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Going through a full range of motion activates more muscle fibers—making them stronger and burning more calories.  Don’t make the mistake of increasing the weights before your muscles have fully reached their potential.  If you’re stacking on the weights, but aren’t going down low enough, you’re making a false sense of progress.  You may think that your are progressing, but in truth you’re just cheating yourself out of getting better results.

Here are 2 examples:

1. Squats
Are you squatting down deep enough so that your thighs are parallel to the floor (or lower if possible)?  If you’re not, then you aren’t getting the most out of your squats.  Assuming that you’re completely healthy with no knee, hip, or low back injuries, you should be squatting as low as possible.  You may not have the flexibility at first, but don’t let that stop you from practicing it.  The idea is to go as low as you can while keeping good form.  When squatting, you should always keep your low back straight.  Even if you have to bring your chest forward to achieve the desired depth of squat, you need to keep your low back straight to avoid straining or injuring it.  The other point you should keep in mind is to stick your butt back as you’re squatting.  This will help you go down lower while minimizing any strain on your knees.

2. Lunges
Lunges are a fantastic exercises for strenghtening and sculpting your legs.  What’s more, they’re functional, helping you with activities such as running, hiking, and all kinds of sports.  In order to get the most out of this power move, make sure you’re lunging all the way down.  That means, the thigh of your leading leg should come parallel to the floor, but make sure that your knee doesn’t travel beyond your toes (this will minimize strain on your knees).  The knee of your trailing leg should come close or even touch the floor.  Once again, keep your back straight and your chest up.

Remember, a greater range of motion means that your muscle fibers have to lengthen further and consequently contract more as well.  This requires more neural recruitment and more muscle fibers to be stimulated, enabling your muscle to reach full potential.  This process also greatly increases the energy expenditure, which means more calories burned— so you can get stronger and leaner more effectively.

Bottom line is this—perform each exercise with full range of motion to maximize it’s benefits, so you can accelerate your results.