But, as time and science have proven, strategically manipulating the range of motion can actually be very beneficial. (1) Partial reps can be useful for improving strength or size, allowing a seasoned lifter to push beyond muscular failure, overload the target muscle (or the nervous system), or even emphasize a specific portion of the range of motion to overcome sticking points.

If you’re a relatively experienced lifter ready to unlock new gains, here are some science-backed methods to implement this intensity-boosting technique.

Guide to Partial Reps

• How Partial Reps Work
• How to Perform Partial Reps
• Partial Reps vs. “Cheating”
• Benefits of Partial Reps
• Programming Recommendation for Partial Reps

How Partial Reps Work

Partial reps can be used either as a consistent training method or as an occasional intensity-boosting technique. As an intensity technique, they allow the lifter to push beyond failure by performing half-repetitions when you don’t have the strength necessary to keep using a full range of motion (ROM) anymore. This can be useful because, unlike forced reps, you don’t need a training partner and, unlike drop sets, you don’t need to reduce the weight you’re lifting.

The fatigue generated by reaching technical failure will ensure that the partial reps recruit all the involved motor units (neurons commanding the muscles) while providing muscular tension. (2) This can provide a fantastic hypertrophy stimulus as you increase metabolic stress and effective repetitions. (3)

You can also train with more volume in a relatively short time, which can be a life saver when training time is limited. The drawback is that this technique, like many other intensity techniques, can generate a high level of fatigue and should be used sparingly and by relatively advanced lifters.

As a more frequent training method, partial reps consist of performing a specific section of the range of motion on all repetitions of a given exercise. It’s a powerful way to stimulate a muscle and trigger growth with single-joint (isolation) exercises, like seated barbell curls, or to improve strength in a multi-joint (compound) exercise, like squats, by using heavier than normal weight and stressing the nervous system into adapting.

How to Perform Partial Reps

To emphasize muscle growth, perform full range of motion, high-quality repetitions until you reach muscular failure or a predetermined number of repetitions. Immediately continue the set by performing half-range of motion repetitions to failure or, again, until a specific number of reps are completed.

To focus on strength, perform partial reps in the specific range of motion you need to target — either the sticking point presenting the biggest obstacle or your strongest position (typically near lockout) to overload the exercise.

This can be done either cutting the movement short under your own control or by using external supports such as pins or a box (in the cases of presses and squats, respectively). There are often specific exercise variations taking advantage of the partial range of motion, for instance, the floor press or rack deadlift.

The exact way to implement partial reps will depend on the exercise being performed, as the curve of resistance (where in the range of motion it is most challenging) differs between movements. Generally, you want to keep doing half-reps in the less challenging range of motion once you can’t do any more complete repetitions, otherwise you won’t be able to do much afterwards if you perform go to failure in a short ROM before performing a full ROM.

In any case, don’t change your exercise technique or shift the stress to another body part when doing partial reps — perform the same movement, simply with a shorter range of motion.

Emphasize the Contraction or the Stretch

With most exercises, you can do partials in either the stretched (lengthened) or contracted (shortened) position. Each option will have a slightly different effect and might not correlate with the moment arm of the exercise.

For example, compare the shortened position of the quadriceps during the back squat and the leg extension. The contracted position in both exercises is at the top of the movement, but it is a very easy part of the movement with the squat, while it is grueling to hold the top of the leg extension.

The majority of the time, emphasizing the lengthened portion of an exercise is superior for hypertrophy, so you might want to focus on pumping out partial reps closer to the stretched position for maximal muscle gains.

However, with some exercises like the preacher curl, the stretched position is also relatively more dangerous and more difficult phase of the exercise — you would not be able to do many partial reps, if any, and you would risk injuries. Focusing on the contracted position, on the other hand, can provide a nasty pump and vastly improve the mind-muscle connection.

For exercises that emphasize the shortened range — when you can easily feel a strong contraction in the target muscle, like your glutes during the hip thrust — do your partial reps in that same range.

For exercises that favor the lengthened range and feel most difficult in the stretched position, like the leg curl or pull-up, do your partials in the stretched position. It wouldn’t make much sense to do partials in the bottom of a hip thrust when there’s minimal tension on the target muscle. Instead, use partials to further emphasize the strong point of an exercise and really squeeze at the top.

Partial Reps vs. “Cheating”

Cheating during an exercise is when you change the technique of an exercise to make it easier, often to allow more weight or extra repetitions than you could do with strict form. It could be using body english and swinging your body or by cutting the range of motion short.

The term “cheating” is inherently negative because letting your ego take control at the sake of form will only increase joint stress, reduce progress, and potentially cause injuries. (4) Many gym veterans are familiar with seeing quarter-squats performed by someone with shaky knees just to put on more plates on the bar. But just like partial reps, cheating can also be beneficial in certain instances, if properly applied. (5)

So, how are partial reps any different? Partials are executed to make the exercise harder, not easier, or they’re used strategically to target a specific range of motion. They are done not out of ego, but to better reach your muscle- or strength-building goals.

For instance, let’s get back to the quarter squat — it’s actually one of the best exercises to increase sprinting speed. (6) So, if you’re an athlete, it can be a great choice, but it won’t be as useful if you’re trying to grow your quads. Similarly, if you’re doing quarter squats because you just want to have 300 pounds on the bar no matter what the reps look like… that’s cheating.

