Part 2 - Training to Failure, Is It Needed?
Moving on from my introductory post on ‘How Hard Does Weight Training Need To Be To Grow?’, I wanted to follow it up with Part 2 where I delve into one of the most often cited aspects of a hard training session, namely…
How many sets did we take to Failure?!
If you’ve been training a certain amount of years it’s very likely that in most sessions you have taken at least 1 set to your absolute maximum. In fact, if you’re like me, you probably spent the best part of your Training life taking every set of every workout pretty damn close.
But the question I’d like to address with this post is this, will I be missing out on GainZ if I never go to failure?
So (as I often like to do), let’s start with the different definitions of ‘Failure’ Training and how they differ.
TYPES OF FAILURE
CONCENTRIC MECHANICAL FAILURE
This is the point in which Muscle Fatigue reaches a level where the ability to contract the muscle to lift the weight is lost (Concentric). This is due to a number of different reasons that are not yet fully understood, it is ‘Failure’ on a completely physiological level and does not take into consideration the form of the reps.
Lehman’s Terms — You are performing a Bench Press and can no longer move the weight back off your chest even with some dodgy arse form.
ECCENTRIC MECHANICAL FAILURE
The point in which you are no longer able to control the lowering portion of the lift (Eccentric). The Muscle Fatigue actually happens at about the same rate as the Concentric but as we are stronger in the lowering portion of the lift we can continue on for a little bit longer.
Lehman’s Terms — You are performing a Bench Press with a spotter who helps you lift the weight off your chest and then lets you lower it yourself. However you finally reach a point where you can’t stop the bar coming crashing down on your chest.
TECHNICAL FAILURE
The point at which you are unable to perform the exercise with PERFECT form. Form in this case will relate to the Range of Motion, Technique, Controlled Tempo and removal of Momentum from other areas of the body.
Lehman’s Terms — You are performing a Barbell Row with a controlled tempo, neutral spine that is almost parallel with the floor and a full range of motion. You reach a point where you could no longer perform a full rep without using some hip movement and/or lowering your chest to give you momentum to swing the bar to the the top.
There are technically some other ways of classifying ‘Failure’ but as these are the different types you will typically see being performed they are the only ones worth mentioning.
HOW DOES ‘FAILURE’ IMPACT MUSCLE GROWTH?
If we are Training for Maximum Muscle Growth (Hypertrophy) then we need the effort we put into our reps our exercises to do 2 things, firstly recruit a full range of Muscle Fibres within the target Muscle and secondly affect the Muscle Fibres that have the greatest ability to grow.
These are known as our ‘Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibres’ or ‘Type IIa and Type IIx’.
These Muscle Fibres are segregated into ‘Motor Units’ which are essentially just the Fibres themselves and a receptor to a signal from the brain telling them when to fire. Henneman’s size principle indicates that motor units are recruited from smallest to largest based on the size of the load. For smaller loads requiring less force, slow twitch, low-force, fatigue-resistant muscle fibers are activated prior to the recruitment of the fast twitch, high-force, less fatigue-resistant muscle fibers. Larger motor units are typically composed of faster muscle fibers that generate higher forces
The image below just gives an example of how this works in relation to Time and Tension:
This is where we can see that progressively increasing our Time AND Tension with different exercises (which will usually translate to Training Volume) is very important for making sure we are overloading the Muscle Fibres.
So how does this tie in to Training to Failure?
As we get closer to true Muscle Fatigue our recruitment of these Motor Units goes up to enable us to keep moving the weight, these are those tough reps that you get towards the end of a set that have been termed “effective reps”. If we were to constantly stay 6–7 reps short of failure we would never perform these and the amount of Muscle Fibres we were working would always be limited.
As well as this, training at (or close to) failure creates higher EMG within the muscle, meaning that the muscle is activated to a greater extent than staying short of failure.
So surely it would be better to train EVERY set to failure right?!
Well this is individual and context specific, so let me explain who MIGHT benefit.
(“MIGHT” because the weight of research still isn’t really there to support it)
WHO MIGHT BENEFIT FROM TRAINING TO FAILURE REGULARLY?
