Should You Train To Failure For Muscle Growth? (New Research)
Video taken from the channel: Shredded Sports Science
Should You Train To Failure To Build Muscle?
Video taken from the channel: Fit and 50
Effective Reps: Does Training To Failure Matter For Muscle Growth? | Science Explained
Video taken from the channel: Jeff Nippard
Layne Norton’s Guide To Failure Training
Video taken from the channel: Bodybuilding.com
Is Training to FAILURE Necessary?
Video taken from the channel: PictureFit
Should You Train to Failure (THE ANSWER!)
Video taken from the channel: ATHLEAN-X™
Does Training to FAILURE Improve Muscle Gains? (New Science)
Video taken from the channel: PictureFit
If your goal is to use training to failure for muscle growth or increased strength capacity, it is a wiser, strategic method than doing reps until you crap out. For this, you’d pick a lift and: Do one set 2-3 reps short of failure, using your judgment to determine when you feel as if you could only do 2-3 reps more if you tried.The ultimate form of overload is to train to momentary muscle failure, which recruits the maximum number of motor units and muscle fibers.
1 That is why many bodybuilders use this kind of training. But there’s no consensus that this is always the best way to build muscle. How to Do It.It’s also been established that training to failure increases lactic acid production more than non-failure training—although your arms could probably tell you that more convincingly than any study![5] A second benefit to training to failure is that, near the end of a set, all of your smaller muscle fibers become fatigued.
If you reach failure during a set, it usually means you are working pretty hard, putting forth significant effort, and generating significant muscle fatigue. It also usually means you are striving to make progress in some way, and progression is honestly the true key to getting positive results from any weight training routine.If you need to make more complex queries, use the tips below to guide you. Boolean operators This OR that This AND that This NOT that Must include “This” and “That” This That Acute effects of muscle failure and training system (traditional vs. rest-pause) in resistance exercise on countermovement jump performance in trained adults.
Muscle fatigue is a symptom that decreases your muscles’ ability to perform over time. It can be associated with a state of exhaustion, often following strenuous activity or.When it comes to resistance training, you may have heard people refer to the “mind-muscle connection,” but what does it actually mean?
Learn about several research studies demonstrating that focusing your attention on targeted muscles during a workout can actually enhance your results.Over-training syndrome occurs when someone suffers from extensive muscle damage — think of it as physical burnout. By adding variety to the exercises you’re doing regularly, you can help prevent over-training of the same muscle group.Building muscle means more than going to the gym. It means lifting the right way, eating the right way, and resting the right way.
These tips will help.Many people say training to failure helps you build muscle faster, but does it really? Learn the answer according to 10 scientific studies.Strength training volume for hypertrophy always seems to be a contentious topic, whether people are arguing about one set versus multiple sets, or whether they are arguing about the exact number of.When you cannot prevent the weight from plummeting to Earth despite your best efforts, you have reached total muscle failure.
High Intensity Training is not for the faint of heart. I recommend training this way for season gym veterans only. If you’re a newb and try this you may never touch a weight again due to the severe physical pain and psychological damage that you’ll experience. Heavy Duty Training for Muscle.Your muscle strength will be diminished if you spend all your energy capital at the start of each set, which is why you should save failure for your final sets of an exercise.
Specifically, by training to failure during the last set — and only the last set — of an exercise, you give yourself the best chance for growth.-Diamond grip push-ups (to failure)-45 second rest-Side to side/1 arm/wide grip push-ups-End of set 1-3 minute rest-Repeat this formula using any push-up variation you.RELATED: How Do I Know If I Pulled a Muscle?
When You Know Your Workout Worked “You don’t need to be sore after every workout, and you don’t want to be.” While “ugh I can’t lift my arms” is a solid indication that you’ve worked your muscles to the max, it’s not the only way to tell you put in work.
List of related literature:
|
|
from Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy |
|
|
|
from Nutrient Timing: The Future of Sports Nutrition |
|
|
|
from Power to the People!: Russian Strength Training Secrets for Every American |
|
|
|
from Sports & Exercise Massage E-Book: Comprehensive Care in Athletics, Fitness, & Rehabilitation |
|
|
|
from Physiological Aspects of Sport Training and Performance |
|
|
|
from Runner’s World Complete Book of Running: Everything You Need to Run for Weight Loss, Fitness, and Competition |
|
|
|
from Encyclopedia of Sports Medicine |
|
|
|
from Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? |
|
|
|
from Swimming Fastest |
|
|
|
from The Ketogenic Diet: A Complete Guide for the Dieter and Practitioner |
360 comments
Check out the new shop here -> http://picfitshop.com
Thanks to everyone that have been asking for new shirt designs. Hope you guys like these. Thank you to everyone that is getting a shirt. It’s gonna help me a lot and free up time to make more and more content for you guys. It truly means a lot and I deeply appreciate the support. And of course, thank you for watching and supporting me and GETTING YOUR PROTEIN!
Failure is the minimum you need to go if you want to be a champion. The best bodybuilders didnt get there by leaving 3 reps in the tank. If it was that easy everyone would do it
The argument in this video does not conclude anything regarding which one is better. Primarily because it doesn’t explore what happens when recovery IS allowed after training to failure. I personally stimulate a particular muscle group at least after 30 hrs (Alternate days).
One set training is the only plan that gave me more gains. So training to failure for me is gospel.
So training to failure and taking longer breaks means reasonable muscle growth
I cant believe this. I thought you have to go to failure on every single set. No wonder I absolutely hated working out
but what if im training to failure but in total ive done like 30 reps. will my muscle still grow?
Personally, when I don’t train to failure. I don’t see results. Maybe that’s because I train technical failure, where I do reps until my technique breaks down and is bad, but I think people think failure as in not being able to perform a rep anymore no matter the form, which is dangerous and an easy way to get injured.
This explains why I got so much bigger with calisthenics, damn
Hi picture fit. Great videos as always. I have also looked upon on to other scientist’s research and all of them shows that training to failure doesn’t have a single benefit. It requires more recovery time, more damage to the muscle, potential risk, and a burden to nervous system. My question is, if training to failure is a bad thing to do, and only the volume matters, can I gain the same result if I stops at 80 percent rather than 90 percent, if the volume is the same? Thank you
Y didn’t I watch this vid be4, basically crippling myself lol
Failure Training has definite advantages if you’re looking to be injured.
But my doctor say the otherway around and hes also a youtuber
So the Not to failure group never felt as exhausted as the train to failure group? Does this mean they could pump up 2-3 more reps, but stopped at 10 since it was 3 sets of 10 reps as shown in the example?
My good sir. Please do a video about thalassemia ang bodybuilding. -your #1 fan
Once I started going one or two reps shy of failure, I started to gain weight. I recommend it. Obviously recovery and nutrition in combination is necessary as well. This trio is where I noticed the weight going up.
Remember to wake up at 3 in the morning and lick your window or you’ll only get 2% of your potential gains.
I have and will always believe in training to Failure..because if you dont train to failure then you are wasting your time at the gym. But in what sense? Failure of FORM..Thats I believe in. What use is doing an exercise if you have to use every muscle in the body to get the weight up eh?
Who works out til failure? I like to do 1 rep per minute so I can do 60 rep sets with my 80%/max. It’s all about the volume. Plus I get to hang out out the gym 8 hours a day
Do you need to breathe to stay alive?
PictureFit: It depends
Man I hate that training to failure is not the most effective way, it’s the only way I like to train.
I feel like this is inconclusice because the sample size is small and that wasn’t adequate rest for the failure group
My comment to this is; wouldnt it be fine that it takes 24 to 48 hrs to recover because I’m not gunna do the same muscle the very next day. The recovery time of the muscles allows me to train other muscle groups until the damaged muscles r repaired then I can work them again
Do you have a link to this study it appears there are some possible statistical flaws in the research?
In my opinion after a workout you should still be able to defend yourself. Shits crazy out there sometimes
I almost don’t believe it.. wouldn’t recovery have more to do with the amount of sleep you get and the nutrients you put into your diet as opposed to your reps and sets?
What I do is reps until I see I can maintain a good technique, that’s the only thing I focus about (30s max of rest per rep, blood still has to be flowing in my opinion), I’m not one who goes for mass if that’s what you’re going for, don’t do what I do
This is a total game changer for me! Thank you so much for your work PictureFit!
In my opinion scientists forget as always about longer recovery time and eating in their experiments. Because from this what i remember more you destroy your muscle fibers, bigger they grow ( give them after time to recovery and enough food to build). I prefer to belive ppls who achive perfect body with failure system than a group of scientists what did not have any idea how to workout in practice.
