Lengthened or shortened muscle length (or stretch and contraction) based exercises are two types of exercises you will see in the world of training for size. While a lot of exercises fall somewhere in the middle, the ones that fall in either of these 2 categories have their own specific uses. This article will teach you what both types are, how they compare to each other and how you can use both to maximize your gains.

Long muscle length exercises are ones done with the goal of putting the muscle under a weighted stretch or starting off in a pre-stretched position. Usually done in a way that accentuates the eccentric part of the movement rather than the concentric. Example exercises: overhead extensions, incline curls, preacher curls, sitting leg curl, any type of chest fly. Though there are dedicated exercises, you can focus on the stretch on most movements. ATG squats, romanian deadlifts, SLDL’s, tricep extensions and pushdowns, any back exercise – they all allow for a very good stretch if done in a specific way. The lengthened part of the range of motion is very important because research¹‘² and most lifters experience will tell you, that specifically focusing on it has lead to incredible gains. Tom Platz and his legendary squats done atg with ridiculous intensity leading to his “Quadfather” status, Steve Reeves (a natural lifting legend) and his insane incline curl strength correlating with his massive biceps, and the list can go on. Though exercises done mostly in the lengthened range are more hypertrophic, you cannot do as much of them. They are more physically fatiguing and require warming up to do safely. That is the reason why they shouldn’t be the only way you train. The best way to incorporate them is to either do them after warming up the muscle, doing full length or shortened length exercises. Lengthened partials are covered here.

Short muscle length exercises are done with the muscle pre-shortened, usually done as a partial rep or just a different range of motion. Usually accentuates the concentric part of the range of motion. Usually done with a focus on the peak contraction, or in other words – squeezing the muscle. Examples of this are block pulls, spider curls, tricep kickbacks, most dumbbell lateral raise types, and tricep pushdowns. Partial ranges of motion done in any pressing movement by only letting the bar go to 90 degrees also count. These types of movements are best used after full range of motion work as an accessory for more volume. Short muscle length lifts are often safer to take to failure as long as you keep form in mind. They’re also less fatiguing, further increasing the amount of volume you can do with them. They don’t cause as much joint wear and tear as stretch focused movements either, however this means that they also don’t train the connective tissues around them as well. This can cause you to get injured if you get exposed to a part of the range of motion you’re not used to. This also means, that training in the shortened muscle range will mainly train that specific range. The main use of short muscle length training is for various athletes, in sport specific exercises. Same goes for powerlifting when fixing weaknesses. It strengthens a specific part of each movement.

Though training at all muscle lengths is essential to be strong and injury free, the lengthened part of most exercises provides the most hypertrophy response¹. This is probably why there are no big quarter squatters. In terms of muscle growth, the lengthened range of motion focused exercises provide much more return for the effort put in. This doesn’t mean you should only train in the lengthened range – you need to train in the normal muscle range as well. However, I have yet to come across much convincing evidence or experience from people praising short muscle length focused exercises. All I’ve seen is old-heads that “used to be jacked in their 20’s” saying, that it is what builds the peak of the muscle. Lifting heavy is also better in the lengthened range, as the eccentric is much stronger than the concentric, and as such – usually, you won’t get injured AND get more hypertrophy out of your time in the gym. However, all of this only matters if you put all the effort you can into it. Intensity is the main driver of muscle growth, and as such – any “sub-optimal” exercise that you will do with maximal effort is better than the best exercise in the world done with crappy effort.

The order in which you do these exercises matters due to a few factors. Lengthened range focused exercises are more fatiguing, however also more hypertrophic. As such you would think it is best to place them first, before doing other exercises. However they also feel worse on the joints and connective tissues around the muscle if done cold. Therefore, they get pushed back into somewhere in the middle of the session OR after a good warmup, preferably with the full range the muscle is capable of feeling good. For example, you will usually not do preacher curls first as a bicep exercise. To get the muscle feeling right and to prevent a tear, you will usually first do a heavy, non stretch based exercise, like hammer curls or a barbell curl. Same goes to overhead extensions being done after pushdowns. This allows blood to flow to the joints before you do these exercises and can prevent tendonitis and other pains in the long run.

Shortened muscle length exercises are best done at the end of a session as a finisher. They’re not as fatiguing, which means they won’t hurt your recovery as much, as long as you’re not overdoing your volume anyway. These exercises are better for strength than they are for size due to them not incorporating much of a weighted stretch. One huge bonus for these types of exercises – they do not hurt the joints as much. So if you are an older lifter or just have cranky joints, they’re a very good way to keep training a muscle and avoiding the pain. They’re also a good type of exercise to do warmups on. You can crank out a lot of reps at a light weight and not feel much fatigue at all. By doing this you prepare the muscle for a safe workout and get blood flowing beforehand. For example, before bench press you do face pulls and pushdowns to warm up the shoulders and elbows.

Basically, long muscle length based exercises are better for hypertrophy, given the intensity is equated. They are also much more physically fatiguing and shouldn’t be done at the start of a workout. Short muscle length exercises are very good for warming up or working out pain-free if you have cranky joints. They’re a lot less fatiguing and can be done for high volume, as a finisher for any workout or as a variation for base strength movements. It is also possible to turn any exercise into one that emphasizes the contraction or the stretch, and usually – it’s best to focus on the stretch. Overall, you will still need to do regular muscle length exercises that incorporate both lengths to gain maximal results.

1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362864671_Muscle_Hypertrophy_Response_to_Range_of_Motion_in_Strength_Training_A_Novel_Approach_to_Understanding_the_Findings ↩︎
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6977096/ ↩︎
3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362864671_Muscle_Hypertrophy_Response_to_Range_of_Motion_in_Strength_Training_A_Novel_Approach_to_Understanding_the_Findings ↩︎