A List of Full Range of Motion Bodybuilding Exercises
By Dane C. Fletcher

Ingrained in our minds from the moment we begin lifting is the belief that unless you move through an exercise with absolute and complete range of motion, you are wasting your time. However, there are some bodybuilding movements in which your chances for growth, and for avoiding injury, are greatly improved by avoiding full range of motion. Let’s examine a few of these movements.

Bench Press

Legendary bodybuilding trainer Charles Glass often requires his clients to lie on the floor while completing their dumbbell presses for chest. Why does he do this? He believes that going down to far with the barbell or dumbbell invites the potential for a biceps tear, pectoral tear, or rotator cuff damage. He has some of the most famous clients in the sport of bodybuilding, and his guys very rarely get hurt, so he may be onto something. Stop about two inches before the weight touches your chest when bench pressing. You’ll see the pump and stimulation is nearly the same, and your risk of injury is greatly reduced.

Squat

“Ass to grass” is a popular phrase for full-depth squats which challenge the bodybuilder to lower the weight to a point where his thighs are below parallel with the ground. While this does lead to a great deal of muscle stimulation in the thighs, glutes, hamstrings, and calves, it also forces the knee tendons to carry the full amount of the weight as you begin your positive part of the movement to stand back up. Stop at 90 degrees, or even 10 or 15 degrees before that, in order to preserve your knees.

Shoulder Press

Never bring the overhead dumbbell or barbell down to a point where it dips below your nose. Even safer would be to keep the limit where your forehead begins. Allowing the weight to drop down too far transfers the brunt of the workload from the shoulder muscle to the AC and RC joints. This can quickly land you in a cast with a nice surgical procedure and recovery time ahead of you.

Dumbbell Triceps Presses

It’s okay to extend the dumbbell all the way to the top while completing this movement. However, allowing it to drop all the way down, to the position where the dumbbell reaches your middle back, is an invitation to rotator cuff damage. Stop halfway on this movement. You’ll still enjoy the muscle-growth stimulation, and you’ll be able to avoid the potential for shoulder damage. Plus you can use more weight!

Biceps Curls

Completing full-range biceps curls is terrific for stimulating the biceps, forearms, and grip strength. Completing partial-range biceps curls, in which you stop at 90 degrees instead of lowering the weight all the way down is an effective way to only train the biceps. Why in the world would we ever do this? The forearms and grip often fail long before the biceps do. Plus, many bodybuilders are concerned about overall arm appearance. Allowing the forearms to get too big will undermine the appearance of biceps size. Using partial-range biceps curls allows the bodybuilder to keep the forearms from being involved in the movement.

Dane Fletcher is the world-wide authority on training, nutrition, and supplements. To build muscle fast, he recommends the world class steroid alternatives from GetAnabolics.com instead of illegal anabolics.

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