23 July, 2007

Ask the coach - Full Range of Motion Chest Press

Question

I have a quick question about strength and conditioning. If I am a healthy individual with no joint problems should I use my full range of motion doing a chest press exercise or should I stop at 90 degrees?

Answer

A full range of motion is the best way to train and for a couple of reasons. Performance: both research and practical experience have shown that partial movements produce inferior results for improving performance. Contrary to popular belief, full-range movements do not injure the shoulder joint.

Dumbell presses have a bigger range of movement than barbell presses and so recruit more muscles and burn more energy. The angles of pressing (ie. incline versus flat) should be rotated every six workouts so all different fibres of your chest and shoulders get worked. Joint stability: ask any soft-tissue specialist. People who complain of weight-training injuries are the ones who have followed the ‘stop at 90 degrees’ paradigm.

There is evidence that partial-range training actually has the long-term consequence of destabilising the joint, be it in the shoulder or the knee. Strength is only obtained in the range of motion trained.