No Range of Motion = No Strength: Entry #5

I have seen too many lifting fails at the gym that I must inform people the importance about range of motion (ROM)

Range of Motion is the distance you travel the weight from point A to point B. In other words...this is what most average gym go-ers fail to do. The more ROM you produce, the more strength you will have. It doesn't matter how much weight you throw on the bar, if you don't have proper ROM your lift will mean crap.

The most common exercises I see being done with terrible ROM at the gym are the squats and bench presses. It seems like people want to show-off more than getting stronger.

Squats: 25% of the people in the gym actually squat. But only 5% of them do it with proper ROM. For the other 20% who do improper squats...my message is to you. Squatting 225lbs with full ROM is far more impressive than partial squatting 315lbs. If don't reach at least parallel (hips parallel to floor) your squats mean nothing. You build more strength the lower you go since you have to use all your power to move the the weight back up.

Bench: The bench is probably the most famous exercise when it comes to weight lifting. Every where you look in the gym someone is either flat, incline, decline, or even dumbell benching. I'd expect everyone to be good at benching since it's so popular...but no I am wrong. There honestly isn't anything more annoying than seeing a gym "bro" stack on two plates (plate = 45lbs) to each side of the bar and only bench with a ROM of 2-3 inches. I understand most people who have poor ROM usually bench for "bragging rights" but they literally look like morons when they lift. If you cant bring the bar down to your chest, then it's a sign telling you to lower the weight.

Having full ROM is not hard at all, it's actually very easy to achieve. Sure you're going to have to lower the bench and squat weight A LOT but other than having good ROM should only help you. In fact, you will gain more strength from proper range of motion since it requires much more force and power to lift the weight back up.