I train until failure on every last set of every exercise and do a push/pull/legs split with 3-4 movements a session and every seventh day train abs calves and traps. I recover good even on a caloric deficit doing this. I think it all depends on the individual. Some people have better cns recovery than others
I don’t understand how people can dislike when he is trying to improve us
PictureFit can you make a video about magnesium stearat its in alot of supplements, many people say that is harmfull and i’m worried about because on my zinc supplement says it contains magnesium stearat. And I’m concerned if i should continue to use it. Please make a video about it.
Hey picture fit, I do love your videos! Lot of trustworthy sources, I learn so much with them. Can I suggest you to talk about the vitamin b12 supplement for other video? Thank you so much for your work and best regards.
please stop doing scientific studies about bodybuilding.. you fucked up
Thanks for the great content! Could you please maybe do a video on egg whites consumption and the possibility of biotin deficiency?
It’s time to go get your revenge
So we back in the mine, got our pick axe swinging side to side, day and night
This task a grueling one, hope to find some diamonds tonight, oh how they shine
Then it’s heads up, hear a sound you freeze up, turn around and look up, total shock fills your body,
Is this the end?
Can’t believe it’s you again
I could never forget those eyes
‘Cause baby tonight, the creeper’s trying to steal your stuff again, again, again
‘Cause baby tonight, you grab your pick, shovel and bolt again, again, again
And run, run, run until it’s done, done, then you run, run, run until the sun
Sun comes up in the morn’
‘Cause baby tonight, the creeper’s trying to steal your stuff again, again, again
Just when you think you’re safe, hear some hissing from right behind, escape denied
That’s a nice life you have, shame it’s gotta end at this time, now you’re mine
Then he blows up, and your health bar it drops, you could use a 1-up, get inside don’t be tardy,
Now you’re stuck in there, all alone in despair, half a heart is left now but don’t die
‘Cause baby tonight, the creeper’s trying to steal your stuff again, again, again
‘Cause baby tonight, you grab your pick, shovel and bolt again, again, again
And run, run, run until it’s done, done, then you run, run, run until the sun
Sun comes up in the morn’
‘Cause baby tonight, the creeper’s trying to steal your stuff again, again, again
Captain Sparklez:
Dig up diamonds, and craft those diamonds
Looks like that armor’s been exercising
MLG Pro, that diamond sword
Come at me bro, I got it forged
Training under the torch light glow
Hone that form now you’re in the zone
Creepers out prowling, ready for the big fight
Show them what it feels like
Come on. Lets go!
‘Cause I’m a warrior baby through and through
Take my revenge.
That’s what I will do
Bring it
You gotta fight baby tonight
The creeper’s trying to steal your stuff again
It’s time to grab your sword, armor and go
It’s time to go get your revenge
And you fight, fight like it’s your last night, then you fight, fight like it’s for your life
Time to show them your bite
‘Cause baby tonight, the creeper’s trying to steal your stuff again, again, again
‘Cause baby tonight, the creeper’s trying to steal your stuff again
Swing your sword up high
‘Cause baby tonight, you grab your pick, shovel and bolt again
Swing your sword down low
It’s time to go
It’s time to go
It’s time to go get your revenge
Oversett til norsk
@picturefit Please, I want to ask you about the program you use to make your videos(this animation)!!!??
Me: Does it depend?
picturefit: It depends on what it depends on
Can you do a video on the different forms of whey, so normal, isolate and hydrolysate and see which one is best
They completely left out of the study the idea of heavier weights with less reps versus more reps with lighter weight. This study really only looked at training to failure in a lighter weight volume based routine. So we’re missing part of the picture here. It’s also been said that “intensity” is far better with 5-8 reps of heavier weights than 8-12, or more, of lighter weight. Did they test for mass or for actual strength improvements, would be another question.
Great videos and great advice but I can’t help wondering what this dudes physique looks like. Am I the only one?
Training to failure just like doing drop sets is totally effective, BUT NOT every day or every set, you’ll just end up exhausting yourself.
Can somone give me example of how many sets and reps should I do for non failure training?
I basically go to failure on every set, not a good idea then? I never feel like I’m not rested enough when it comes to doing the same muscle group next week though.
I bet my mama he said
it depends
edit: i guess i’m on the wrong channel
And what if the non failure group, builded muscle because they always trained to failure until they made the research, so they changed the way they always trained causing more damage to muscle and more growth because of the new training schedule
Can you make a video about doing one exercise every day for x amount of time. for example doing 100 push-ups every day for a month/2month. Would it bare any results. it’s really popular in Buzzfeed video’s
Fuck I’m PhD and I feel this study is another one which proves what the authours premeditatedly wanted to prove, that is RI is superior to RM (muscle failure). They only measured the vastus lateralis and the subjects trained legs for 5 consecutive days/week. At some point in the study they mention that both groups performed sprint training in between the resistance training. And I don’t know for you, but for me it’s obvious that if you reach failure on some muscle you need to rest at least one day before training that muscle again, or you will pay it. Imagine reach muscle failure on the vastus lateralis today, and tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the next one, and the next, for two months and a half! That’s so stupid!!! Why just don’t compare two normal 8-12 reps RI vs. RM routines with REAL 1-2 training days/week PER MUSCLE with at least two days of rest between trainings for the same muscle? Ah I know, because there wouln’t be statitically significant results, or even RM would be better, and thus the bro science would be right again.
It’s weird taking Strength Training advice from a person that sound like they weigh 125 lbs and suffer from low testosterone…..
I dont care about the results ive been training to failure for the past few months ive started working out and its worked so im still doing it
For Some reason I can’t workout I just don’t feel like I’m tearing in dem muscles anyone got any tips?
I generally always train to failure, except on Squat, Leg Press & Deadlift, as I don’t want to take any sort of risks on such big exercises.
Despite not training to failure, I have experienced good progress on Deadlifts nonetheless, and can currently lift 440lbs and am progressing at a slow and steady pace.
I will never remove failure from my workouts. I guess it’s optimal to keep it for the last set at least, but I can’t resist and do it for 2-3 sets…
I do every last set to failure for over 10 years now. Works best for me or else I feel like I dint do my best.
What’s your opinion on finishing the last set by going to failure and then keep hanging for a looong negative rep?
This got me interested in going to the gym again.
I always wanted to train to failure to bring that challenge and mental toughness to my workout, but either people would say no with weak, unsatisfying arguments ( to let themselves off the hook most likely) or I would injure myself because I only trained till failure of tolerance ( not knowing any other types of failure at the time) because I was well past failure to maintain form, so injuries occur because of bad form. Same with explosive excercises, I didnt get the results I wanted because I trained till failure of tolerance while getting slower and less explosive instead of training for failure of tempo while keeping it quick and explosive.
Thanks Athlean!
Aim to fail or I’ll never succeed? Okay. Cool. Giving it everything next workout now
And I heard some dumbass on Instagram saying that training to failure doesn’t increase gains as oppose to not training to failure.
Training to failure is simply a good way of traumatizing your muscles. You want to constantly force your body to adapt to the external forces it must handle. As far as your internal body is concerned, it is fighting for survival when a irregular force is introduced. That force being the very heavy weight/resistance.
Social media jerkoffs: gIvE mE a 100$ aNd I’lL tElL yOu A sEcRet…
Jeff: *tells all the secrets during an event for free
Most of the time I train every sentence until I can’t do the movement anymore. But there are other days when I take it easy.
In principle I rely on my feeling.
I like the contribution very much.
Best regards
My life seems to go to absolute failure. Can’t say I benefit much of this
Do 3 sets of 10 reps to failure. Avoid heavy weights to prevent injury.
I had chicken legs, started doing squats and calf raises till failure with almost my max three months in, my legs and quads are delicious too look at.
Joke comments aside, this is a extremely insightful and beneficial post that I would never have thought of.
My question is, should I train to failure each set, or only the last set I planned (for example the last set of the ussual 3 sets 12 reps)
Thank you for actually caring about others and teaching real truth and the right way to train. Very inspiring!!
Is training to failure necessary if I just want general health? I can workout more consistently without too much grinding. Is consistence more important?
Really great info on the three types of failure of tempo, tolerance, or technique. Wouldn’t failure of technique be the first failure?
I have no clue what I’m training for all I know is I love training?
Guess I’m screwed then!
but what if im training to failure but in total ive done like 30 reps. will my muscle still grow?
I always train to failure, but I’ve often heard you should train so you got a few reps left in you when you’re done. I knew that was bullshit. I just saw a video of Joe Rogan saying if you’re able to do 10 reps, do 5 and wait 10 min before the next set.. What? You would think Joe Rogan knew better.
Did not know this…they don’t teach this in the NASM CPT test. Your knowledge is sooo next level. Thank you!