Benefits of Partial Reps

Partial reps can be beneficial for size or strength, and help you bust through plateaus. The most efficient methods can differ slightly based on your goal, so here’s what to know before diving in.

More Muscle Gains

Partial reps are most often used for hypertrophy, as they are particularly efficient for putting on more muscle mass. Yes, you’re usually told to only perform an exercise with pristine form and a full range of motion, but the truth is never that simple with the human body. In fact, you can even grow muscle performing only partial repetitions. (7)

Muscles grow as an adaptation of mechanical tension, and this tension does not always equal with the range of motion. For instance, you could perform Romanian deadlifts and have your hamstrings fully stretched with the barbell at knee-level, while still being able to lower the weight farther. Most of the time, a full range of motion equals the muscle’s full functional range, but it’s not always the case depending on the body part and exercise.

The mechanisms of hypertrophy have proven that the range of motion is not the be-all, end-all. One particular study compared the lying leg curl and the seated leg curl. (8) Both exercises were done with a full ROM, but the seated leg curl was found to be more efficient for muscle growth because it put the muscle though a greater stretch.

Partials allow you to spend more time in the lengthened muscle position, which can trigger more hypertrophy. The physiological response of partial reps is even more important, generating more intramuscular hypoxia (oxygen-related stimuli within the muscle), as well as metabolites such as lactic acid, which have been theorized to promote hypertrophy. (9)

When used as an intensity-boosting technique to go beyond failure, partials might be especially valuable for more advanced lifters to create a robust stimulus for new muscle growth, or to get away with a relatively lower number of high-intensity sets which can help with overall program design.

Going beyond failure may increase testosterone and growth hormone levels, which can be invaluable for size and strength, but the technique can also lead to higher cortisol levels (the stress hormone), so recovery can be more difficult. (10) As such, use this technique more sparingly.

Finally, extending the set can help you recruit more muscle fibers for more size. (11) When you’re doing a moderate to heavy set, your body will require fast-twitch fiber muscles to move the load. The physiological effects vary whether you’re doing heavy sets of five or relatively lighter sets of ten. But, going beyond failure with partial reps will force all of the slow-twitch muscle fibers to be recruited and assist in the exercise. More muscle stimulated equals more gains.

Increasing Strength

When doing partial reps, you can lift more weight than using full ROM because you’re moving that weight across a shorter range of motion. This can be used as a direct neural stimulus to improve strength and gradually ease the body into lifting heavier weights in a full ROM. (12) It can be a great strategy to use in a strength-dedicated training phase.

Moreover, strength is a skill, and partials are amazing for learning it. For instance, a lifter could have a very strong barbell bench press but be much less impressive with squats. You can use this method to separate a complex movement into different steps or to focus on a specific portion of the lift you’re weaker in.

If you’re terrible at the lockout of the bench press, doing partials focusing in the end-range of the exercise, or using a specific exercise like the floor press which emphasizes the lockout position, will help to build your triceps and improve that end-range strength. You could even incorporate a progressive range of motion strategy — use partial reps and gradually increase the range of motion of an exercise week after week, until you master the movement and can perform a full ROM.

This is also an excellent strategy for lifters lacking in the mobility department or those that are just learning a movement. Starting easy and building over time will improve the coordination, mobility, and confidence needed to properly perform the exercise. Finally, if you’ve suffered an injury and need to work around problematic joint pain, you can stick to the range of motion that doesn’t hurt while still benefitting from a training stimulus.

How to Program Partial Reps

As there are many different programming possibilities depending on your goals, here are the best strategies to maximize your progress using partial reps. You need to take into consideration the recovery cost of such techniques, and bear in mind that beginners should avoid these high-intensity strategies until they’re more experienced.

Exercise Selection

As an intensity-boosting technique, you should mainly stick to isolation (single-joint) exercises. When using compound exercises, the accumulated fatigue and risk of injury can be too high. There’s also the probability of altering technique, which will result in decreased motor control and a poor progression rate. The nature of the exercise and the curve of resistance can also make it hard to focus on the primary target muscles.

Lower body favorites for partial reps include leg extensions, leg curls, and calf raises. For upper body, consider curls, triceps cable extensions, the cable pullover, and lateral or bent-over raises. You can also consider any exercise where you feel you can safely go beyond failure without altering the technique and risking injury.

A case could be made for some relatively safer multi-joint exercises, for instance the hip thrust, lat pulldown, hack squat, or various machine rows. You should never try partial reps on an exercise that loads your spine like the squat or the deadlift unless you’re very experienced. Even in that case, the stimulus to fatigue ratio and potential risk of injury often won’t be worth it.

If you want to perform only partial reps without cranking up the intensity to the max, you can use this technique on virtually any exercise. But first make sure that you can correctly perform the exercise with a full range of motion and really understand the mechanics of the movement beforehand so, again, beginners should generally refrain from such work.

Partials as High Intensity Technique

This is the most brutal and fun use of partials — using them to extend a set after being fatigued from full ROM reps, to enhance the hypertrophy stimulus. Theoretically, you could do many, many partial reps in a set beyond failure, but the recovery cost would be through the roof. So, it’s best to never go beyond doubling your reps per set when using in partials.