Your ability to progress consistently training to failure is going to be reliant on your ability to recover from doing so. The following populations will all have a greater capacity for recovery and therefore might benefit from pushing to their maximum with greater regularity:
- Assisted Bodybuilders
- Those in Low Stress Environments prioritizing Nutrition and Sleep
- Younger Athletes at the Peak of their Recovery Capabilities
- A combination of 1 or more of the above
However taking every set to failure causes a huge amount of stress on our system, increases the possibility of reaching an ‘overtrained’ state if not managed and could also lend itself to musculoskeletal injuries/issues from pushing a tissue past it’s current work capacity.
The research does not yet support that constantly training to failure gives a statistically greater advantage for all of this extra stress. So if longevity is something that you cherish, bear in mind that this approach may need to change as you grow older or your lifestyle circumstances change.
WHO PROBABLY WOULDN’T?
If you are an individual in the following populations then it might be beneficial to look at training to failure as a supplement sprinkled across a Training Program sparingly on a 4–6 weekly basis.
- Highly Stressed Individuals
- Older Populations (if your at the age where Testosterone levels are starting to decline then you fit this category)
- Those with Cardiovascular Issues
- Recreational Lifters doing this as a Hobby
- Those with shitty form (Failure with bad form leads to injury)
- A combination of 1 or more of the above
The funny thing is that more people reading this will fit into this category than the former. If you are in your late 30’s/early 40’s, lift because it’s your hobby and have a family and your own business it’s likely that training to failure regularly is not necessary, or even optimal, for maximum gains.
WHO DEFINITELY WOULDN’T?
In a word, NEWBIES!
Weight Training is 2 things….
- A SKILL
- A STRESS
When a Stress is new our sensitivity to it is much larger, in the case of those new to lifting it results in “Newbie Gains” without doing much at all, certainly without having to train to failure. This was shown in a study by Izquierdo et al. (2006) which showed that in inexperienced lifters:
“Both RF (Repetition Failure) and NRF (Non-Repetition Failure) resulted in similar gains in 1-repetition maximum bench press (23 and 23%) and parallel squat (22 and 23%), muscle power output of the arm (27 and 28%) and leg extensor muscles (26 and 29%), and maximal number of repetitions performed during parallel squat (66 and 69%)”
The not-so-secret truth is that just going to the gym consistently and lifting some appropriate weights with enough moderately difficult sets, eating some Protein and sleeping enough for a couple of years is likely to get you 80% of the muscle that you will ever build in your lifetime.
This has been shown in a study looking at inexperienced
As Weight Training is also a Skill we need to develop it with quality practice of the movements that work the muscle through its full range of motion. Muscle Fatigue will impact upon our ability to coordinate the different joint actions and will eventually lead to a breakdown in form if it is still in the learning stages. A breakdown in form can lead to injury, and an injury will lead to zero muscle growth.
So in short, if you are a Coach using Failure on Squats with your newbie client who hasn’t yet mastered the movement then you are an idiot :).
HOW CLOSE TO FAILURE SHOULD I TRAIN THEN?
The answer to this question will be reliant on the rep-range and therefore load that you are using.
Training with High Loads (60%+ 1RM)
The history of Muscle Building Programs has usually recommended a rep range of between 6–15 reps or a load of 60–85% of our 1 Rep Max. This is for a couple of reasons, firstly it gives you an easy and time-efficient way of getting enough Volume that you stress the work capacity of the muscle and secondly because it gives you enough load that you recruit the High Threshold Motor Units/Fast Twitch Muscle Fibres that have the greatest growth capacity as we mentioned at the start.
So a load that you can do between 6–15 reps with enables us to move into the category of “effective reps” pretty quickly where we achieve very high levels of Muscle Activation and Motor Unit recruitment as we approach failure.
This is obviously useful to know as if we are spending our time in this kind of rep range we could look to progress the weight we are able to use 1–3 reps short of failure on each set over time and still give ourselves enough stress to induce muscle growth!
Training with Light Loads (Less than 60% 1RM)
For a long time it was thought that light weights only built one thing, strength endurance.
However now we know better!