If you train until failure every set, there’s going to be a serious absence in your volume that day, and good luck coming back to your workout in the “magic 48 hours” from your workout. You will be way too sore. Made that mistake for a long time.
I can train to failure but if I do on my first workout I can not finish the rest of my workouts
How many times a week is recommended to train a muscle to failure (of the three types)? Is it age/experience dependent?
I mean, Arnold Schwarzenegger did this and look at him back then
An athlete training for 10 weeks short of failure could lead to peaking and better recovery in the ten week period, resulting in a chance for better muscle growth. The group train to failure may have Ben over trained or have not adapted properly hence showing a poorer muscle growth….just a thought
last week i trained so hard until i shit my pants, is that considered a failure?
whenever I train to failure it would always be by technique/form as soon as my form starts breaking apart or I cant make through full range of motion but for single joint where form is easier like bicep curls I’d do tolerance failure there are barely many exercise where I’ll go for this type and then in my conditioning training like sprinting cardio or my power (speed) athletic lifts, failure would be when I cant maintain my max speed.
This makes so much sense I can really apply it now changes a lot
the only thing is it makes you fatigue more, but there’s nothing wrong with it
Athlean X Jeff says you should always go to failure, either in form, tolerance or speed. Now I don’t know what to believe.
1. Always keep proper form and stop when you can’t maintain form
2. If form and tempo is good train till that burn is too much
3. Train till you feel your gonna die
But what about going to failure when doing something like a biscep curl. Going to failure on my left arm is way sooner than my right. What do I do?
Wow, terrible talk. If he could only get through one video without cussing. Filthy mouths show filthy minds. This heart patient needs a heart transplant. Drink some toilet water and hydrate.
I have a question about DOMS. As a newbie lifter, the muscle soreness I experience the day after a workout can be excruciating. I imagine this is often what deters people from achieving their fitness goals, but I don’t plan on quitting. I know that the effects of DOMS subside naturally and after a few days your muscles return to full functionality and you’re able to hit the gym again but in the long term, do the effects of DOMS become less intense and easier to handle as you become stronger? Or do bodybuilders always experience the same degree of pain after a session and just learn to live with it?
Its been really trendy lately on youtube fitness channels to not train to failure but I’ve always loved it. Intensity over volume training has always provided the best results for me as long as progressive overload is a factor
i cant believe you just copied jeff nippards vido, hey guys it dousnt matter if its failure or no..spoilers..
I’m definitely a fan of “Last set best set”. Often times, what I find that I can do way more than what I thought was failure if I’m super focused and truly give it everything I’ve got. I’m definitely selective with the types of exercises I do this with too. Great topic. And really glad that you mention, “keep having fun”.
I do on everything except the major lifts because I don’t want to hurt myself
Hi Jeff, a few thoughts on this.
If I try doing an exercise until absolute failure, the first thing that should give in would be the tempo, followed by tolerance followed by technique. Is this correct?
Secondly, I usually try the exercise until tolerance failure > take a couple of deep breaths while holding the weights in the rest position > do another couple of reps until tolerance failure.
Now my goal is to reduce my body fat%. Which tolerance method should I follow to enhance the effect of fat burn?
what about training sub maximal sets all week so I got to the gym do 12 pull ups with some difficulty Jeff does a set to 12 which is failure, the next day i can do another 12 pull ups but Jeff cant because hes beat up from going so hard before so he needs rest, through out the week i hit those 12 pull ups so Monday to Friday I have done 12 x 5 (60) pull ups Jeff has done pull ups 12 x 2(24) who would be better off?
Training to failure is super easy when you can’t do 1 pull-up
(Edit: I disagree. Needs an update I reckon).
So he advocates going as far as you possibly can.
I don’t know which is better. Seems going to mega-failure can trash the muscle beyond what is necessary. So stopping a rep or 2 shy, gets the same benefits, without unnecessary damage.
I think there were some papers on this. Would be cool to see an updated video on this from Jeff.
Edit: Yea check out Jeff Nippard’s video titled:
Effective Reps: Does Training To Failure Matter For Muscle Growth? | Science Explained
From the papers we have so far, it seems to either make no difference, OR, stopping just shy might give you more muscle growth. So this video doesn’t seem to be going with the current scientific consensus.
Something to remember is that you still need to sometimes calibrate just what your real max is. Sometimes you can surprise yourself with how many more you can pump out. Definitely don’t wanna unintentionally slack off.
As far as high reps… yea go to failure. That’s just a different type of failure. The burn.
So awesome. Thanks! Your videos have really helped my physical wellbeing!
My only question is how many sets is recommended when training like this? 3? 5?
I’m slowly getting into fitness and Jeff seems to have a video about every question I’ve come up with thanks for quality content!
If you think you reached failure, you haven’t recruited your inner slow-twitch Saiyan.
Hey Jeff, just a quick question, how do you know what type of failure you should be training for? Is it based on the specific nature of the exercise or is it for the type of training for instance, strength, endurance, size? Or it it a mix of both? I know it’s a old video but I would appreciate your opinion
Experimenting with failure. Today, I tried this for upper chest: incline dumbbells (volume) to failure, then light weight eccentric to failure (3 sets of 8 second movements) to failure, then went to a machine incline and held it, contracted for 3 sets to failure. Holding it had the greatest effect on me, or aleast what I could feel. I’ll let you know how I feel tomorrow.
I can tell he dont train to failure and only a failure says not to train to failure in my eyes! I have done bodybuilding for over 30 years and tried every split and training regime and set and rep routine and I can tell you reps in the 6 to 10 range and 3 sets to failure with 75% of you’re one rep max in all exercises or medium to heavy not super heavy weights give you the best muscle mass!! 4 ex for big muscle group and 3 for small muscle groups and 1 to 2 minute rests between sets and only 4 workout days a week! Intensity that’s what we are aiming for!! It’s not you’re muscles that become over trained its you’re central nervous system cant cope it needs time to recover!!
Sometimes I train to failure and sometimes I do more volume. Some weeks I do all bodyweight stuff, some weeks I do heavy lifting, some weeks I do moderate lifting. I also do posture exercises, yoga, and other things like cold water immersion, deep tissue work, cryo and sauna therapy. I DO EVERYTHING.
Its not necessary for growing muscle.
But it is necessary for growing a pair.
Thank you for this helpful video. I was watching alot of influencers who talk about lifting super heavy and training to failure, but describe training to failure as super intense, really painful, screaming insideThis is how I seriously injured myself this year. Do you have any recommendations for someone I could talk to or work with? I need to continue training but have limitations that are possibly permanent. I dont want to hire just any coach or personal trainer, that is part of how I became injured in the first place, trying to follow (probably incorrectly) what they taught me. Thanks!
How does this account for the fact that different rep ranges produce different training adaptations? In particular, I’m referring to the graph at 2:55. If only the last 5 reps are effective then we should see the highest level of hypertrophy when working in the 5RM range (Since this would allow for the heaviest amount of weight for those 5 effective reps). However, research points to a slightly higher rep range of around 8-12 reps to maximize hypertrophy.
Honestly, from what I can tell as an average kickboxer and athletic type, here’s an idea: if you’re a beginner to exercise, find your max reps without failure, and subtract a quarter of them before making that amount of reps your routine, so your muscles can get used to exercising in general. After you reach your plateau, do your max. That way, you get used to it and can start reaching your full potential without as much of a risk for injury, or plateauing early.
You dont even know the types of failure and where are the Physics theres just alot sience
I go to almost failure u need to be able to go to work and do your job and to respond to emergencies they can happen at any time
If I deadlift to failure, that pretty much means passing out.
Training to failure will quickly lead to overtraining, which will stunt your efforts to gain mass, and make you train even harder. Counterproductive is how I would describe training to failure.
Training to failure on squats and deadlifts seems like a really bad idea. Same goes for bench press unless you have a good spotter. Personally, I often train to just before failure. I do the last complete rep that I know that I can do, then stop and move on to the next exercise. I do go for higher volume, as I typically do four sets of each exercise.
I like to train to failure, but not for every set. Does he mean every set?
I’ve been training till failure every time I work out and I’ve seen no negative effects
I go till failure, if I can’t lift it anymore, it means I’m done…wait 3 minutes, do it again, hope it gets to that point again and do it again, move to the next exercise, do the same
3 months and insane gains, not even a beginner, just beginning after a while, if you’ve killed yourself and still feel good after the workout, I feel it’s a perfect workout, because I get the best food and sleep after that, most satisfying thing, helps everything, helps energy too in the next day
Imagine training to failure on bench press and the barbell fell on your neck and the trainer is listening music in the next room.
Soon there will be video that only one push up is enough to build muscle
Failure training IS NOT needed at all. You can do more “damage” to a muscle by repetitive sets NOT done to failure than with 1 set done to failure. Failure also dumps stress hormones (adrenaline, cortisol) into the system. These hormones are HIGHLY catabolic (tissue consuming) which is obviously bad if training drug free.