A good rule of thumb, to strike a balance between intense training and acceptable recovery, would be to perform partials for half as many reps as the preceding full ROM. For instance, ten full range of motion reps followed by five, no more than ten, partial reps. As for the number of sets, you should only do these on the last set of an exercise for two to four total sets per session, otherwise your overall recovery and capacity to perform for the remaining workout could be severely compromised. 

You could use this technique frequently during a short, “blitz” period to force growth, but generally respect 48 to 72 hours of rest between sessions when using intensity techniques to go beyond failure. As such, don’t use them in every session of the week issues.

Partials as a Training Method

This applies when you’re doing partials for all the repetitions of the set, or using a partial ROM exercise like the seated barbell curl or floor press, to overload the muscles and provide a new stimulus that will shock your body into growth.

Keep the load on the relatively heavier side of the hypertrophy range to really take advantage of the improved power output, and aim for two to four sets of six to 10 repetitions.

You can also use partials to really shock the muscle by using a heavy weight for high reps, two to three sets of 15 to 20 reps. This is a great method to use with muscles which you never or can’t usually use heavy weights, like a partial lateral raise to build up your side delts.

Finally, this can be an excellent and effective method for building strength. Avoid isolation exercises and either execute partial reps on a big basic exercise like an overhead press, or a multi-joint, partial-range exercise like the box squat. For absolute strength gains, three to five sets of one to five repetitions with ample rest works best. You can also bump up the reps a bit when focusing specifically on a weak muscle that’s preventing you from increasing your lift by using sets of five to eight.

Periodizing Partial Reps

Because partial reps can bear a heavy toll on your body’s recovery, you should use them sparingly and plan ahead for best results… or just throw them here and there for fun.

As an muscle-building intensity technique, they’re best used in a high-intensity training period of four to six weeks, followed by a relatively easier block of training to recover, compensate, and grow.

Another great way of introducing them would be to cycle the number of sets per session that use partials. For instance, the first week, use partial reps in one set per session. The next week, you increase this number to two sets, then three sets, followed by four sets, and finally a deload without any partials.

Finally, you can also use this method as a fun and stimulating method of progression, to increase your workload over subsequent sessions. For instance, on your last set of leg curls, you could do ten full reps followed by ten partials in the stretch position. Then, next session, bump up the number of partials to 15. Eventually, in the third session, increase it again to 20 partial reps. Then, reset the progression model with a slightly heavier weight.

If you’re using partial reps as a training method for strength or size, then it’s even more simple. It would be best to stick to a three to six-week block using partial reps before rotating to a less intense training block. Though, if you’re using them to bring up a lagging muscle group, you could use the technique for a longer period.

Partial Reps For Complete Gains

Often deemed as “improper form” or ego-driven, partial reps can be perfectly acceptable and highly efficient for promoting size and strength. The key is to program the technique with a specific purpose in mind. Set aside your range of motion-based prejudices and give partial reps a chance in your training. You won’t be disappointed.

References

1. Pedrosa GF, Lima FV, Schoenfeld BJ, Lacerda LT, Simões MG, Pereira MR, Diniz RCR, Chagas MH. Partial range of motion training elicits favorable improvements in muscular adaptations when carried out at long muscle lengths. Eur J Sport Sci. 2022 Aug;22(8):1250-1260. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2021.1927199. Epub 2021 May 23. PMID: 33977835.
2. Potvin JR, Fuglevand AJ. A motor unit-based model of muscle fatigue. PLoS Comput Biol. 2017 Jun 2;13(6):e1005581. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005581. PMID: 28574981; PMCID: PMC5473583.
3. Schoenfeld BJ. The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Oct;24(10):2857-72. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e840f3. PMID: 20847704.
4. Faigenbaum AD, Myer GD. Resistance training among young athletes: safety, efficacy and injury prevention effects. Br J Sports Med. 2010 Jan;44(1):56-63. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2009.068098. Epub 2009 Nov 27. PMID: 19945973; PMCID: PMC3483033.
5. Arandjelović, O. Does cheating pay: the role of externally supplied momentum on muscular force in resistance exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol 113, 135–145 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-012-2420-y
6. Rhea, Matthew & Kenn, Joseph & Peterson, Mark & Massey, Drew & Simão, Roberto & Marín, Pedro & Favero, Mike & Cardozo, Diogo & Krein, Darren. (2016). Joint-Angle Specific Strength Adaptations Influence Improvements in Power in Highly Trained Athletes. Human Movement. 17. 10.1515/humo-2016-0006.
7. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J. Effects of range of motion on muscle development during resistance training interventions: A systematic review. SAGE Open Med. 2020 Jan 21;8:2050312120901559. doi: 10.1177/2050312120901559. PMID: 32030125; PMCID: PMC6977096.
8. Maeo S, Huang M, Wu Y, Sakurai H, Kusagawa Y, Sugiyama T, Kanehisa H, Isaka T. Greater Hamstrings Muscle Hypertrophy but Similar Damage Protection after Training at Long versus Short Muscle Lengths. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2021 Apr 1;53(4):825-837. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000002523. PMID: 33009197; PMCID: PMC7969179.
9. Goto M, Maeda C, Hirayama T, Terada S, Nirengi S, Kurosawa Y, Nagano A, Hamaoka T. Partial Range of Motion Exercise Is Effective for Facilitating Muscle Hypertrophy and Function Through Sustained Intramuscular Hypoxia in Young Trained Men. J Strength Cond Res. 2019 May;33(5):1286-1294. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002051. PMID: 31034463.
10. Ahtiainen JP, Pakarinen A, Kraemer WJ, Häkkinen K. Acute hormonal and neuromuscular responses and recovery to forced vs maximum repetitions multiple resistance exercises. Int J Sports Med. 2003 Aug;24(6):410-8. doi: 10.1055/s-2003-41171. PMID: 12905088.
11. Willardson, Jeffrey M PhD, CSCS1; Norton, Layne2; Wilson, Gabriel MS, CSCS2. Training to Failure and Beyond in Mainstream Resistance Exercise Programs. Strength and Conditioning Journal 32(3):p 21-29, June 2010. | DOI: 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3181cc2a3a
12. Massey CD, Vincent J, Maneval M, Moore M, Johnson JT. An analysis of full range of motion vs. partial range of motion training in the development of strength in untrained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2004 Aug;18(3):518-21. doi: 10.1519/13263.1. PMID: 15320644.

