Ep 307 - Are Lengthened Partials Overrated?

In this episode of Iron Culture presented by MASS, Dr. Eric Trexler and Dr. Eric Helms explore the science and debate surrounding lengthened partials, a training technique often celebrated for its hypertrophy and strength benefits. Drawing on recent studies, they discuss how emerging evidence challenges some hyperbolic claims of lengthened partials as a superior training method, suggesting instead that their effectiveness is highly context-dependent. The hosts advocate for viewing lengthened partials as a complementary, rather than revolutionary, tool in exercise programming. After the main discussion, the episode transitions into a series of listener questions, with Dr. Trexler sharing his renewed enthusiasm for training (and his current approach to training) as he recovers from surgery. The hosts also address topics like the importance of omega-3 intake during low-fat diets, the diminishing returns of high training volumes, practical applications of two-a-day training splits, and the impact of high-protein diets on digestive health, emphasizing fiber and dietary diversity. They also discuss caffeine’s role in sleep disruption, underlining caffeine timing as an easy way to improve sleep quality, among many other topics.

The MASS crew records Iron Culture LIVE on YouTube, every Monday night at 7pm eastern time. Be sure to join us for a future episode and say hello in the live chat!

If you'd like to submit a question or topic for us to address on an upcoming episode, please use this link:

https://massresearchreview.com/office-hours/

Time stamps:

0:00 Intro music

2:30 Introduction to another episode of Iron Culture x MASS Office Hours

3:31 New pre-prints on lengthened partials

Gschneider 2024 The effects of lengthened-partial range of motionresistance training of the limbs on arm and thigh musclecross-sectional area: a multi-site cluster trial https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/485

Hinson 2024 Mixing Up Muscle Lengths: The Effects of Manipulating Peak Torque At Different Muscle Lengths in the Elbow Flexors https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/486

16:33 Helms’ breakdown of the literature

Maeo 2023 Effects of hip extension training performed with full versus partial range of motion at long muscle lengths on muscle hypertrophy and sprint performance https://www.ecss.mobi/DATA/EDSS/C28/28-3269.pdf

Kassiano 2023 Greater Gastrocnemius Muscle Hypertrophy After Partial Range of Motion Training Performed at Long Muscle Lengths https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37015016/

Pedrosa 2022 Partial range of motion training elicits favorable improvements in muscular adaptations when carried out at long muscle lengths https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33977835/

Werkhausen 2021 Adaptations to explosive resistance training with partial range of motion are not inferior to full range of motion https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33465838/

25:23 Live chat Q&A 1 An update on Trexler’s training

33:26 Q&A 2 Omega-3 intake with low fat diets

36:54 Q&A 3 Quantifying volume and finding the sweet spot

Pelland 2024 The Resistance Training Dose-Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/460

43:25 Teasing the MASS research interpretation and statistics guide

54:37 Q&A 4 When to do two-a-days

58:05 Q&A 5 Digestive health with high protein diets

1:06:12 Q&A 6 Caffeine and sleep disruption

1:13:07 Rapid fire Q&A: efficiency tiers, kinetic chain, waking-up with earplugs, cross-fit athletes, Trex’s injury and intervention, resistance profiles at different muscle lengths

Plotkin 2023 Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37877099/

Kobayashi 2024 Distinct hypertrophy of the elbow flexors after incline versus preacher dumbbell curl training https://www.ecss.mobi/DATA/EDSS/C29/29-1752.pdf

Zabaleta-Korta 2021 The role of exercise selection in regional Muscle Hypertrophy: A randomized controlled trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34743671/

Larsen 2024 Dumbbell versus cable lateral raises for lateral deltoid hypertrophy: an experimental study https://sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/487

1:32:37 Helms’ objectivity from being a competitive bodybuilder and closing out

https://massresearchreview.com/

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Music credit:

Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...

Artist: http://incompetech.com/