If you are using advanced proofing, you may set the stages to lock automatically based on certain criteria.
If you are not using that but simple doc approvals, you can try the "Check Out" document feature. I see in Workfront One that it says "Check out a document: If you have manage permissions to a document, you can check it out to forbid certain actions on the document. " However, it does not specify what action are forbidden but it may be worth a shot!