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Forced reps, also known as “assisted reps,” are a popular intensification technique performed by lifters to extend an exercise set past muscular failure.(1)(2)

By forcing you to work past your limit, forced reps have the potential to unlock new muscle growth. But as with any form of advanced training, this technique must be used appropriately. Here, you will find practical and evidence-based recommendations for integrating forced reps into your lifting routine.

Guide to Forced Reps

• How Forced Reps Work
• How to Perform Forced Reps
• Physiological Effects of Forced Reps
• Who Should Perform Forced Reps
• Programming Recommendations for Forced Reps

How Forced Reps Work

Forced reps enable a lifter to perform additional repetitions past the point of muscular failure. Anecdotally, they’re among the most challenging and motivating methods of training. Better yet, there’s developing mechanistic support for their effectiveness.

To perform forced reps, you lift to momentary muscle failure and then use external assistance to immediately continue performing more repetitions. Unlike drop sets, another common intensification technique, there’s no need to strip plates off the bar, move the pin on the weight stack, or exchange your dumbbell for lighter ones.

With forced reps, your training partner simply steps in to assist you to perform the additional repetitions. Specifically, your training partner provides just enough help to allow you to grind through the “sticking point,” or most challenging portion, of the repetition.

Forced reps are thought to accelerate muscle growth via increased metabolic stress.(2) Additionally, forced reps may allow you to reap benefits from greater repetition volume, more time under load, and an intensified lifting experience.

How to Perform Forced Reps

Forced reps require the assistance of a training partner to enable the set to continue past failure. An attentive, relatively strong, and highly motivating training partner is worth their weight in gold.

Once you’ve secured a quality training partner, you must communicate before the set of forced reps begins. Discuss the exercise to be performed, how you would like your partner to assist your forced reps, when your partner should begin assisting, and how many forced reps you plan to perform past failure. Here’s exactly what you need to cover with each topic.

Exercise Selection

Non-ballistic free weight and machine-based exercises work best for forced reps. The technique can be performed with single-joint or multi-joint exercises. Among the countless exercises that could be selected, common exercises used for forced reps include pull-ups, seated overhead press, Smith machine squats, bench press, leg press, leg extensions, biceps curls, and leg curls.(3)(4)

Some exercises, however, are difficult or downright ridiculous for use with forced reps. For example, it would be very awkward for your partner to assist you in performance of forced reps for deadlifts. Even many free weight rows can be awkward to assist. Machine-based rows, landmine rows, or chest-supported T-bar rows tend are better options because they allow your partner to maintain favorable body mechanics while assisting the forced reps.

Carefully consider the exercises you select for forced reps. Obviously, each exercise should target a muscle group or movement pattern you wish to overload, but if taking a specific exercise beyond failure seems sketchy, find an alternative movement or skip it.

How Forced Reps Are Assisted

Instruct your partner to provide the minimum amount of assistance necessary to allow you to continue the set.(1)(4) The specific technique for applying assistance varies based on the lift. The technique for assisting forced reps is generally consistent with technique for spotting, though exercises not traditionally spotted will require some creativity.

Your partner should assist from the barbell during upper body barbell exercises, from the wrists during dumbbell presses, and through the torso during pull-ups, dips, squats, lunges, and step-ups. Note: assisting (and spotting) the latter two exercises is technically demanding and requires practice to perform safely.

For machine-based forced reps, technique will vary based on the exercise and equipment design. Be sure that your partner is positioned out of harm’s way and does not get their limbs or digits caught in pinch points on the machine.

When Forced Reps Are Assisted

Experienced lifters can pin-point exactly where in the repetition they will tend to “fail” during common exercises. This part of the lift is called the “sticking point.” When your repetition grinds to a halt in the sticking point, your partner will help you through it.

Inevitably, the sticking point occurs during the concentric (positive or lifting) phase of the lift. This is because muscle contractions are 20-50% stronger during the negative (eccentric or lowering phase) than during the positive.(5) Assuming fatigue affects both phases of the exercise equally, you will require assistance during the concentric phase of the exercise and little to no assistance during the eccentric.

The sticking point varies by exercise, but in general it occurs near the bottom, stretched position of presses, dips, and squats, and toward the top, contracted portion of the repetition for rows and pull-ups.

