Training to Failure

You may hear some trainers say if you aren’t training to failure, you are “missing out on gains”. However, this is a short sighted way to look at training. Instead of looking at maximising one session, you should be looking at what protocols are going to lead to long term results.

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Training to failure may get you slightly more results in that isolated session, However, how are you going to perform on the rest of your gym sessions that week? If you are going to yield less results in subsequent sessions, your weekly work may be reduced, leading to reduced results in strength or hypertrophy.

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If you are hitting failure, the DOMs you will suffer (post workout muscular pain) over following days will be higher. This will also likely reduce your motivation to go to the gym and repeat your training. Consistency and long-term adherence are where the real gains are found.

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If you are an athlete of any level (from a recreational participant all the way to a professional sports person), training to failure could impact your ability to perform in sport specific sessions or competitions thereby sacrificing a more important goal for a tiny bit of extra gym work. This is not smart.

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Training to failure is also where lifting form breaks down and injuries are more likely. Repeatedly training too hard can lead to fatigue and chronic overtraining. The risk reward ratio is far worse close to failure for less experienced gym users as well, meaning novice gym goers should stay far away from failure.

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With all this in mind a more measured approach is what will work best for most people. Training to 1-3 RIR for most people will yield the best balance between getting results in strength or hypertrophy and avoiding injury, fatigue, and chronic overtraining. It is ok to occasionally test your limits, but this should be done sparingly and at far apart intervals (at most, a handful of times a year)

 

References:

National Academy of Sports Medecine. (2022). Reps in Reserve (RIR): What You Need to Know. [Online]. NASM. Available at: https://blog.nasm.org/reps-in-reserve [Accessed 01 October 2023].

 

TSquared Lab. (2022). Reps in Reserve RIR: The Perfect Muscle-Building Toolkit. [Online]. TSquared Lab. Last Updated: March 10, 2022. Available at: https://tsquaredlab.com/blog/reps-in-reserve-rir-the-perfect-muscle-building-toolkit/ [Accessed 07 October 2023].