Maximizing Muscle Growth: The Essential Training Change
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Understanding Muscle Growth
If you've searched for "ways to build muscle," you've likely encountered countless ineffective suggestions—like overdosing on turkesterone and BCAAs, or adhering to a strict eating schedule every few hours. Most of that advice is simply nonsense.
To effectively enhance muscle growth, here's one crucial change to implement in your training: prioritize a full range of motion (ROM):
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Full ROM refers to the complete movement possible at a joint during an exercise, while a partial ROM occurs when you opt for a less extensive movement, often due to discomfort—like avoiding the painful bottom of a leg press.
However, the evidence is clear: training through a full ROM is typically associated with greater muscle growth.
Recent research has shown that full ROM generally outperforms partial ROM when it comes to muscle development:
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Another systematic review and meta-analysis corroborated these findings, indicating that full ROM resistance training is superior for muscle growth, especially in lower body exercises. The researchers concluded:
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But what makes full ROM more effective for muscle growth than partial ROM? While I can't provide a definitive answer, experts like Greg Nuckols (who holds a Master's in exercise and sports science) have explored this topic in detail. He proposed three potential reasons:
- Increased Mechanical Tension: The mechanical tension that stimulates muscle growth is typically highest when muscles are stretched, such as during the bottom phase of a deep squat or a flat bench dumbbell press.
- Muscle Deoxygenation: Nuckols mentioned a concept related to muscle oxygen levels, which could influence muscle adaptation.
- Long Muscle Lengths: Full ROM training often involves working muscles at extended lengths, which seems to play a significant role in promoting muscle growth. For instance, in leg extensions, reaching full extension allows for a thorough stretch in the quadriceps:
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Considering the Stretch-Mediated Hypertrophy
Now, you might wonder if performing exercises, like the dumbbell bench press, with a full stretch at the bottom while avoiding lockout at the top could enhance muscle growth. This technique has been popular among bodybuilders, and theoretically, it could yield positive results. However, I advise caution due to the challenges of tracking progress.
How can you accurately measure your improvement in an exercise when you lack clear endpoints? For example, during a leg press, where should you stop? If you can't determine whether you performed 11 reps this week versus 9 last week due to variations in depth, tracking your progress becomes problematic.
This ambiguity can lead to what I term "fake progressive overload," where you increase weight without truly improving your performance. You might think you've become stronger, but if you're sacrificing ROM, that progress is misleading.
Additionally, utilizing a full ROM generally requires less weight, which minimizes systemic fatigue and focuses more on localized fatigue in the targeted muscles, benefiting both muscle growth and joint health.
Practical Recommendations for Training
Training through the longest possible ROM is advisable for maximizing muscle growth. While the deepest parts of squats or leg presses may be uncomfortable, that's often where significant gains occur.
Avoiding easier phases of a rep, like stopping before locking out on bench presses, may seem beneficial but complicates tracking progress. Therefore, I don't recommend it.
If you face significant mobility restrictions—like lifting your heels off the platform during leg presses, or if full ROM causes joint pain—opt for a slightly shorter, safer, and more comfortable range of motion.
P.S. For personalized guidance on establishing a fat loss and muscle gain strategy, consider my 1x1 Coaching Program.
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