In 2015, Schoenfeld et al did a study comparing the muscle growth of a group performing 25–35 reps per set with a light load to failure vs a group performing 8–12 reps with a high load to failure, the results were as follows:
“Both HL and LL conditions produced significant increases in thickness of the elbow flexors (5.3 vs. 8.6%, respectively), elbow extensors (6.0 vs. 5.2%, respectively), and quadriceps femoris (9.3 vs. 9.5%, respectively), with no significant differences noted between groups.”
However the issue with this was the Light Load group had to perform a hell of a lot of reps before the weight got remotely difficult, therefore it took a long time for the group to start achieving “effective reps” that would ultimately build muscle. For this reason they performed nearly 3 times the amount of Volume that the High Load group did without extra growth.
So Light Load training is an example of when taking sets to failure more often is pretty necessary to get the amount of muscle fibre recruitment you need to grow. It will be less taxing on your joints due to the lighter weights you are lifting so that’s a plus for those struggling with their joints (me), but it’s also damn uncomfortable and a pretty inefficient way of getting all your Training Volume in if you’re looking to use your time in the gym wisely.
So use training to failure with light weights strategically and ideally towards the end of your sessions so that the fatigue doesn’t impact upon your other bigger lifts too much.
ISSUES WITH USING REPS IN RESERVE/STAYING SHORT OF FAILURE
It would be wrong of me to talk about why you don’t need to train to failure without talking about the possible issues that come with telling people they don’t need to.
The first is this, the majority of people in the gym don’t actually know when they are a certain amount of reps short of failure. An experienced bodybuilders 3 reps short of failure is going to look a whole load different than someone who has been training sporadically for a couple of years.
The form will still be tight, it will probably look pretty damn slow and they’ll be some big veins bulging out of the bodybuilders forehead. This understanding of where your true limit lies only comes with being an experienced lifter, in fact I didn’t truly know when I was about 2 reps short of form failure on a squat till last year, nearly 8 years after I started training properly!
With someone who is a relative novice to weight training or just a certain exercise in general, the failure point may come on very suddenly or they may just stop when it starts to ‘feel’ difficult. In a lot of cases this could be 4–5 reps short of failure, potentially not enough to cause the kind of whole muscle activation we are looking for. So if you fall into the category of a new lifter you’re probably going to notice that what you perceive as a ‘hard set’ will change over time.
PRACTICAL TAKE HOMES!
- There is not yet any compelling evidence that ‘Training to Failure’ leads to greater growth than ‘Not Training to Failure’.
- Your Recovery Ability as an individual should dictate how often you decide to use training to failure on a set in your Program
- High Load Training (6–15 reps) can likely be taken 1–3 reps short of failure and still achieve high growth
- Low Load Training (15 reps +) probably needs to be taken very close to failure to achieve the same kind of gains. Failure therefore will take a lot longer to achieve in with these types of sets.
- We should look to make attaining “Effective Reps” the goal of each set and then ultimately try to progress the number of reps we can do till we achieve these with the same weight or increase the load.
- Reps In Reserve can be a useful way of Intermediate/Advanced Trainers to decide if they are training close enough to failure without risking the potential effects of ‘Overtraining’ or ‘Exhaustion’.
Well done if you’ve managed to make it all the way through this, as hopefully you can see there can be an argument for or against training to failure and it will mostly be based upon who you are as an individual.
There is no right answer to whether YOU should train to failure regularly or even at all! It can only be based on your own experiences and there will be a certain risk/reward ratio of doing it a lot.
However it’s nice to know that you can achieve gains in both instances.
Ref
Izquierdo M., Ibanez J., Gonzalez-Badillo J. J., Hakkinen K., Ratamess N. A., Kraemer W. J., et al. . (2006). Differential effects of strength training leading to failure versus not to failure on hormonal responses, strength, and muscle power gains. J. Appl. Physiol. (1985) 100, 1647–1656. 10.1152/japplphysiol.01400.2005
Schoenfeld B. J., Peterson M. D., Ogborn D., Contreras B., Sonmez G. T. (2015). Effects of low- vs. high-load resistance training on muscle strength and hypertrophy in well-trained men. J. Strength Cond. Res. 29, 2954–2963. 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000958