I LOVE how this channel goes straight to the point and doesn’t milk, stretch and recycle the same info to get that 10+ minute point and waste our time. Bravo
Training to failure is the reason why you can’t hit the gym everyday.
One day training to failure, the next day rest, then the following day normal training, then the next day rest again. I’m not an expert, this is just a way I see it.
Yes, thanks for anther awesome video! I have a question… so I understand that BCAAs are basically useless in the absence of other aminos HOWEVER would you reccomend EAAs to prevent muscle breakdown while training during fasted periods?
Training until failure works best with lighter weight. Heavy enough to get 15 or better reps. U don’t do it until failure with weight that’s going to crush your head obviously.
I’m the same, I always train to technical failure I rarely ever get to “actual failure”. Jeff Nippard did an interesting video recently explaining “effective reps” which I found very interesting, and these are the reps with maximum muscle fibre recruitment just before failure. From experience I can feel the point where this happens in a set, so anecdotally I found this to be true for me.
Have you ever tried reverse pyramid training? Typically you do 2-3 sets to failure for each exercise, but because you start at your heaviest work and work down, you still have the energy to do each set.
I don’t think it is always necessary, but that’s from seeing a lot of my friends with joint problems from the military. The army is real big on training to failure and it will tear your joints apart.
If you want muscular shredded beef, muscular striation and ridges, seeing the muscular fibers through the skin on every muscle group in your body, muscular density, and muscular symmetry then you gotta take every rep of every set to failure and beyond and even beyond that period how bad do you fucken want it you get what you put the pain and the burn must not faze you or cause you to tap out or throw in the towel take the pain viciously like an angry enraged monster I used to get beat and physically abused by my own grandma ever since I was one year old until I was two and I got beat by foster family from four years old until I was 8 years old I had to adapt to the pain now I smash in the gym and take my anger and rage and hate out in the gym pain ain’t shit to me
There ain’t no such thing as overtraining period I push that shit to the fucken max of the fucken max with anger and rage and hatred beyond failure, drop-sets, up-sets, rest-pause-sets, forced-sets, forced-reps, concentric, eccentric and, static muscular failure, super-sets, giant-sets mega-sets and what ever the fuck else shit in my book there ain’t no limits and people wonder why they look the way they do shot out shit because they work out like sissies without no drive and ambition and extremism shit you get what you put
People who don’t train to maximum failure are sissies and weak and don’t have what it takes to be a fucken monster savage beast ripping shit apart fucken breaking shit not giving a fuck enraged extreme violent vicious
your’e wrong about going to failure being dangerous.
on the contrary it’s safer provided good form is kept.
Yea right, Doing lots of easy sets is going to build muscle. How about quality over quanity, or less is more
It’s necessary if you want to be a champion, of you don’t do it then you can forget about becoming a champion, so say the legend Arnold Schwarzenegger
If u don’t train to failure u won’t grow ur muscles. Simple as that.
There is not a single body builder that does not train till failure. They may not do a million reps but all do as much as they possibly can for the weight they use. Be it 5 reps or 30 reps. If you dont push ur body past ur limit, dont expect real growth.
I always try to do a planned workout like let’s say 4×8. Even if I can do more, I don’t. My last set of an exercise is usually a dropset or two. This usually kills the specific muscle then I rest for about 3-4 mins then head into the next exercise. I try to do 3-5 exercises per muscle group.
In my workout example i do chest on flat bench
1st i do 5-6 reps of 75 kg
Then 8-10 reps of 70 kg
Then 8-10 reps of 65 kg
Then 8-10 reps of 60 kg
Nd my weight in 64
So I am training to failure at 10-12 reps. I then perform 3 other exercises at the same failure rep and repeat the round two more times. In total, I do an exercise between 30-40 times per workout and I do this all the time I workout by default. Am I over stressing and overtraining my body?
i do failure now instead of sets and reps but i increased the weight, i’ve been lifting for about 6-7 months is this bad?
This is very close to Economic Training. The goal is also the failure of muscle. The differents are the slow repetitions. You only have to train two times a week for 30 minutes. Greetings from Germany.
Can we just agree that training Heavy and to Failure is better for growth then training for High Reps with Light weight?
T.T.F. is a useful cyclical protocol… For those who are definitely not training on the natch.
My first sets go to near failure my last set goes to failure. But just as important is the ECCENTRIC Phase (the down stroke of a curl for example) must take about 3 second to complete! This breaks down some muscle micro fibers and this leads to muscle growth! Also for best form when lifting your lift should take about 3 seconds also ( Concentric movement / TIME UNDER LOAD). This will help build muscle too. You can do less reps to failure by the good form and adding time lift and lower movements.
how come in 3 months starting at 15 pounds dumbbell curls
i can curl
25s 18 reps
30s 11 reps
35s 8 reps
40s 3 reps
Like maxing, failure is a way to tax the CNS. Like maxing, failure done too often and your CNS actually weakens.
A workout plan should have just the right amount of CNS strain to improve strength, supplemented with filler sets for added hypertrophy, if needed. Filler sets are never super heavy and never reach failure.
It is very hard to overtrain hypertrophy. It is very easy to overtrain the CNS. Learn the difference and you will understand GAINS.
I do not even need to watch this video…. pain and muscle failure is 110% needed…. to cross the line of buterflyman…to super iron man.
As suggested by the video TTF is a tool that can yield good results, but only if it’s used modestly. Personally I only perform a single TTF set for each exercise category. In my chest program, for example, I have one TTF set for bench-pressing exercises, and one TTF set for flies. It should always be performed as the last set in each category. That’s it. Also be aware that when you perform a TTF set there’s a good chance you will experience Central Nervous System Fatigue which basically means that you will force your body to start using resources that will result in a serious decline in performance in subsequent sets. If you’re able to perform 8 reps in a TTF set, you may only be able to perform 4 in the next one, for example.
I go up in weight by 5 lbs each time I go back to the gym. I do as many reps as I can, then step down by 5 rinse repeat. By the time I’m done I can barely lift 20 lbs. I get a lot of rest between workouts. I’ve been seeing very nice results.
I wonder, is there an age factor involved where if the subject is still in their late teens to early 20s and they practice form and lift to failure, say twice a week, then they may see drastic strength gain potential throughout their lifetime? That is, more strength gains than somebody who starts in their 30s or 40s and becomes a heavy lifter.
I only train to failure. Most people in my gym avoid failure and look horrible.
if u dont train to failure you can stay at gym all day haha sounds so lame
the only non faillure i do is squats cuz that dangerous. the rest prety much it
Training to failure is not definitively better for natural lifters, but for lifters on steroids and anabolics, it can give an edge, but the risk of injury might not be worth it, since longevity beats intensity.
Injury prone exercises in which the form goes away in the last must not be trained to failure.
training to failure is the best option to make yourself strong faster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwX2KUW_k8c
What i’d like to know is if in that study of failure vs submaximal they told the submaximal group to lift every Rep as explosive as they can o just told them to lift it. That’s because submaximal intensity done at maximal effort is almost the same as a set to failure, you recruit the same muscle fibers and SNC effort is the same
You really don’t need to include failed sets!!! Measure those weights up and sets and progressively overload! Do power and heavy days and smash those fucking PR’s! So many different systems are based off finishing the sets!
What a stupid question. If you want “MUSKELN!” like Arnold Schwarzenegger you have to go through the pain barrier! That is what differs a loser from a champion
if a new lifter lifts till failure or not doesn’t matter because they’re gonna get a lot of beginner gains anyways.
It’s not neccessary but you can potentially grow quicker. I train to reach failure each set. Works for me.
Major question: does training to failure make it only one set? Or do you still do multiple sets to failure? Always been confused on how this works
2:33 “with matched intensity and volume…”
-How do you have “matched” intensity, when NOT going to failure clearly hasn’t the intensity of going to failure.
Excuse me sir, I heard this from Muhammad Ali first!
“I don’t start counting until they hurt”
I love that, “While Having Fun…” LOL….
And I’ve got a rhyme to that: “Easier Said Than Done” ha ha ha ha.
Why only 15? You can barely conclude anything from only 15 people….
I think there is psychologival benefit to training failure. You end your workout knowing you gave everything had, as opposed to wondering if you really pushed yourself hard enough until the next time you are in the gym.
I don’t train to failure, but I use failure as feedback on how much I should be lifting.
There’s a certain pleasure in training to failure in a good way, like when you push to give it one more rep, you feel good afterward, that’s the reward.
This video just confuse the f*** out of me just use simple words and make your point
I love doing until the failur because I think it develops mentally.
