Range of Motion: It’s Personal — Not What Instagram Says

"Ass to grass."

"Chest to bar."

"Lock it out."

You’ve heard it all — from influencers, textbooks, and armchair experts yelling across gym floors. But here’s the truth no one tells you:

Range of motion isn’t universal. It’s individual.

What defines your “full range” isn’t some arbitrary textbook standard. It’s dictated by your structure — your bone length, joint angles, mobility, injury history, and even how you’re built biomechanically. Two people can do the exact same movement and hit completely different end ranges… and both be right.

What Determines Your True Range

Joint structure: Not all hips are built to squat the same depth.
Limb length: Long femurs, short torsos, different leverages.
Mobility vs. stability: You might technically get there, but at what cost? Is it stable, or just borrowed from another joint?
Injury history: Torn pecs, bad knees, fused vertebrae — you don’t owe a perfect textbook rep to anyone.

So no, you don’t need to “dead hang” every pull-up, bury every squat, or let your elbows rip apart to get a “full” press.

But Don’t Use This as an Excuse

This isn’t a free pass to half-rep everything and blame “my structure.”

The standard is:

Train through the fullest range of motion you can control without pain or compensation.

That’s your working range — and your goal should be to improve it over time, not avoid it.

Examples of Real Training Standards

If your bench press can’t touch your chest without pain, work just shy of that — but don’t cut the range shorter than needed.
Can’t squat below parallel without dumping your pelvis?Then squat to the edge of control and build there.
Overhead press limited by shoulder structure? Use an angle or ROM that keeps you in the pocket.

It’s not about avoiding hard ranges. It’s about avoiding stupid ones that wreck you.

Bottom Line

Train your full range of motion — not Instagram’s.

Chase control, stability, and effort in the deepest, most meaningful range you can manage.

Don't shortchange your training by pretending you're fragile.

But don’t destroy yourself chasing a visual standard that isn’t yours to hit.

Train hard. Train smart. Own your range

Tommy's Take by Tommy Pomatico 7/28