Training · Moderate evidence
Repetition Tempo, Range of Motion, and Exercise Order
Full range of motion outperforms partial range for lower-body strength and hypertrophy; repetition tempo matters little within broad boundaries; starting with compound exercises maximizes strength gains in them.
Meta-analyses · 3 sources · 2 min
What the studies show
- Repetition durations between 0.5 and 8 seconds produced similar hypertrophy; excessively slow tempos were inferior.
- Full range of motion was more effective than partial range for lower-body strength and hypertrophy.
- Exercises performed at the beginning of a session yielded greater strength gains; for hypertrophy, exercise order matters little.
How Letz applies it
Compound exercises come first in each session, exercise cues call for a controlled, pain-free range of motion, and the programmed repetition tempo uses a natural cadence.
Who it applies to
Resistance training in healthy adults.
Limits
Full range of motion must respect pain and mobility limitations; excessively slow repetitions reduce load and total volume.
Sources
- Schoenfeld, Ogborn & Krieger, Sports Medicine, 2015 DOI 10.1007/s40279-015-0304-0
- Pallarés et al., Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2021 DOI 10.1111/sms.14006
- Nunes et al., European Journal of Sport Science, 2021 DOI 10.1080/17461391.2020.1733672
More in Training
- Resistance Training, Strength, and HypertrophyVarious training prescriptions improve strength and hypertrophy; heavier loads favor strength, and multiple sets favor hypertrophy.
- Weekly Volume: Sets per Muscle GroupMore weekly sets per muscle produce greater hypertrophy, with diminishing returns; for strength, moderate volumes already capture most of the gains.
- Frequency: training each muscle at least twice per weekTraining a muscle group twice a week is superior to once for hypertrophy; for strength, higher frequency helps primarily because it distributes volume more effectively.
- Load and rep rangeLight and heavy loads produce similar hypertrophy when sets are taken close to failure; heavy loads are superior for maximizing strength gains.