I go to failure on my last set. And if I can do more than 6 reps (or 10, whichever rep range you’re working in) I increase the load so that in the next workout I fail at 6 reps or under on my last set. So I get the benefit of knowing when to increase the load, and am able to increase the load over time, and get multiple sets in my workout without feeling exhausted a quarter of the way into the workout.
train your body everyday or train to break your body one day and rest for the whole week:)
So 6 weeks to failure, 2 weeks not to failure, and so on. 6 weeks on (to failure), 2 weeks off (not to failure), then back to 6 weeks to failure, etc?
Main point of all training is maintain good proper form. Start with basics and then get better and smarter. Good form helps to prevent or lessen injuries.
The only way I noticed growth, was working out to failure. I don’t take no supplements at all. When I did reps and sets I felt tired and never noticed any growth, but a bit of strength, now I work till I can’t no more and noticed a big difference in growth.
4 years ago Jeff: Train till failure
Current Jeff: Don’t train to failure
Me:
Everything I’ve ever done, ends in fuckin failer.
Doing training to failure allows for a very quick and yet highly effective muscle building workout. You wanna stimulate the greatest muscle stimulation possible in the shortest amount of time from ONE WORKOUT? Do 2 sets of as many reps as possible or in other words to failure, and you are done.
Just do 3 sets to failure with each exercise every other day, one exercise per body part, and you have the perfect combination of muscle stimulation and recovery time resulting in maximum muscle mass accumulation in a given mesocycle.
This is what prisoners do. They do failure training for 3 sets with one arm push up, pull ups and partner squats to get bigger and bigger day in day out.
And by failure I mean the inability to complete another rep in PERFECT FORM.
if you train triceps to failure with high frequency and high volume your biceps or shoulders might respond with growth to compensate for triceps being overworked so much. It works on some people and not on others. I think it all has to do with trial and error and what you think your body responds better to.
Glad ive come across this channel! Thanks for the great informative video!
As an ectomorph, i noticed that VERY BEST way for me to make gains was through forced reps. If i did it over a month, i would plateau.
Training to failure seems to get recovered differently per muscle. Biceps tend to suffer from extreme training. On the other hand, some muscles are used also as helping muscles in other moves. So failure plus helping for other moves, is even more training.
Or maybe it gets problematic to train beyond failure. I mean, if you cannot do one more, but still do couple by increasing the effort, it gets too intense.
I’ve just read “Huge in a Hurry” an the author says the closer you get to failure the less muscle fiber you use for your reps and thus these reps aren’t worth the effort… It’s the total opposite of what is said in this video
I almost-always train to failure and I am part of the people that trains to reach that point. But I admit, I did notice some sudden fatigue for some entire week or so, some 2 or 3 weeks ago. My bf told me “just take it easy…” I did, and now I am back on track.
A week ago I was really sore for 4 days! But turns out next time I went for Leg Extension I easily had +14 kgs on it <3
Follow Arnie´s advice, do train to failure!
Most people who don’t make gains training to failure (and in general) are not resting enough between sessions.
What do you thing about this: Every single exercise you do do it to the failiure soo your daily exercise lasts like 10mins It seams good to me
i used to do the heavy duty leg training by mike mentzer. leg extension superseted with leg press once a week, I got stronger my reps and weight where going up each week but after a month and a half i stayed ate 150 in the leg extension, I added and extra week off but nothing happen until I getting busy with college and forgot about training for a month when I came back i was surprised I did 170 on the leg extension for a solid 11 reps no bullshit.
You can do all the volume you want, but if you’re not hitting failure, what good is it. Dorian yates and many others only did 1 working set per exercise, and he got pretty dam big. I just don’t think doing set after set after set is going to make you grow faster than take a few hard sets to failure…just been my experience… If you’re just doing what your body can normally handle, what reason does it have to grow? If you’re not pushing it. I agree, going to failure can drain you. The simple solution is to limit the amount of sets you do…
So true, I trained to failure ALL the time. I was tired all the time, over trained, didn’t see any results. Than, once I stopped training to failure all the time and did it like once or twice a week, the gains started to come.
Fucking retards… This is Performance failure, not failure.
I dunno Layne, Jason Blaha doesn’t train to failure and he looks incredible
3:49 I JUST recently, after watching some of SuperTraining videos with Stan Efferding, started taking my 3-6 rep max on any given exercise to failure, dropping the weight (Drop set) down and finishing out to 20 reps from where I left off from failure. Feels like it seems to be working well for the hypertrophy. I’ll most likely do a two-four week cycle of the failure sets as to get full recovery
I train to failure in all my accessory lifts after I do my main lifts like benchpress,squat,deads
this was actually really fuckin good. thought I’d skip it but glad it popped up in the playlist:) Layne always spits knowledge
What Arnold did worked for him. He will always be one of the greats. His mindset is so powerful
The best system I ever tried is going to within a couple reps of failure for a single set of approx 20 reps. Keep work-outs short. Pick 5 exercises 1 set each…total work-out time 5-7 mins. Twice/wk. That is absolute fastest way to size gains. Never feel burned out. Don’t strain and you’ll always feel fresh and charged up.
Very good info, gotta show this to my dad who is a failure addict
Why do you need to fatigue the type 2X fibers ( im sure use to be called type 2B fibers), instead stimulate the fibers. I think this is what most olympic weightlifters train for. Its rare for them to ever miss a lift unless competing and going for a new PB. Similar to powerlifters??
Failure when there’s no more free gift(shirt) with $75 order
Do you guys think this is an example of something the “bros” got right?? Also if you’re interested in more on this topic, take advantage of the MASS sale on research review subscriptions: http://bit.ly/jeffMASS
All going to or near failure did for me is cause injury over and over again. Tendonitis can take you out for several months. I don’t know who these people are that are able to do this but I sure am not one of them.
This was what Muhammad Ali used to talk about. He used to say that he didn’t start counting his reps until they started to hurt
Hey jeff, do you program yourself or do you have your own coach? Thank you.
Seee this is what wee need the sience behind the body you got my respect man
I cover both bases. I start out with getting lots of volume, And then my last 3 sets I take to failure. If you go to failure first it will be hard to get enough volume due to fatigued muscles.
Not from arnold but from mohammad ali when he says he counts his pushups only whrn it starts to hurt
I always go to failure on the last set, and if I can exceed 6 reps on the last set, I increase the load.
Just pick an exercise and do the reps for it. Not that hard.
Nonsense. Training is always balancing with switching protein synthesys and vascular effect of training. If we train to failure or even close to it, you just do little more synthesys but big stress on vascular system, wich going to do idea of training useless. If you wanna more protein synthesys we already have static and slow speed training. But stress on the heart do this training useless.
Am I the only one who feels that the thumbnail is overly photoshopped??
Strength coaches know not to go to failure. And old school Russian power lifters know this too. But if you are going for hypertrophy and looks, that is different.
I love how he has two kinds of headphones on when demonstrating “pump” workouts
I dont get it. Should we go to failure every set or just the last?
Brilliant. Just started a new bulking routine, feeling tired. This is exactly what I needed to hear!
For muscle growth, yes. For strength, nah not really. That’s the way farmers strength works
Why are these studies designed with such ridiculously low numbers of participants? At n=15 you could probably find pretty much any result. (Though I’m not arguing whether these findings hold true.)
So here I am, stuck at home with no training equipment doing sets of 30+ reps to get to failure. You gotta work with what you are given haha
So from that study it appears that the longer you’ve been lifting the more your body is adapted to training muscle and therefore the less you have to do to maintain it?
I report jeffs videos for clickbait. The thumbnail shows brawn, but the content shows brains
but what if im training to failure but in total ive done like 30 reps. will my muscle still grow?
the point is do waht feels right and what makes you see results
100% right, I got my best results from training full body one exercise per body part to failure….. (the nautalis program )
Regardless of whether it’s true or not, I think the reason so many people believe it is because it feels like a good metaphor for overcoming adversity in general.
Please choose 1…. light weight to failure or heavy weight only half way reps to failure
Big news… I realized this about 15 years ago.:D Back then when the bro-science dominated the scene (which suggested going to failure all the time) I never went to failure on my leg exercises, especially on squats because I didn’t use safety bars, didn’t wanna die under the weight:D. I always left 1-2 reps in the tank yet my legs grew much faster than any other upper body muscles even tho I went to failure on those (RPE 9.5-10). Still to this day it’s pretty hard not to go to failure in upper body exercises because that mentality engrained in me and it feels weird to stop before I fail.
Does training to failure matter?
Jeff Nippard: Yes but actually no
The last two or three reps to failure add up over time though. By taking every set to failure, you’ll finish sooner, therefore, avoiding overtraining, which happens with too much volume and not enough recovery. Train harder!
