Skip to content
ascend.
Exercise guide

Power Partials

How to do the Power Partials with correct form, the muscles it works, and where it fits a training plan you actually stick to.

IsolationDumbbellBeginnerPush
Primary muscles

Shoulders

Secondary

,

Equipment

Dumbbell

Step by step

How to do the Power Partials

  1. 1

    Stand up with your torso upright and a dumbbell on each hand being held at arms length. The elbows should be close to the torso.

  2. 2

    The palms of the hands should be facing your torso. Your feet should be about shoulder width apart. This will be your starting position.

  3. 3

    Keeping your arms straight and the torso stationary, lift the weights out to your sides until they are about shoulder level height while exhaling.

  4. 4

    Feel the contraction for a second and begin to lower the weights back down to the starting position while inhaling. Tip: Keep the palms facing down with the little finger slightly higher while lifting and lowering the weights as it will concentrate the stress on your shoulders mainly.

  5. 5

    Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

In Ascend

Log it, see it on your body.

Every Power Partials set you log feeds Ascend's anatomy heatmap, so your shoulders volume is visible at a glance, and counts toward your bodyweight-strength tier.

Related

More shoulders exercises

FAQ

Power Partials: common questions

What muscles does the Power Partials work?

The Power Partials primarily works the Shoulders.

Is the Power Partials suitable for beginners?

Yes. The Power Partials is a beginner-level exercise, so it's a solid choice if you're new to training. Start light and focus on the movement pattern before adding load.

What equipment do I need for the Power Partials?

To do the Power Partials you'll need a dumbbell.

Is the Power Partials a compound or isolation exercise?

The Power Partials is an isolation exercise, it targets the shoulders through a single joint, which makes it useful for focused, targeted work.

How do I do the Power Partials with correct form?

Stand up with your torso upright and a dumbbell on each hand being held at arms length. The elbows should be close to the torso. Follow the full step-by-step above for the complete movement.

Try the climb

Log your Power Partials sets, free.

Waitlist members get TestFlight + Play Store internal-track invites and a founder badge on their profile.

Free to join · No card · Founder badge kept
Ascend Club

The app is free. Club adds the coach, leagues and analytics.

Core tracking stays free forever, the climb, streaks, logging and your league tiers. Club is for when you want the full coach, worldwide competition and the depth, at about the price of one coffee a month.

See Club plans

14-day free trial · no card to start

 FreeClub
Tracking, the climb and streaks
Per-set logging, PR detection, wearables
Muscle-league tiers
The AI coachnudgesFull conversation
Worldwide leagues and challenges,
PR projections and deep analytics,
Unlimited crews,
Themes, export and higher AI limits,