Although your partner should remain attentive to your performance through the entire repetition, you should clue them in to the specific point of the repetition they are most likely to be needed, to create a smoother and safer forced rep experience.

Determining the Number of Forced Reps

Finally, before starting your set, inform your partner how many forced repetitions you have planned.

Although you may not be able to predict the exact number of straight, unassisted repetitions you will be able to complete before failure, you must decide how many forced reps your partner will facilitate once you’ve reached failure. A skilled training partner will then fine-tune the amount of help provided to ensure you are successful yet thoroughly challenged. An unskilled training partner will shout, “Now three more,” when, in fact, you only have one more.

A discussion on programming recommendations for forced reps is provided below. But first, let’s explore the physiological demands of forced reps and determine for whom they’re best suited.

Physiological Effects of Forced Reps

As you might expect, forced reps impose considerable demand on the body and increase the need for recovery.(6)(7) They also stimulate acute changes in testosterone, growth hormone, and cortisol levels.(7)(8) This section examines the effects of forced reps and their potential significance to hypertrophy (muscle-building) and performance.

Neuromuscular and Metabolic Effects of Forced Reps

Immediately after working sets, forced reps cause greater reductions in muscle activity compared to traditional sets to muscular failure.(7) These changes have been measured experimentally via surface electromyography (sEMG). Although sEMG is not necessarily a measure of recruitment, these reductions may hint to the presence of neural fatigue as the central nervous system becomes progressively less able to stimulate motor units.(6)(7)(9)(10)

Prolonged and repeated muscle contractions occur during forced reps. Therefore, they are thought to exhaust more pools of muscle cells than traditional sets.(8) After performing forced reps, substantial fatigue occurs to the working muscle.(6) Calcium is an ion essential to muscle contraction, and its release may be impaired during fatiguing muscle contractions. (10)

Metabolites such as hydrogen, lactate, and inorganic phosphate are produced during repeated muscle contractions with minimal rest.(7)(10)(11) Although these metabolites may hasten fatigue, the metabolic stress they induce may enhance hypertrophy.(10)(11)(12)

Mechanical Effects of Forced Reps

Three related studies reported greater short-term reductions in maximum strength following forced repetitions compared to traditional sets to failure.(6)(7)(8) The earliest study compared two “leg day” workouts of squats, leg presses, and leg extensions — one used forced reps for every set and the other ended sets at muscular failure. (7)

Both workouts resulted in reductions in strength for up to 72 hours for both types of training, but forced reps caused greater reductions in strength during, immediately after, and twenty-four hours after the workout.(7) A later study showed decreased force production for the first 500 milliseconds of muscle contraction following forced reps.(6)

Altogether, these findings illustrate the effectiveness of forced reps for training fast twitch muscle fibers, which tend to have great potential for growth but prolonged recovery demands. (6)(13)

Hormonal Effects of Forced Reps

Forced reps are associated with robust anabolic hormone responses including increased serum testosterone, free testosterone, and growth hormone.(7)(8) Increased cortisol, a catabolic hormone, has also been reported following forced reps.(7)(8)

Resist the temptation infer any long-term outcomes from these findings. The relationship between acute hormone responses and desirable training outcomes (e.g. hypertrophy) remains questionable.(12)(14) Spiking certain hormones, like testosterone, briefly during or after exercise is quite different than maintaining elevated hormone levels throughout the day or week.

Who Should Perform Forced Reps

For muscle growth, the superiority of training to failure relative to not-to-failure has been questioned, both by gym rats and proverbial lab rats. (3) Forced reps take sets to the point of failure and blow right through it. To be clear, no one “needs” to perform forced reps to make gains, but it can be a useful technique to spark new muscle growth after stagnating and it can reinvigorate a stale period of training.

Although there remains a lack of research supporting most “advanced training techniques” such as forced reps, there is plenty of anecdotal and physiological support for their use.(1)(12) However, forced reps may benefit some trainees more than others.

Consider Your Training Goal

You probably associate forced reps with bodybuilding. Spoiler alert: That’s probably the best use of this training technique. Individuals training for strength or power are best served focusing prioritizing not-to-failure training.(3)(15)(16)

Interestingly, some research showed small improvements in bench press three-repetition maximum (strength) and bench press throw (power) following six weeks of forced reps. (4) Unfortunately, the forced reps strength-boosting study did not measure muscle hypertrophy.

For those looking for muscle gain, forced reps are more appealing, and there is a strong case for using forced reps for muscle gain based on volume. Resistance training volume is closely related to hypertrophy. More volume is associated with more muscle gain.(17)

While there is undoubtedly an upper limit on this relationship, a lifter will complete more total repetitions (and thereby, more total volume) using forced repetition sets than an equal number of traditional sets.

Additional volume also appears to explain the hypertrophy benefit of to-failure training compared to not-to-failure training.(18) Along the same lines, the additional volume completed past failure during forced reps may result in superior muscle gain for a lifter who would otherwise have stopped at or before failure.

Consider Your Training Status and Experience

Since beginners are extremely responsive to resistance training, it’s not necessary or prudent to program to-failure resistance training, let alone forced reps.(19)

On the other hand, intermediate and experienced trainees often require more variability in their training.(20) That is, more frequent changes in volume, intensity, and other resistance training parameters are indicated. Since forced repetitions are an intensification method that also promotes additional repetition volume, they may be appealing for more advanced lifters.

