Gains are measured in fractions not whole numbers. What I mean is if you move the bar a couple inches one week and then move the bar half way up or three quarters of the way up for your next training session, that's a gain.
Even though you didn't get a full on picture perfect graceful lift with complete joint lockout, you still gained, and you shouldn't negate your gain just because you failed to achieve lockout.
Moreover I'm going to go so far as to say that joint lockout is not your primary goal when lifting.
Your primary goal when working out is to damage muscle fibers so you can set forth the damage/repair cycle. You damage your muscles when you strain them and bring them to total failure to a point where you're sore for a couple days, and the only way you're going to do that is by putting maximum weight on the bar.
So when do you put more weight on? When you can achieve half to three quarters the full range of motion of the lift is when you should put more weight on the bar your next training session. The amount of weight is totally subjective. It could be ten pounds or twenty or thirty. It's all up to you for you to decide what you can lift a couple inches.
Case in point. I was stuck on a 415 lb. stiff legged deadlift for a couple workouts. Finally I just said to hell with it I'm going up in weight even though I couldn't achieve full lockout and could only go half the way up. Fast forward to my last workout which was yesterday. I moved 445 lbs a couple inches off the ground in a stiff legged deadlift. But I used 415 lbs as a warm up set and blasted it up to full knee lockout like it was nothing. I gained without achieving full lockout.
Gains are measured in fractions not whole numbers. Keep repeating that to yourself while on your journey to getting strong. That mantra is the only thing to keep you motivated because you don't have the luxury of cheating with steroids otherwise why would you be reading this blog.
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