Bodybuilders seeking significant muscle building frequently focus upon range of motion when attempting to improve the potency of a workout session, with some reducing the length of each rep in order to use more weight, with other bodybuilders focusing upon the longest range of motion in order to stimulate the greatest number of muscle fibers for each weight training workout rep.
Obviously, opposition between these two philosophies leaves most weight lifters wondering which technique is more productive, and many bodybuilders, due to articles espousing the virtues of full range bodybuilding form, choose a complete range of motion, believing that they will produce superior muscle building results.
This concept is valid when using relatively light weights and high reps for muscle stimulation, as the joint and tendon stress is small, and therefore forcing a muscle through a longer distance each rep will not result in adverse consequences.
Yet, for bodybuilders who are aiming for maximum muscle building, and decide to implement heavier weight lifting sessions, full range of motion for certain exercises can actually boost the risk for pain and discomfort, especially in relation to joints, which experience significant strain when they are trained under heavy stress in a full range of motion workout.
During low rep, high weight training sessions, range of motion is best trimmed, but not significantly, as for example, a 50% decline in range of motion will lead to far less muscle growth, and actually cause instability in muscles, potentially resulting in serious injuries, including muscle tears.
The best technique used to reduce the risk of joint pain when performing heavy weight training workout sessions is to reduce range of motion slightly at the point of muscle contraception, which means, for example, eliminating full lock out of the knees during squat, and the elbows during the triceps pushdown, to reduce joint stress when using extremely heavy weights.
This leads to a slight reduction in standard range of motion of about 10%, while still offering complete muscle stimulation.
Many bodybuilders believe that altering squat range of motion at the bottom of each rep will reduce the chance of knee injuries, but this is not so, as squats with a complete range of motion, where you lower the weight as far as possible, is more effective at increasing lower body muscle mass, and encourages stability in the legs that will not occur when significantly reducing range of motion.
The reason many suffer from knee pain when squatting is not due to excessive range of motion, but rather incorrect exercise form which places unnecessary stress upon the knee joint, as the squat and deadlift are two weight lifting exercises where form is considerably difficult and crucial to the safety of each rep, and unfortunately, numerous bodybuilders aim to reduce squat rep range as opposed to solving the true cause of knee discomfort, which is improper form.
The same concept applies to elbow discomfort, as muscles have been designed to work together in systematic fashion, and when a link in the chain begins to function in a way that was not intended, other muscles attempt to assist in an unnatural way, and soon after, joints are inflamed, and muscles begin to experience frequent injury.
Therefore, in addition to avoiding complete lockout on weight training exercises such as squat and triceps pushdown, if you are suffering from joint pain, you should make an effort to judge weight training workout form on all exercises to determine whether your body is executing each rep correctly, making any changes as necessary.
Those bodybuilders who attempt to rectify joint pain by greatly reducing weight training exercise range of motion are simply mortgaging their long term well being, as muscles that are not encouraged to perform in their natural strength arc will eventually create instability in the joint and tendon regions, which will boost the risk for prolonged muscle injuries and annoying discomfort.
Although reducing exercise range of motion increases the amount of weight used in each lifting movement dramatically, such artificial improvements do not produce extra muscle growth, but rather reduce the necessary stimulation for dramatic increases in muscle mass.