Lifters with longer training histories have been shown to experience greater androgen responses (testosterone and free testosterone) and growth hormone release than novice lifters when training with forced reps.(8) Although we must interpret these acute hormonal effects cautiously, as previously noted, it is suggested that well-trained and experienced lifters may preferentially benefit from forced reps.

Programming Recommendations for Forced Reps

Forced reps undoubtedly cause high levels of fatigue, but if you’re an advanced lifter, you’re probably thinking, “I’ve been training for umpteen years. Pfft, I can handle it.”

While advanced lifters may stand to benefit more from forced reps than beginners, research shows they also experience more profound neuromuscular fatigue following forced reps.(6) This is probably because advanced lifters are better able to tap into high threshold motor units and get more out of their sets. Basically, advanced lifters are better trained, but also better able to bury themselves under fatigue.

When fatigue outpaces recovery for too long, bad things happen. There’s the potential for non-functional overreaching, which results in non-productive training and, as a cantankerous soup vendor might say, “No gains for you.”

Even more haunting is the threat of true overtraining, which results in decreased performance even after recovery.(21) Informed programming and a well-designed approach helps to avoid these undesirable effects.

Number of Forced Repetitions

How many reps should you “force” per set? Even if you complete just one or two forced reps, you’re still doing more than a traditional set to failure. The published research protocols cited throughout this article included an average of three or four forced reps per set.(4)(6)(7)(8)

This seems like a reasonable recommendation. More forced reps result in a more intense set and, presumably, greater recovery demand. Diminishing returns can be expected as you add even more forced reps, because your training partner invariably does progressively more of the work for you. Don’t let your set of bench press forced reps become their set of barbell row forced reps.

So, for the sake of your next training session, gains, recovery, and your lifting partner, limit forced reps to five or fewer per set.

Number of Forced Rep Sets

To mitigate the risk of non-functional overreaching and overtraining, plan your forced reps sessions, and remember, there’s no need to get greedy. Previous research on forced reps compared three groups who performed short-duration training cycles of forced reps.

One group performed an average of one set of forced reps per session, another group hit an average three forced rep sets per session, and the final group completed an average of four forced rep sets per session. Remarkably, all groups improved similarly over the course of the training study.(4)

The take-home message? There does not seem to be an additive benefit to multiple sets of forced reps. An intelligent lifter might plan forced reps for only the final set of an exercise during a time-limited intensification block of training.

Frequency of Forced Rep Sets

While advanced trainees can thrive during short-term periods of high-intensity and high-frequency training, it certainly isn’t the rule.(22) Data from acute studies on forced reps suggest 48-72 hours of recovery should be allocated between workouts including forced reps.(4)(7)(8)

Don’t use the technique every day of the week. Even when targeting different body parts, the cumulative fatigue (both muscular and neuromuscular) will quickly get to be too much to recover from and your performance, and results, will suffer for it.

Training Load for Forced Rep Sets

An important consideration for forced reps is load, or training weight. How heavy should your forced rep sets be? Although they can certainly be effectively performed using very heavy loads, forced reps are best programmed using moderate loads. A general recommendation is to use your 6RM to 12RM load. That is, select a weight you’d normally lift between six and 12 times before failing.

As previously established, forced reps are best for those with hypertrophy goals. Considering that muscle growth occurs across a wide range of repetitions and loads, the use of very heavy loads unneeded.(16)(23)(24)

Moreover, assisting forced reps with very heavy loads is more technically demanding for your training partner. Extremely light loads, while easier for your training partner to handle, take more time and are likely to result in prolonged fatigue relative to heavier loads.(25)

Periodizing Forced Reps

Throwing an occasional set of forced reps into your normal routine is likely harmless and good fun. But forced reps, like other intensification techniques, are best programmed judiciously and for short, focused periods of time.

For example, you might add forced reps during the final week before a deload. Or program forced reps regularly across a four- to six-week hypertrophy training block intended to produce overreaching. In both cases, gains are made during recovery. If you’re going to train hard using forced reps, plan to recover harder with sufficient sleep, high-quality nutrition, and relative rest.

Force Gains with Forced Reps

Forced reps, or assisted reps, are a technique well-suited for intermediate and advanced lifters who want to gain muscle, have a trusted training partner, and are willing to take their recovery as seriously as their training.

