Whether squats, pull-ups or bicep curls. The same picture is constantly presented in common fitness studios. Short choppy movements. The range of motion is not fully utilized. And don't forget that it's all at a 1-x-2-0 pace—quick descent, springing down, and then just about coming up. One of the main reasons why the success of most people is a long time coming and for many it does not even come.
3 points why you should use the complete Range of Motion (RoM) in training:
- A full range of motion recruits more muscle. This means more muscles are "damaged", the training effect is greater and you build more muscles (hypertrophy)
- If you use the complete range of motion, the stability of the joints improves. "Range before load". Full range of motion first, before adding more weight, is the most important foundation for improving joint stability. Not only can you move more weight faster, you also reduce the risk of injury.
- Using the full range of motion is flexibility training. It's stretching. This has a positive effect on the fascia and thus on your mobility and your strength gains as well as muscle building.
A half squat is therefore worse - because it destabilizes the knee - than no squat at all.
Partial reps have their place in training, but should only be used in special situations.
In the seminar "YPSI Functional Anatomy and Exercise Execution", Module 2 of the YPSI Trainer License, YPSI Head Coach Wolfgang Unsöld explains the correct execution of the basic exercises in a practical way and goes into even more detail about optimal exercise execution and optimization of the range of motion.
Picture: YPSI Coach Goran Sirovina uses the full range of motion in the Romanian deadlift with 165kg to recruit maximum fibers of the hamstrings.