I have never seen such an analysis like this before, I love how much exercise is science base and you promote all this to make your exercise as effective as possible, congratulations on your work, research and guidance, cheers
I appreciate the fact that you are examining the studies nothing wrong with looking for the best way to get dem gains
I’m confused. Should I train to failure on each set? Or the last set? Or can I do 10 reps per set till failure? Does it matter if I change the number of reps per set?
so it’s like having sex, very simple. try to replace the word failure with the word orgasms. the you get it.
Awesome video. Jeff from Athlean-X just recommends absolute failure (of at least one way to reach failure). According to the current seemingly scientific consensus, I think an updated video would be good. Or at least his thoughts on it.
What video should i watch before this one, because i didn’t understand this?
what i like about this guy, is his calm focus, his scientific mind, and no nonsense approach. that and how he’s off the charts mental obsessed muscle dysmorphic.
you could have just said “just do enough sets that your arms are sore, but not so sore that you’ll worry about dropping a dumbbell in your head.”
did Dr. Mike Israetel consider that maybe he should put a shirt on before the interview or…
Jeff the kind of guy to photoshop OUT his muscles on a thumbnail, not in.
How fuckin complicated, how is someone ever supposed to get into shape with all this shit every time they are working out hard they find out that shit isn’t even doing anything,, it’s crazy that my body would be on fire in pain from working out hard but it’s not even working.. blows my mind
Imagine a book called ‘The Two Jeffs Technique’…that’s something I’d read!
This is so helpful. Iv always been doing dropsets till failure
The bodybuilding community is overwhelmed with a Very high volume of contradictory information. This makes listening to y’all useless at most and confusing at minimum.
so, choosing heavier weight, and “momentum-cheating” the last reps should give you more effective reps
Imagine if someone came up to Jeff and said was wasn’t doing an exercise properly
I’m very busy. Cannot spend hours weekly in the gym. I’ve made good progress by doing one set of two drops with all sets to failure per exercise and two exercises per muscle group. I can effectively train three body parts in thirty minutes this way. For example: using 80% of my single rep max for db bench press take the first set of 10-12 to failure, drop off 25%, do 8-10 reps to failure, drop down to 50% of the first set and continue to failure. Terminate the exercise. On to Incline db press the same way and terminate the muscle group. On to shoulder presses….
As your muscle fibers get burned, your muscle/nervous system recruits more muscle fibers. In order to completely exercise a muscle, you need to burn them all. Completely.
This is why you can hold a squat or leg curl and you can see the muscle activate like waves though the muscle.
Obviously, all prior reps are important in order to get to complete muscle recruitment. 1/2 a work out is better than none. You get what you give.
Want to burn most? Do super slow reps. You’ll need less. This is healthier for your joints anyway.
You have to provide time for complete recovery. This is over training when they are still burned.
This is common sense if you think about it.
Great insight into training-to-failure training… Great, informative video as always!
15 subjects split into 2 is an exploratory study at best and not statistically relevant at all.
Bruh I wish I could be half as big as this doctor, and while I’m asking I’d also like to be as smart and have a million dollars
Wait I can’t just do 1 rep of a bicep curl every 5 minutes throughout my day and get HUGE?! Well gosh darn my mind is blown
Teaching people poor form/posture while using momentum and non-target muscles to lift is the most amateur, and potentially dangerous, thing I’ve ever seen anyone try to teach over YouTube.
Resistance bands are great for hitting failure safely. On carnivore I am able to maintain volume and train to almost failure on 3 sets of 3 exercises per muscle group on a 2 day split. Rest as needed. Almost 49, so happy with progress. Max fiber recruitment and big safe range of motion is also important. Interesting video, thank you.
It makes sense that the last few reps would be more effective as thats when your triggering the deepest fibres of the muscle
Basically the first study is benefit of failure because it increases strength on the other hand the second study shows that reps over weight creates thickness
Actually we never though about the hard work you have to do for the videos, really appreciate it brother.
I would suggest that you include sample sizes when presenting research, because really the only one of these studies that is able to say much on its own is the study of the 89 women. Number of studies supporting or against something can be misleading because you could have 15 studies with a sample size of 3 and 2 studies with a sample size of 50, and the conclusions of the larger two studies would be far more significant despite the number of studies being outnumbered 15-2.
One big one thing that isn’t emphasized here fatigue.
You want to manage your fatigue in a way that will let you hit those “effective reps” as much as possible, so maybe reaching failure early on will damage your ability to reach more efficient reps at higher weights.
So like reaching to failure in your first bench when doing 12 reps at 85 will chase the rest of the sets to reach failure at 7-5 reps next time.
So I would argue that it will be better to leave a few reps at the tank so you could more effective reps in the upcoming sets, same goes for the rest of your workout.
Love your videos Jeff, actually adding more “science” than Jeff cavalier. Keep up the good work. I hope your channel explodes.
Even though im 5’7 i prefer higher weight and lower reps, because less time in gym.
Hey Mr. Science. You should worry more about telling your punk ass millennial generation to stop playing with their phones 85% of the workout
So total volume would be more important than training to failure?
Failure is good on last set of muscle group…..shock is good
I have a older video that goes more in depth into technical failure and when we should and shouldn’t use it; You can watch it here; https://youtu.be/ZKcsg4g01-s
I considered, and followed the same training method through years of exercise on my own. Thumbs up. A logical, and thorough approach to training. As for myself, I do 1 to 3 sets for small muscle-groups after performing a warm-up set, or two; up to 4, sometimes five sets on the large body-parts. Therefore, by the second, third, or 4th set, if it is a large body-part, that is when I go to failure, since I may not get to the same 8 or 10 repetitions; it is logical that after 1.5 to 3 minutes of rest between sets, the second, third or fourth set cannot be performed to the same range of repetitions.
Henceforth, why do more, and possibly get yourself injured? On the 2nd, or 4th actual work set, it gets far more difficult to reach the same repetition range, of say to at least 6, 7 to 12 reps! Therefore, by the 2nd or 4th work set instead of performing 8 or 10, 11 reps for example, you may get to 7 or 9 repetitions; and that is really trying; pushing yourself, but not to injury, by the way. My belief, and approach to training follows Arthur Jones, and Mike Mentzer’s philosophy of exercise. However, in my logical approach I don’t believe in always going to failure; and it is not logical, applicable, nor safe to perform a compound exercise to failure. Perhaps my style of training could also be called moderate duty, or middle-of-road training. Anyhow, for me it works.
Put your favorite politician picture on your wall and this way you will always train to failure!
If I don’t train to failure how do I know when to add weight or reps or sets?
I’m planning on buying a set of dumbbells. What the heaviest dumbbell that you use?
Hey Laurence! Looking super jacked brother! I like the idea of training to failure on the last set. If I do it in the beginning, my other lifts suffer.
great video brother! really enjoyed this one! keep them coming:)
You’re finally getting some good views and subscribers. Years of hard work and persistence. You’re a more determined man than me. I’m still doing 30 reps like last year and I’m getting quite big naturally in my 40s. My lifting session is no more than 30 minutes. I don’t do the big 3 because I want to keep my joints healthy.
Is it just me or it’s much harder to fail for the leg muscles. Like, I never managed until failure on some of the exercises using machines. Only while doing squats.
Thanks coach. What about 1 working set for each muscle group with 1 rep shy of failure?
Hypertrophy or strength? 2 totally different ways of training.
Yes! I have found that 4 to 5 sets with the last one to failure with Drop sets works best for me! Admittedly, it’s a study of one, but I’ve done it many ways and this seems to do best! I’ve also found, that if you ever get stuck or do not show progression, then the German Volume method i.e. something like 10 sets of 10, can very much unstick any stagnation! I think the most important thing is still to pay attention to THE golden rule of bodybuilding: progressive muscle overload! If you want to grow muscle you must increase the weight!
great vid lawrence been a while since i commented… bodys looking great too ☺☺ i think and agree with u train to failure when i do do this on a last set of reps…. but i usually train to close to failure tbf ☺ great info great edit… i dont train to failure all the time though only prob once a week maybe… ☺
Dears what do you think about deadlifts after 50? I started with deadlifts a few weeks ago. I like it very much by I am afraid a little bit. I am training to failure thx
I do DC training and it works wonders for me. When I train to what I class as failure is when I know I’m not getting another rep. I will not do some ridiculous basterdized rep just to squeeze one more out as the risk to reward at that point is too great. The fitness world these days almost demonize training to failure like its going to destroy you or something! I’ve always trained to failure, I can’t do it any other way because that’s my mind set and what keeps me in the gym.
