Thread: failure

Originally Posted by beginnerbb

i have always trained to failure on every set, it appears i may well have been wrong....have a read of this study

whttp://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/100/5/1647

if you train to one rep below failing as in you think that your going to fail next rep so don't attempt it, is that ok ie it doesn't have the same effect on your body as actually failing?

training to failure is lifting a weight to the LAST rep you can get with GOOD FORM

if you cant finish it in perfect form, then stop bc that is your "failure rep"

dont injure yourself

I think the benefit of training to failure is way overblown. At the same time, I don't think a lot of people know what true muscular failure is anyway.

However, this is all relative. I'd be curious to see another study done where the training to failure group did a reduced volume, because I think it is a plausible training method if you decrease the volume by quite a bit.

As well, this study also has to be taken with a grain of salt because these people were not resistance trained individuals. Yes, they were "active," but I can tell you based on their improvements that they were basically brand spanking new to resistance training. No one makes 20%+ improvement in 6-11 weeks. That's bonkers for an advanced trainee.

Furthermore, new trainees are likely to be less susceptible to overtraining. They are not as capable as an advanced trainee with respect to their ability to utilize a high percentage of their body's resources.

true but i think its an interesting study thats all and i was more interested in the hormone differences than the strength gains, failing is more of a neural aspect rather than a trigger for hypertrophy, and this is a totally 180 swing from the past year or so where i have gone to failure nearly all the time and then i looked up the symptoms of over training and realised i seemed to have quite a few of them. But i think its a personal thing everyone's body works slightly differently so for some people im sure its great, but i'm going to do a stint of not failing at all/rarely and see what kind of results i get.

always going for failure may lead to overtraining.

u use failures on all excercises btw?

Bulgarian Weightlifting and Weight Lifting

there are many more great reads on the bulgarian way of training. bottom line is, when the training is over, rest.... eat very well.... sleep very well..
than take your time off to really recover 4-5-6-7 days, then start over..
great gains..

obviously every person is different and some people may well be fine and not overtrain by going to failure frequently but personally i dont think its for me and that study is a pretty good indicator, i did see another somewhere i'll try and find it

Originally Posted by beginnerbb

true but i think its an interesting study thats all and i was more interested in the hormone differences than the strength gains, failing is more of a neural aspect rather than a trigger for hypertrophy, and this is a totally 180 swing from the past year or so where i have gone to failure nearly all the time and then i looked up the symptoms of over training and realised i seemed to have quite a few of them. But i think its a personal thing everyone's body works slightly differently so for some people im sure its great, but i'm going to do a stint of not failing at all/rarely and see what kind of results i get.

Yup, I'm glad you posted it. I always like to see people post scientific literature. You have to be critical of the literature too though, because applying the conclusions of a study to all populations is not necessarily going to lead to accurate assumptions.

I suggest you look into Chad Waterbury and some of his articles on training. I use some of his principles in my current training program, and I like them quite a bit. He has an interesting method for managing fatigue, and I quite like it. Feel free to look at my journal if you want some idea too, though ideally you will read his articles first to more fully understand.

have you got some links cowpimp?