TO SUCCEED ONE MUST FAIL. That is
a simple frequent fact in business and,
more often, in the gym. The question
in bodybuilding remains: “How often
should one achieve true muscular fail-
ure?” We know that changing one’s pro-
gram is part of avoiding stagnation and
that utilizing failure is one of the steps
to progress. But how do we fit it into our
program without the unwanted results of
injury, overtraining, and wasted effort?
Let’s first observe what happens to
our muscles during true muscular failure.
It’s important to note that for a muscle
to achieve full muscular failure you must
use the muscle throughout its entire
range of motion until you are no longer
able to perform a complete concentric
contraction. Multiple back-to-back drop
sets are required to achieve the three
types of muscular failure one can experi-
ence: 1) Myofibril failure, when the force
of the weight is too great for the exercise;
2) Intermediate failure, when the muscle
fibers exhaust along with the glycogen
stores; and 3) Mitochondrial failure,
when the cells can no longer fuel the
muscle and a contraction at any weight
can no longer happen.
To further avoid the falling into a pit
of stagnation, we introduce the FITT
Principle, which stands for Frequency,
Intensity, Type, and Timing. Our specific
focus is a variance in rep ranges when
doing drop sets to failure to benefit
from all dimensions. For the first set,
use a weight you can perform four to
six reps to myofibril failure. Lower the
weight slightly and repeat four to six reps
without rest. Sets three and four should
follow the same pattern regarding weight
adjustment but should be done in the
six- to 10-rep range producing inter-
mediate failure. Sets five and six should
be approximately 15 to 25 reps, but
the focus should be set six, where the
athlete should continue until full range
of motion cannot be actively achieved
indicating mitochondrial failure.
Nick Hunt, NSCA, CSCS, fitness man-
ager at Fitness 19 Algonquin in Illinois,
and I have designed a biceps workout
to demonstrate how to incorporate this
failure program into your hypertrophy
routine . Nick and I have worked closely
together for two years, and our best
results in gains have been from sets to
failure for each muscle group, one time
per week, utilizing both machines as well
as free weight.
I have always told clients, “It doesn’t
matter if you lift five pounds 500 times
or 500 pounds five times—if you
struggle to perform the last rep, you will
change just as long as your program
changes.” Now let’s get out and
implement some responsible failure
into our mesocycles and get your
biceps popping. IM
60 APRIL 2017 | ironmanmagazine.com
The Biceps Failure Workout
BEGIN EACH WORKOUT with five to 10 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio. For the first five
exercises, perform two sets of each exercise for four to six reps. Begin this failure plan with the first set
of the sixth exercise (the 12th set overall), which is the machine preacher curl. There are six total sets
for that exercise (and only that exercise.) Perform all six with little to no rest between sets.
EXERCISE
1. Standing Biceps Curls
2. Alternating Dumbbell Curls
3. Concentration Curls With Cables
4. Seated Alternating Hammer Curls
5. High-Pulley Cable Curls
6. Machine Preacher Curls
SETS
2
2
2
2
2
6
REPS
4-6
4-6
4-6
4-6
4-6
Failure*
*Set 1: Perform 4-6 reps to failure
Set 2: Drop the weight and immediately perform another 4-6 reps to failure
Set 3: Drop the weight and immediately perform 6-10 reps to failure
Set 4: Drop the weight and immediately perform another 6-10 reps to failure
Set 5: Drop the weight again and immediately perform 15-25 reps to failure
Set 6: Drop the weight and immediately perform as many reps as possible until
your form completely deteriorates