Half Reps for Double Gains?

I was honestly going to use another title …

… but it had a sort of swear word in it and I didn’t want this blog post to go unread based upon that choice.

Anyway, do half reps deliver double the gains? Let’s explain and find out.

I got this question in the gym: is there any truth to the idea that doing half reps at the bottom of the rep and half reps at the top of the reps separately might lead to better gains?

While it’s true that spending more time in the bottom position of a movement (like near your chest in a bench press or at the bottom of a squat) might provide greater tension at length and thus more muscle damage, you’ll likely need to lower the weight because of the mechanical disadvantage placed upon your muscles.

And you probably won’t stack up much more metabolic stress than you would by doing full reps.

On the other hand, the top of the range of motion is often accompanied by mechanical advantage, so you’d be able to use more weight. The drawback here is the stress it probably puts on your joints and nervous system.

Although, there may be some utility to heavy walkouts in movements like squats and bench presses.

Lastly, doing sets in the bottom of the range of motion and in the top of the range of motion means double sets and, thus, less time to do other exercises.

So how do we maximize gains?

The simple answer is still this: with the heaviest weights we can control through the largest range of motion we can control in a given movement, as long as it fulfills the three P’s of exercise (i.e. prudent, purposeful, progressive).

And even if we consider using 1.5 reps to create more time in the bottom quarter-to-half of the range of motion, we actually still spend less time in the bottom if we equal total time under tension.

So don’t get confused by weird things like partials at the bottom or top. Full range-of-motion exercises are still best for size and strength.

P.S. If you’re really concerned, try a cycle with accommodating resistance like bands or chains.