If your goal is to build lean muscle, not bulk up, does that determine the type of failure you would aim for? (He mentions tempo failure is for power training) Or is the type of failure more specific to the type of exercise your doing (and you would ideally experience all 3 types in various exercises during the same work out?)
This is terrific advice, Laurence! I still do my very last set to failure, which works best.
Interesting. I’m 69 and train close to failure. I probably need to add an extra day for recovery after each workout, but we will see.
Same, failure training will maximize your gains way way way Way better than if you were not going to failure, that is where you start to see drastic changes in your body, but yeah use it once a week or so, moderately otherwise you will just keep depleting yourself without being able to recover, hence you wont see growth, unless you rest for a long long period of time. It is all commensurate to rest and food in the end. The greater the workout the greater the rest needed. From a muscled guy
My son has become my training partner and getting the little bit of assistance to do a couple more reps has made a huge difference. I’ve gained more in six months than years of training alone. I always say,do the one you can’t do,plus one more.
Not to maintain what you‘ve already gotwhich is what most of us probably do. Plus, real training to failure is something most people do not even come close to even if they think so.
Imagine being in the same hotel gym as Jeff while he is training. This incredibly buff, athletic guy just walks in
I found cycle my weight… 3x 30 kg… then 3x 35kg. Then 40kg until I cant lift. All have 10 to 15 reps
Another interesting topic Larry. For us oldsters volume aye? Okay….. I have to take this to mind
Some argue that once you’ve hit failure, its no use doing another set as you’re just cutting into recovery time. It sounds logical, but for most, it seems volume and heavy enough to work the muscles is what works. I’ve always had a weak recovery ability, so the 1-2 sets to failure has been my go to in the past. I also did very well many years ago with 1 good set to almost failure, but higher reps. My current program is stopping short of failure, doing higher reps, but just trying to get back into the groove. I’m 50 and also have some health issues, so I have to take everything into account. Good vid, appreciate the research you do.
What about the fact that you can “hold” the weight for a few moments which then allows you to get another rep? How does this factor into the definition of “failure”?
as a seasoned academic researcher and someone who has been working out for 33 years now, I will tell you one thing…all of these studies have serious problems in research design (not comprehensively well-planned to examine with max scrutiny the research questions: this is the most serious flaw, for example how do they control for the subjects ind. differences in general, theis state of physical condition, and especially for their recovery after training?), are underpowered statistically (very small number of participants to detect small effect sizes like changes in strength and hypertrophy) and are done by comparing small group averages that turn the individual differences of the participants in a serious undermining factor (this would be viable only in the case that their intra-group ind. differences are non-statistically significant/never the case…), that’s why overall are completely untrustworthy…trust only intra-individual studies (each participant for example trains one leg to failure and the other not) with large number of participants (below 100 is usually a joke) or at the very minimum meta-analyses (keep in mind that they will carry though the defects of each study at least in terms of research design)…these papers are published by themselves (actually/are peer reviewed) mainly because of the reality that academic researchers face…publish or perish and after the 3rd name in the paper, you usually do not get any credit by your institution…
It’s a great subject this Laurence as some days you feel like you can take on the world in the gym and others you’ve just not feeling it that day so which day did you go to failure on MINT
This is great info Larry, thanks. At my advanced age (69), I find that once I reach technical failure on my last set it’s safer to do one or two drop sets to finish off the exercise. If I can walk out of the gym unhurt, I’ve had a successful workout.
Quality content as always, boss. Btw, il be off the gym for a month but I could stick to bodyweight. The issue is, can chin-ups and pull-ups alone sufficiently build and work the biceps? Much appreciated
I go to a gym alone and don’t have a spotter when i do bench press. I play it safe because I don’t want other gym users to get concerned about the old man. It would be embarrassing. I have made gains even though I have never played this safe in my life. When I was a kid using weights at home I would put on all of the weights I had, plus heavy things in buckets on each end of the bar. I would often go to failure and get squashed by the bar. I had to slide it to one side until it crashed to the ground. I am sure that is standard practice for young people.
Good points and especially about injury for pushing to hard. Us older guys still have the minds of young guys when it comes to the ego and desire to build muscle but the bodies not the same. Instead of pushing that last rep too far (using less than perfect form), I sometimes will implement isometric holds for those last reps.
Mike Mentzer: “Failure? My granite sinews laugh at your definitions of failure. You must go beyond failure.”
Ehhh… what? I thought training to failure is when you simply cannot do a rep in a perfect form. Simple as that.
This is why I cover both bases. I start out with getting lots of volume, And then my last 3 sets I take to failure. If you go to failure first it will be hard to get enough volume due to fatigued muscles.
Train to failure but Train fast, Eat well, Sleep well…What more do you need
Firstly, sorry I’m late, I just found you.
2nd, as an Englishman abroad, your demeanour is like a portal back home. Without the inbridled chaos and death
WRT this video, there are 2 things I’d like to ask you to investigate. I’d enjoy your opinion and you would like these topics (although uou may already be apprised):
1) I have a soft spot for Thib also. He bridges the arcane, mystical side with absolute empirical integrity (Biotest products aside). Would make a good cult leader. Please do a vid about his/Poliquin’s NEUROTYPES concept. The intersection of neurotransmitters and MBTI-ish characteristics is fasxinating. I was a sceptic, not any more
2) In this vid, you referenced the 7 levels of exercises. Either Thib borrowed that from Leo Costa’s ‘Big Beyond Belief’, or they both borrowed it from the same place, maybe Phil Hernon. This system is interesting too, well worth an analysis, regardless of conclusions
Thanks mate, very good work
This vertical jump plan “Jumοnοz Azb” (G0OGLE it) helps get you to understand hard work, it has difficult workout that should be followed in order to see outcomes. For me personally, following the book could make you optimize your effort and strength to the point where you breakdown and rebuild again. It took me 2 months to add Ten inches in my vert..
I keep watching these videos, nodding along… while my “training” is only being biking to work and home …
Yo I’ll admit I don’t really know much about the science behind exercise. Ironically, I’ve been working out regularly 3-4 times per week for about two-and-a-half years, and I’m mentioning this because I go to failure in every set. Admittedly, I don’t know if this is appropriate, so I’m all ears on anybody’s advice.
My workout routine I’ve been doing is very simple: 3 sets of diamond push-ups until failure, 3 sets of wide push-ups until failure, 3 sets of knuckle push-ups until failure, 3 sets of decline push-ups until failure, 3 sets of chin-ups until failure, and 3 sets of pull-ups until failure. I don’t count the reps on the push-ups, instead I try to count to 5 seconds going up and going down. It may be genetic, but when I first started, I think I was sore after once or twice, but I’ve very rarely been sore since.
I’m aware this probably lacks effectiveness just based on its simplicity. However, I love this routine because: being a hermit I like it because I can do it easily at home, I love doing body weight exercises, and its simplicity makes the mental hurdle of getting started much smaller.
I’m not recommending this to anyone since I lack the knowledge to defend it beyond my own personal reasons, but like I said, I’m open to anybody’s advice/criticisms. Thanks.
“Failure” the point where form breaks down. This could be 1 or more reps before absolute failure. Imo obvs.
This channel should be required course content for anyone studying to become a personal trainer. Love your work boss.
After hearing this I’m probably going to start training to failure on day 1, then 2 or 3 days after I’ll train just u der failure then go back to training to failure. Then of course I’ll fit in my proper rest days.
love your videos. I want to buy that hoodie or Merch similar to that. I just hope they not that expensive lol
Since we have a mix of muscle fibers, wouldn’t it make sense to train to failure using several repetitions to take advantage of the sequential recruitment of fibers principle? Also, why would we not train the elderly to failure like anyone else? Because the need more rest from the program to recover and grow? Why don’t you just give them more rest days?
Holy shit this is by far your best video, mainly the first 20 seconds
In my personal experience I always found training to failure to be more effective when building a high level of cardio. Granted I only have a martial arts background i’m not sure how it applies to something like bodybuilding or powerlifting. But in something like martial arts when facing another opponent it’s crucial to have an extremely high level of cardio to be able to maximize your output within a short period of time. There’s a saying in the martial art community (or at least at my school) of “everyone becomes a coward when they get tired,” and I feel it really emphasizes how important stamina is in that kind of thing. However when it would come to building strength I found in that field personally that training to failure was only good as a measuring stick.
If you use train to failure, there are some things you should keep in mind. First, stop working out If you feel pain. Finishing workout with injuries is not a smart choice. You end up with spending a lot of time.
Second, taking enough amount of rest is essential. For example, on Monday, you target upper body with going to failure, you should avoid working out your upper body until you recover it. It means, If you don’t go to failure, you don’t have to take a long break.
I do a total body workout with alternating workouts every day I train. Training to failure never enters my mind. I don’t need it. Usually by the third or fourth set, I’m done. Done is done.
