First, Happy Thanksgiving Week! We finally get to get our grub on later this week with all the foods!
Yes, you read that right – FAILURE. We always talk about failure being a bad thing that no one wants to experience, but unlike every other aspect in our life, strength training is one area that you are allowed to fail and are encouraged to do so every now and again.
Now, not everyone should train to failure. There are certain times and people that should and shouldn’t do so. Don’t worry, I’m going to go into detail, just keep reading.
Today’s Topics
- What is Failure
- Do Beginners Train to Failure?
- Do Intermediate/Advanced Train to Failure?
- Should You Train to Failure?
What is Failure?
Failure is when you are doing an exercise, maintaining good form, and you get to a place where you physically cannot complete the rep without breaking form and cheating. You’ve completely exhausted the muscle.
So, should you train to failure?
It’s not a simple yes or no answer. It depends on many factors, but where you are at in your strength training journey is a big one.
I’m a Beginner, Do I Train to Failure?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! If you are new to strength training, you should never, ever, never, ever, never, ever train to failure.
Why? When you first start, you are training your form. You have to master a movement before you should take it to failure. If you are a beginner and have been doing a movement for a little while and you go to take it to failure, chances are you are going to get squirmy, sloppy, and start cheating to not fail.
That throws everything you are learning out the window, and it can get you seriously injured. The most important thing for a beginner to learn is correct form. So, if you are in your first couple of months of strength training, you should never train to failure. Especially on your big movements.
When you are a beginner, your body is so ready and eager to make progress, you can consistently train with 3-5 reps left in the tank and still make great progress. So, if you are new to strength training there’s no reason to train to failure and a whole lotta reason to not.
I’m intermediate/advanced, Do I Train to Failure?
Generally, the answer is no. As long as you are getting 1-3 reps shy of failure. Not being tired and quitting but truly being 1-3 reps shy of not being able to do anymore. The reason being you are probably creating the same stimulus to your muscles as training to failure.
It also isn’t as taxing on your muscles so you can do more sets or do the same number of sets but recover faster for your next workout.
So, I don’t recommend training to failure on your big movements like squat, bench press, deadlift, or press. It’s super taxing and the gains you would get from both going to failure and not going to failure are too close to concern yourself with.
Should I Never Train to Failure?
If you never train to failure, you will still see amazing results; so, don’t think you have to.
BUT! I do believe if you do train to failure or super close to failure on rare occasions, it is beneficial. Not necessarily because the training stimulus is so much greater going to failure, but because you may have thought you were training close to failure, but you are not.
We can’t really know if you are 1-3 reps shy of failure unless we see you hit failure every now and again.
For our clients, I never want to see them hit failure on barbell squats. I don’t want to pick someone off the floor lol. I mean you can do it with goblet squats or bodyweight, but that just sounds awful haha.
If you can’t get a deadlift off the ground, no big deal. If you can’t get an overhead press off your chest, it is what it is. Bench press, as long as you have a spotter you can go to failure. If you don’t have a spotter I do not recommend going to failure. And then, dumbbells and kettlebells you can just throw those on the ground when you can’t do another rep.
I do think training to failure on occasion in this intermediate stage is beneficial so you can truly feel what failure feels like. For most people, when they really push it, they can do far more reps they thought they could.
I see it all the time with clients. They’ll be doing 3 sets of 8 on bench press, and towards the last 3 reps they’re slowing down. So, I tell them on the last set we are just going to do as many as they can, and they end up pumping out 9, 10, 11, 12 reps. It’s like okay that 3×8 count was good for you.
Sometimes they are surprised when they get 20 reps on that set to failure, and it’s like alright you thought you were putting in a lot of effort with your 3 sets of 8 – I’m not saying you aren’t putting any effort – but you aren’t anywhere near failure.
So, if someone was using 55 lbs. on bench and got 20 reps on failure, we’re probably going to up their weight to 65 or 75 lbs. next time.
In terms of training to failure, I think it is beneficial to train as so every now and again to just know what it feels like, especially in that intermediate stage.
As you get to that advanced stage, you will need more intensity, or rep counts to get gains. But, if you’ve been training 2-5 years, you are going to know whether your weight and rep counts are getting you where you want to be better than I would be able to tell.
Recap
Beginners: NEVER TRAIN TO FAILURE!
Intermediate: On occasion, so you get the feel of what it’s like and you can adjust your weight and rep counts accordingly, and so you know if you are actually going 1-3 reps shy of failure or not.
Advanced: Beyond the scope of this video – it may make sense to train to failure it may not, you know your body.
That’s my advice folks. If you want to work with people who care about your fitness journey, will help you master form and movements as a beginner, help you make sure you are at that 1-3 reps shy of failure, and push you to excellence and gains, Steel is the place for you. We love helping our clients reach their goals as well as build them up to be in tune with their bodies!
