, sure. Especially if it’s only a two-week cycle, you shouldn’t lose any flexibility or general ROM, especially if you include a full ROM lift in your training.
That should work.
That won’t work… directly. The top range of motion will use mostly quads, which aren’t terribly powerful in a vertical jump. But you will gain general strength, and condition your system to handle heavier loads, which should carryover into your full squat.
Those four exercises in one workout? Might be too much for you, depending on your conditioning and experience. In any case, if the goal is strength, I’d start the workout with the shorter ROM exercise (which will use the heaviest load), and then progress to the lighter/more complete ROM exercises. I’d also consider doing more sets per exercise and less exercises per workout.
I’m not sure I followed the question there. Are you talking about using those two different types of movements in the same workout (a partial deadlift or squat variation and a full ROM deadlift or squat variation)?
You’d probably be better off with a “squat variation day” and a “deadlift variation day.”
Well, I guess it’ll help more with my first step speed then. I always thought that 2 foot jumps were very quad dominant and 1 legged jumps were p-chain dominant. Eh, either way, I’ll try them out and see how it goes.
And I didn’t mean I’d do all of it in one workouts. It’d just be the exercise I’d use as my ME lift. So one month I’d do back squats for 2 weeks. Then the next month I’d do front squats for 2 weeks, and so on and so forth.
Also with the partial range stuff, I meant if I did rack pulls for two weeks, does it matter if I did half squat for the 2 weeks after that or should I do a full range squat variation?
[quote]DjSm28 wrote:
And I didn’t mean I’d do all of it in one workouts. It’d just be the exercise I’d use as my ME lift. So one month I’d do back squats for 2 weeks. Then the next month I’d do front squats for 2 weeks, and so on and so forth.[/quote]
Ah ha. In that case, I’d go for slightly longer cycles of the full range lifts. Two weeks of the shorter ROM work would serve as a plateau-buster, but it’s not a long enough duration to squeeze out good gains from the full back squat before switching to a front squat, which is such a similar movement.
I’d either stick with shortened ROM work for the full month (to exploit the strength benefits of a shorter ROM), or follow the 2-week cycle with a cycle of the same movement - full ROM deads following a cycle of rack pulls - to encourage carryover ASAP.
Ok, I’ll try it out. But for squat stance, should I keep my regular squat stance for half squats(medium width stance), or should I use a narrower stance since that more closely resembles a jump and how close the feet are during a run?