References

1. Hackett, D. A., & Amirthalingam, T. (2015). A brief review of forced repetitions for the promotion of muscular hypertrophy. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 37(5), 14-20.
2. Schoenfeld, B. (2011). The use of specialized training techniques to maximize muscle hypertrophy. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 33(4), 60-65.
3. Willardson, J. M., Norton, L., & Wilson, G. (2010). Training to failure and beyond in mainstream resistance exercise programs. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 32(3), 21-29.
4. Drinkwater, E. J., et al. (2007). Increased number of forced repetitions does not enhance strength development with resistance training. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 21(3), 841-847.
5. Schoenfeld, B. J., et al. (2017). Hypertrophic effects of concentric vs. eccentric muscle actions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 31(9), 2599-2608.
6. Ahtiainen, J. P., & Häkkinen, K. (2009). Strength athletes are capable to produce greater muscle activation and neural fatigue during high-intensity resistance exercise than nonathletes. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 23(4), 1129-1134.
7. Ahtiainen, J. P., Pakarinen, A., Kraemer, W. J., & Häkkinen, K. (2003). Acute hormonal and neuromuscular responses and recovery to forced vs. maximum repetitions multiple resistance exercises. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 24(06), 410-418.
8. Ahtiainen, J. P., Pakarinen, A., Kraemer, W. J., & Hakkinen, K. (2004). Acute hormonal responses to heavy resistance exercise in strength athletes versus nonathletes. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 29(5), 527-543.
9. Vigotsky, A. D., et al. (2018). Interpreting signal amplitudes in surface electromyography studies in sport and rehabilitation sciences. Frontiers in Physiology, 985.
10. Wan, J. J., Qin, Z., Wang, P. Y., Sun, Y., & Liu, X. (2017). Muscle fatigue: general understanding and treatment. Experimental & Molecular Medicine, 49(10), e384-e384.
11. Goto, K. et al. (2005). The impact of metabolic stress on hormonal responses and muscular adaptations. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 37(6), 955-963.
12. Schoenfeld, B., et al. (2021). Resistance training recommendations to maximize muscle hypertrophy in an athletic population: Position stand of the IUSCA. International Journal of Strength and Conditioning, 1(1), 1-30.
13. Lievens, E., et al. (2020). Muscle fiber typology substantially influences time to recover from high-intensity exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 128(3), 648-659.
14. Schoenfeld, B. J. (2013). Postexercise hypertrophic adaptations: a reexamination of the hormone hypothesis and its applicability to resistance training program design. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 27(6), 1720-1730.
15. Izquierdo, M., et al. (2006). Differential effects of strength training leading to failure versus not to failure on hormonal responses, strength, and muscle power gains. Journal of Applied Physiology, 100(5), 1647-1656.
16. Pareja‐Blanco, F., et al. (2017). Effects of velocity loss during resistance training on athletic performance, strength gains and muscle adaptations. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 27(7), 724-735.
17. Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2017). Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35(11), 1073-1082.
18. Vieira, A. F., et al. (2021). Effects of resistance training performed to failure or not to failure on muscle strength, hypertrophy, and power output: a systematic review with meta-analysis. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 35(4), 1165-1175.
19. Lasevicius, T., et al. (2022). Muscle failure promotes greater muscle hypertrophy in low-load but not in high-load resistance training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 36(2), 346-351.
20. DeWeese, B. H., Hornsby, G., Stone, M., & Stone, M. H. (2015). The training process: Planning for strength–power training in track and field. Part 1: Theoretical aspects. Journal of sport and health science, 4(4), 308-317.
21. Bell, L., et al. (2020). Overreaching and overtraining in strength sports and resistance training: A scoping review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 38(16), 1897-1912.
22. Zourdos, M. C., et al. (2016). Efficacy of daily one-repetition maximum training in well-trained powerlifters and weightlifters: a case series. Nutricion Hospitalaria, 33(2), 437-443.
23. Lasevicius, T., et al. (2018). Effects of different intensities of resistance training with equated volume load on muscle strength and hypertrophy. European Journal of Sport Science, 18(6), 772-780.
24. Schoenfeld, B. J., et al. (2021). Loading recommendations for muscle strength, hypertrophy, and local endurance: a re-examination of the repetition continuum. Sports, 9(2), 32.
25. Haun, C. T., et al. (2017). Molecular, neuromuscular, and recovery responses to light versus heavy resistance exercise in young men. Physiological Reports, 5(18), e13457.

Featured Image: UfaBizPhoto / Shutterstock

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The History of High Intensity Training

In the fitness world this started with Arthur Jones and Ellington Darden. For those who don’t know, they were the creators of Nautilus and the workout method that came with it that has now come to be known as HIT, or high intensity training. Jones should be credited with many things – mostly the invention of the advertorial in the magazine Athletics Journal. This is the practice of placing a huge ad in a magazine, disguised as an information article. These days this technique is largely used by companies to sell supplements, but back in the day, Jones provided plenty of information about his own training method in these thinly veiled ads.

The lure of HIT is clear. Why work for an extended period of time when you can just work for a shorter time? Everyone likes that. Get in, get out, live a life, play chess. But did it really work?

The ultimate proof for me of any training program is whether or not it can stand the heat of competition, i.e. how many Olympic caliber athletes are doing it? Because at that level, where tiny differences can see you not make a final versus win a medal, you know that athletes will take any advantage they can in technique or strength and conditioning. So, let’s split this analysis into two parts – strength training and conditioning.

Does HIT Work for Strength Training or Hypertrophy?

In Supertraining, Mel Siff speaks about Thomas De Lorme. De Lorme is most commonly known as the guy who created the three sets of ten system, otherwise known as the repetitive effort method. His system advocated using three progressively heavier sets of 10 reps at 50% of your 10RM, 10 reps at 75% of your 10RM, and 10 reps at 100% of your 10 RM. Only on the final set will you approach anything near muscular failure. While there have been many variations on this theme – involving decreasing the number of reps performed, increasing the amount of weight used and even varying the sequence of the sets (e.g. 50%, 100%, then 75%) – none were ever better than this original method for influencing strength gains.

