Full range of motion isn't always mandatory — when partial reps make sense

Half a rep sometimes works better than the full movement

Coaching wisdom almost always recommends full range of motion as the gold standard — and in most cases that's justified: full ROM usually gives a bigger growth stimulus and builds flexibility through the range you're using. But partial reps — deliberately limiting range of motion to a specific portion of the movement — have a legitimate use case, not just a reputation as a 'cheating' way to lift more weight.

Partial reps at the hardest point of the range (say, squats through the bottom third) let you target exactly the part of the range where the muscle is weakest — used in training to fix specific 'sticking points' in a lift that a full rep might not adequately address, because the stronger parts of the range can mask the weaker ones.

Partial reps with a heavier load than you can handle through the full range can also create more mechanical tension for the nervous system and connective tissue, which some strength programs use deliberately. The key difference from 'cheating' is a deliberate choice of a specific part of the range for a specific purpose, not haphazardly cutting the movement short just to put a bigger number on the bar.