Partial Range of Motion and the Death of Rock and Roll

Lately I’ve been thinking about movements. I am a stickler for full range of motion. I get pissed off when I see videos posted by CrossFitters demonstrating partial range of motion – not deep enough, not high enough, not fully extended, etc. I have previously written about being accountable, and shown how others have demonstrated accountability. We know what is expected. We know full range of motion. We know this, because it is constantly drilled into our movement standards. Why? Because it works. Full range of motion works. It’s tried and true… It accomplishes the task… It keeps us safe…

So why do we see workouts with partial range of motion movements? What is the benefit of those movements? Does it make sense to do a quarter-squat? Or half a pull up? Or a push up that doesn’t go all the way to the ground? I would agree that there may be some instances where working these partial movements might be good. But they also may be considered advanced movements. Like working the quarter-squat with a bar in the rack position, to explosively work the hip extension of the jerk, and only that hip extension. Or to do pulls off a box in order to specifically train the pull of the clean or snatch, without having to perform the pull off the ground. Working a specific part of the movement. But these are advanced techniques and advanced movements, and may not be safe for all people.

The other day, someone asked me if rock and roll in America was dead. The person who asked me this question told me to really think about it. It was posed to me during an email exchange about partial range of motion exercises. I thought it kind of funny that the question was asked, and off track from the topic. But I decided to give it some thought, and perhaps humor the person who asked. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how it tied in to the discussion of partial range of motion movements. The following was my response, after thinking about the question for many hours. Let me know… Do you agree??? Post to Comments.

I have been thinking about your rock and roll question, as I grouted the tile in the bathroom (yea, I'm pretty handy...) Below is quite a dissertation... Probably not what you expected, but... some random thoughts...

Rock and roll, as I know it, hasn't really existed in a while, perhaps since the Internet? Maybe since Kurt Cobain... I don't know when it really stopped, or died... But something changed over time...

I remember waiting anxiously for new records to come out, and buying them on the first day, and reading the liner notes of the record, like it was really something special. Listening to the radio to get the latest news on the bands, that only the radio could bring, because there was not the Internet, and MTV was infantile (I didn't have access for a really long time, while my friends did).

To me, rock and roll was the records, and the music on them. It was going to the concerts and seeing the bands, and getting the latest information on the radio. When CDs came out, they changed the landscape a bit, but not the way the Internet did. You still had to go to a record store to buy a CD, and the CDs still had liner notes, and sometimes extra songs. But the sound changed a little too. Digital is different. It just is...

And with digital, music started to change. It became over produced, lost its edge, became easy to replicate. The music that came out of the Seattle area tried to stay true to what rock and roll was supposed to be -- about the music, musicians and bands. Then Kurt Cobain died, and it seems music took another turn. While there are still some "bands" making music, it became very different. It lost some originality.

I don't think people look forward to buying what we would call a record (CD, mp3, whatever it would be called). There are no liner notes on the Internet, and people can buy one song at a time. It was always kind of cool listening to entire albums and having favorite songs... Now that doesn't really happen. "Artists" will release only one song at a time, and you have no choice what to listen to, because that is all there is... People don't have the experience of discovering a "new records" by their favorite band... If it is truly a band... or a musician...

Musicians and bands these days rarely play their own instruments. Music is sampled, not original. "Artists" lip sync to tracks, fooling their audiences. In Japan, there is a hologram singer. A band backs her up. But she is not real. And she sells out concerts, and fans love her. She is not real. Music has become "not real". It is unoriginal, and regurgitated. Perhaps Rock and roll has just become fast food music -- quick, easy, marketable, cheap, and accessible.

But, as you might imagine, that would not be my definition of rock and roll. I would love to take the chance and buy a new recording by a band that plays their own instruments and sings their own songs. Who has not sold their music to some retail chain or restaurant to earn a quick buck. I would love it if that band toured and I had a chance to see them perform live, without lip syncing, or playing to a track. So, I guess you could say that to me... Rock and roll died a while ago... And I continue to try to find new things that are interesting and worthy of an online purchase... Bands that play their own instruments, write their own songs, and tour... They are few and far between, so I take what I can...

So back to the squatting... and partial range of motion movements for strength... In a way, it's like rock and roll. The squat is the traditional movement -- reliable. You know it will build strength, and has proven to do so for years and years... And along comes someone with the thought of doing partial range of motion squats -- if 1 squat is great, partials must be better... Like sampling music, regurgitating music. The problem is, partials are not the same. It is not true to the original intent. It's someone regurgitation for potential convenience, promising quicker results. It is fast food and modern music all in one. I think I'd rather have my squats, rock and roll, and Paleo...

Looking forward to 30 body weight, rock and roll squats this week.

(note that this was written prior to the 50 body weight back squat challenge, hence the reference to 30 body weight back squats)

So, what do you think? Is rock and roll in America dead?

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