- Oct 30, 2026
- 15
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Every guru on earth repeats the same sermon, full range of motion or you are wasting your time, and the sermon sounds so logical that questioning it feels like arguing with gravity. But the physiology underneath is more interesting than the rule, and the last years of research quietly complicated the sermon without anyone updating the congregation.
Muscle fibers produce substantially more force when elongated, and the portion of a movement where the muscle is stretched appears to hold a disproportionate share of the growth stimulus compared to the shortened end. Which raises an uncomfortable question about a habit everyone defends, the practice of cutting range short to move heavier loads. It might not be the compromise everyone assumes, at least for growth, if the shortness lands in the stretched position rather than the contracted one.
Pause, because I know what the reply is going to say, that full range also builds the connective tissue, the joints, the skill of the lift, that heavy partials are for machines and cowards. Those objections are legitimate for strength as sport and for long term joint health, which is exactly why this deserves a real argument instead of a reflex one.
Does anyone here deliberately train the stretched position heavy, lengthened partials on press movements, deep hack squats over quarter lockouts, and how does the growth compare to your full range attempts. And for the purists, what would it take for you to accept range rules are more conditional than the sermon allows.
Muscle fibers produce substantially more force when elongated, and the portion of a movement where the muscle is stretched appears to hold a disproportionate share of the growth stimulus compared to the shortened end. Which raises an uncomfortable question about a habit everyone defends, the practice of cutting range short to move heavier loads. It might not be the compromise everyone assumes, at least for growth, if the shortness lands in the stretched position rather than the contracted one.
Pause, because I know what the reply is going to say, that full range also builds the connective tissue, the joints, the skill of the lift, that heavy partials are for machines and cowards. Those objections are legitimate for strength as sport and for long term joint health, which is exactly why this deserves a real argument instead of a reflex one.
Does anyone here deliberately train the stretched position heavy, lengthened partials on press movements, deep hack squats over quarter lockouts, and how does the growth compare to your full range attempts. And for the purists, what would it take for you to accept range rules are more conditional than the sermon allows.