Muscle hypertrophy from partial repetition at long vs. short muscle length: A systematic review and meta-analysis

When people lift weights through a full motion vs. just part of the motion, the muscles might look like they grow more in one case—but that could just be because the weight feels heavier at different points, not because the muscle is stretched more. So we can’t be sure if stretching the muscle is what’s causing the growth.

Doing certain types of leg exercises that don't go through the full movement might build more muscle near the knee than doing the same exercises through the full motion.

Your calf muscle doesn’t squeeze as hard when it’s too short, so doing exercises where it’s stretched might help it grow more. This could also be true for other muscles like your shoulders and chest.

Whether you're working your quads, calves, or biceps, stretching them fully during exercises helps them grow bigger — this works for many different muscles, not just one.

Even if you don’t move through the full range, doing the exercise where your muscle is stretched the most (like halfway down in a squat) builds more muscle than doing it where the muscle is bunched up (like a shallow squat).

Even the middle parts of your muscles grow more when you stretch them fully during workouts — it’s not just the ends that benefit from full range of motion.