SCIENCE
TRAINING VARIABLE #3
TRAINING
TO FAILURE
❱❱ FOR STRENGTH
Going to failure on every set leads
to a drastic decline in a lifter’s ability
to perform additional repetitions in
subsequent sets (González-Badillo
et al., 2016; Jenkins et al., 2016).
According to other studies (Nóbrega et
al., 2017; Nóbrega and Libardi, 2016),
novice lifters seem to be able to gain
strength regardless of whether they go
to failure or not.
❱❱ FOR HYPERTROPHY
There is limited data on the effect
of going to failure on hypertrophy.
One study by Michael et al. (2012)
proved that similar hypertrophy
occurred between high-load and
low-load when sets were taken to
failure. Researchers were also inclined
to focus on testing failure on one body
part in isolation when a set is taken
to failure using unilateral single-joint
machine exercises, which is less taxing
than working on the compound moves.
❱❱ IN PRACTICE
“GOING TO FAILURE
MAKES A WORKOUT MORE
DIFFICULT AND MIGHT
SLOW DOWN RECOVERY
BETWEEN SESSIONS AND
CAN EVENTUALLY LEAD TO
OVERREACHING.”
74
Muscle Evolution
If you train to failure in each and
every workout you effectively
increase the risk of injury. Going to
failure also makes a workout more
difficult and might slow down recovery
between sessions and can eventually
lead to overreaching. Science
cannot tell us if failure is an optimal
strategy in the long term, but it is
commonly assumed that the constant
use of failure leads to injuries and
overreaching.
The average age of the male
participants in the majority of studies
conducted with training that goes to
failure in the gym is 23 and falls short
in terms of representativeness of how
failure impacts people from different
age and gender groups. So, add a few
sets to failure to your training, but be
aware that they can be taxing on both
a physiological and psychological
level. Go to failure on the last set or
sets, rather than the first sets of a
particular exercise. You can also use
AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible)
on the last set to add volume to your
exercise regimen.