One of the problems still plaguing the fitness world is the lack of clear understanding between strength and size. Many are still mired in the bodybuilding mindset spawned by the 1970s and believe that how a muscle appears is a direct correlation to how a muscle performs. One of the problems with HIT is that it often forces people into going not just to momentary muscular failure, which is beneficial for muscle growth, but well beyond that by using many so called high-intensity techniques such as drop sets and negatives. But research by Richard Berger in 1963 found that weights that are too heavy (beyond what you can lift on your own) and too light do not work well for strength gains. And here’s what Siff said in Supertraining about that research, “He concluded that training with a heavy weight does not permit the optimal number of repetitions necessary for strength increase. He also found the reverse result, namely that training with light weights and many repetitions offers too weak a stimulus to significantly improve maximum strength.”

I know what people will say: “But my lifts went up!” Let’s be blunt. No one cares what you use for leg extensions. And when it comes to playing an actual sport – you know, where performance is counted rather than how big your arms are – you will be found wanting. As Art de Vany said, “Focus on performance, not failure.”

The problem with programs, of any type, is that adaptation is greatest early on, and then dwindles to a halt fairly quickly. Dan John has said, “Everything works, for about six weeks.” So while you may see a sudden increase in muscle size during those initial weeks it will often slow or stop after just a few workouts, and then you will likely find your strength will start to go backwards. Dan John found exactly this happening to his discus throws after two years of all-out HIT training, including spending time training with Ellington Darden himself.

My thoughts are actually that the initial size increase is due to the body finally getting into the upswing of the super compensation curve after a potentially long period of overtraining. As strength can take three weeks to begin detraining, and peaking can take a few weeks to achieve depending on how fatigued your body was to begin with, the early improvements you see from a switch to low volume training are simply what anyone would normally experience while resting and tapering off a high volume approach.

Even Dorian Yates – a man-mountain, six-time winner of Mr. Olympia, and often put forth as a great example of HIT training – is a better example of the De Lorme approach. A set at moderate effort, a set at a hard level, and then an all-out set to finish each exercise. Even at the highest level of bodybuilding there is only a single example of HIT being effective for muscle growth and that is Mike Mentzer. All the rest – Larry Scott, Sergio Olivia, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, Frank Zane, Chris Dickerson, Samir Bannout, Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, and Dexter Jackson (all the Mr. Olympia winners from 1965 to present) – have used a volume-based training approach, not HIT. So even when it comes to hypertrophy HIT hasn’t got many runs on the board.

Does HIT Work for Conditioning?

The most popular bandwagon when it comes to HIT conditioning is the infamous Tabata study done in 1996 by Izumi Tabata. For people who don’t know here is the synopsis:

But here’s what no one ever tells you. First, the steady-state group actually achieved a better increase to their aerobic capacity, despite starting at a point (theoretically making it harder to change) from 52 to 57 ml/kg/min versus 48 to 55 ml/kg/min for the HIT group. Second, the steady-state group showed an increase throughout the entire trial, as measured by tests at two, four, and six weeks, versus the HIT group who only saw improvement over the first three weeks. Sound familiar to our strength model?

The great running coach Arthur Lydiard felt the same. He saw that after months of base training (you know, that boring, uncool, steady-state work) that only three weeks of interval work was necessary to sharpen his athletes. Intervals improved certain parameters for his athletes for about three weeks, or six sessions. Any more than that and the athletes stopped experiencing further benefit and instead increased their injury risk.

Additionally, in the Tabata study, the HIT group performed each interval at 170% of the power they produced at 170% of VO2max. To put this in perspective using my own data, with a functional threshold power of 190W that means I would need to ride intervals at 323W. To put it in a weightlifting sense, imagine being asked to lift 170% of your best multiple times in a row. That should give you a sense for exactly how hard the subjects were pushed. They’re not joking for a second when they state the subjects were pushed to exhaustion. If you’re not training that hard, then you won’t get those sorts of gains. I can tell you now that 300+W is a massive workload. The guy who won the Tour de France last year rides at about 400W when climbing massive peaks, if that helps put it in perspective.

Finally, the bit that everyone misses – even the HIT group was performing seventy minutes each week of steady-state work between 50% and 70% VO2max, so is the result indicative of HIT as a training type or is it showing what happens when you combine HIT plus steady-state?

So, Should You Do HIT Training?

Mel Siff said it best in Supertraining:

The public usually feels far more comfortable with cerebrally undemanding mantras and “fast food” solutions than with far more accurate, complex methods. This is a major reason why many fitness figures write as they do and market their catch phrases simplistically as they do – society has been processed by mass media to behave like that and they usually do not want to be forced to think too deeply or to have their convenient current beliefs questioned, because that entails a serious threat to their psychological safety.

Personally, I don’t think the increased chances of getting hurt by training HIT are worth it.

What do you think? Post your thoughts to the comments below.

References:

1. Siff, M., PhD, Supertraining (Denver: Supertraining Institute, 2004), 401

2. Berger, R., “Comparative Effects of Three Weight Training Programs.” Research Quarterly. American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 396-398

3. John, D., “Does H.I.T. Training Get You Into Heaven?” TNation. Accessed 29 March, 2014.

4. Tabata I, Nishimura K, Kouzaki M, Hirai Y, Ogita F, Miyachi M, Yamamoto K., “Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max.” Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996 Oct;28(10):1327-30.

Photos 1 & 2 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 4 courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

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