Stretching

This Part is mostly ignored by the new comers but it is one the most important part while building muscle. Stretch mediated response is based on theory that most hypertrophy/growth response happens where muscle is stretched under load(when the muscle is contracted while being furthest from the base axis line).
On language of us bare mortals it means most muscle growth response happens in the initial/starting half/portion of the exercise.
Multiple studies found that partial reps performed in the starting half of the concentric phase elicit much greater hypertrophy response compared to the upper half of the concentric phase.
Tested exercises were squats, leg extensions, leg press, preacher curls, triceps dumbbell extensions and even bench press.

Subjects who trained with emphasis on “stretch mediated response” achieved significantly greater growth in the targeted muscle groups compared to subjects who performed upper half portion of the exercise
➡️53% vs 18% increase in muscle cross-sectional area
➡️31% vs 7% IGF-1 spike
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If you’re using partial reps as an intensity technique on top of your regular full ROM reps than this is crucial.
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Using partial reps can be a great way to accumulate additional volume and increase time under tension to stimulate growth but if you’re doing it probably the smartest way to do it is to take advantage of the stretch mediated response effect.

Perform your partials in a bottom/starting half of the concentric phase of the exercise to maximize its effectiveness.✔

Reason why I’m bringing this up is because through observing different lifters I realized most people perform partials in the upper half portion of the concentric phase(most likely because it feels easier) but the goal is to maximize hypertrophy stimulus not being comfortable.