Training to failure absolutely works. Listening to some of these case studies for example doing 35 reps in the failure group is stupid. Up the weight and then train to failure.
I truly love basketball, especially when I play with my brother. I do not have much jump and he always can jump higher than me. I seek guides all over the internet, followed them but found no results. Finally, I found this vertical jump program “Jumοnοz Azb” (G0OGLE it). My jump has improved a lot ever since I started this program..
thank you for a somewhat exhaustive explanation on the subject.
I would also add that those with fibromyalgia, or any disease or disorder where the body does not remove lactic acid quickly should not train to failure. Training to the point of extreme stiffness and soreness is an indication of scar tissue being formed in muscles, and it inhibits future muscle growth, as scar tissue will not form the micro lesions in fibers necessary for said growth.
Safety doesn’t give you muscles, grab the bar and lift the fucking weight.
My father used to say, ” Don’t ever take financial advice from someone who is always broke.”
So many times I here people now saying don’t train to failure and give science as to how it works. It f…ks me off. Common sense dictates training to failure will give you better results. Training as hard as you can always has. I’m ex military, 48 and train harder than any 20 year old in my gym. Even the ones that rely on gear
It is click bait. I was interested in seeing Arnold’s advice on exercising and instead you popped up is the VERY DEFINITION of click bait. Thumbs down for you.
On roids v.s. off roids makes a big difference on what you can do to failure.
So am I right to say that anyone who train fasted won’t be able to activate type 2x fiber since the body glycogen storage has been depleted?
You should say sorry about the shit you’ve been talking about mr Yates few years ago. Yates said this, what you are saying now, 20 years ago.
Sorry, but I have to train to failure cause I need the gainzzzz.
Yes u should! But listen to your body. This is where cardio helps u get those extra reps
Failure vs Momentary Muscular Failure is a concept I rarely see discussed other than from Drew Baye, Ellington Darden, and I believe Arthur Jones.
In momentary failure you’re basically training a muscle till the point you can no longer perform a rep in “perfect form”. You still use a heavy load of 80% of your 1RM but you focus on a slow negative of at least 3 seconds, where your one working set should last at least 90 seconds.
The most brutal of these set schemes is Darden’s 30-10-30 set, in my opinion. If you’re really using 80% 1RM you’ll truly feel intensity without true “failure”.
I wish this concept of momentary failure were more widely discussed/ studied.
thanks for your unique content
I have Q
is there any difference between training for hypertrophy and strength.
I just want to work out for strength not for size up
basically: multi-joint/short rep powerlifting movements, don’t train to failure. Single-joint/high rep movements do train to failure
Gymnasts and Olympic Weight Lifers (Or just weightlifters) > power lifting, bodybuilding.
Why jeff nippard studies are just as bad as any others are because all his studies consist of 10 people or less Gtfo
I totally agree that taking a set to failure increases recovery time. But if you don’t do it then you will be performing mediocre sets. How to know when to stop in order not to reach failure, but still to reach high level of fatigue?
Right now as i’m watching, its not even been 3 months and you grew from 17k to almost 100k!
I binged your videos now as well, i love you content!
I conclude that training to failure is better than the failure to train
Just a question, because I really want to train in the right way without getting injuries or affecting my nervous system. Right now I’m training with only bodyweight since I don’t have time or money to go to a gym. The program that I use is a 4 days a week full body workout to failure. Do I need to stop training to failure? If so, is there another way of training like this without failure that ensures muscle growth? Thanks in advance!
aha so true, can’t build while being injured. Managing workload is key don’t have to go to failure everytime but once in a while is good. As a powerlifter I live by rpe’s.
So, I have a really good question. Not sure if you have been asked it before, so I will ask.
Where, in your opinion would martial arts in general go here? With or without weapons.
6:32 ouch i just skipped leg day today on my push/pull/leg program. Dammit u sneaky bastard. Lol
Ehh I go back and forth with this. The mature me wants to do a little more volume but stay with 2-3 reps of max effort. The real me says “fuck it I’m hitting this last set to failure”.
Even a push pull split is fine for failure training it’ll still have about 48 hours between training each specific muscle group. However the points here are valid, training to failure has a place but should probably be used sparingly. There are so many ways to push past your limits anyway, from using a spotter for some assisted reps to a few properly executed cheat reps to several short 10-15 second rests followed by more reps to using negatives or changes in tempo during your set, the list could go on, rather than just training to failure, modifying your training to never truly hit failure but still push beyond your current limits is probably more effective
For novices and intermediate lifters, I don’t think you need to train to failure at all. What is difficult is not always effective. You should be building strength, not testing strength. I used to think, “train to failure, push yourself to the limit, maximise the muscles working”. But I’ve realised that training to failure will hinder your progression. And progressive overload is the most important thing. If you stall at a given weight on your set and rep scheme, and you back down the weight a little and build back up, stick to your set and rep scheme, there’s no purpose of training to failure. Get your reps in, build back up and take that step forward in progression. In most occasions, training to failure won’t build strength, it’s only a test of strength, which should be used very rarely in my opinion.
This is dumb….working to failure for muscle growth is absolutely the best way to grow muscle fastest. But how you eat and what you feed your body after those workouts is the key to proper recovery and muscle growth. Working to failure then drinking 25 protein shakes every day is not going to do it.
Love your videos man, you’re very well spoken, back up what you’re saying and you explain things very clearly. Got yourself a subscriber. Thanks for the public service <3
I don’t care what you say…I know you’re keegan micheal key!!
You can judge the importance of what he’s saying in the moment by observing the eyebrows. Level 1 is most important at the top. Level 7 when explaining the weather, is at bottom:P
7:30 or maybe I’ll just do AX and have Jeff do the programming for me
Love your videos. I’m a new subscriber so I’m going back over and watching some of the ones that are a little old so I apologize for my question being on a topic that has been covered a while back. But I’m 49 years old been training 35 years and would consider myself in the best shape of my life. On the big compound movements like shoulder presses and incline presses tricep pushdowns machine preacher curls leg curls I do a descending set on my last set. Which is to say I go to failure and they remove weight I continued on until failure and remove weight three or four times for the last set. In your educated opinion is that a good thing or am I doing too much?
I used to lift to failure (I still do now as well) when I was 18 training for the corps. I got big and strong very quickly. I did take creatine but I knew nothing about diet and nutrition. I trained this way due to wanting to build stamina and strength at the same time. YOU CAN HURT YOUR JOINTS if done the wrong way
Jeff, whether a not a rep is effective, or more appropriately, stimulating, ultimately boils down to the level of motor unit recruitment. Closeness to failure is only one factor when determining if a rep is stimulating. Indeed, as you essentially stated, the closer you get to failure, the more high threshold motor units (the ones responsible for growth) get recruited. However, high threshold motor unit recruitment is also proportional to load. The heavier the load, the more recruitment you get. Research suggests that at a load of at least 5RM, you will get near complete motor unit recruitment, from rep 1. Based off of this, the following rep scheme makes most. So rather than doing a set at a load that yields 10-12 reps, where the first 7-8 are nonstimulating, I think it makes sense to use use a 5RM load to near failure, and then rest/pause or drop set.
https://medium.com/@SandCResearch/how-many-stimulating-reps-are-there-in-each-set-to-failure-9d179f594dd
To build muscle?Athlean x explains it better if you are not trining to failure In your workouts what are you doing?you are not maximizing muscle growth by breaking as mush fibers as possible without injury by using lower weights and then after two days your muscle synthesis will be replenished
This is low key dumb If your maximizing muscle growth you train to failure and if your goal is not muscle growth more strength training you might wanna lead with a more low rep big weights to learn how to use as much muscles at once as possible.
If it takes longer to recovery then does that mean more muscular stimulus has occurred, therefore more hypertrophy?
You should never train to failure, you should train for performance
I just recently found your channel and have been glad to see the kind of content that you produce, however, you are generating way too many ads for such a short video. It’s an ad every two minutes. That is not cool. I’m not the only one that is close to hitting the unsubscribe icon
Made the best gains ever doing 3 sets till failure EVERYDAY, I REPEAT, EVERYDAY….. On overhead presses, 6 days a week.
Each month my strength was doubling.
I overhead press 300lbs now, at the bodyweight of 250lbs.
Same with chin ups, 20 reps of chin ups with 110lbs plates strapped on.
Failure for the win.
Yes there will be downs in your strength but you will see each week your performance go up.
So happy I discovered your channel. I can already feel the gains coming..
Personally I’d listen to ARNIE about building muscle, funny how small dudes or people who look like shit are the one’s telling buff dudes how their training wrong!!
What!?? No squats to failure??? My former trainer won’t like that answer.
Awesome video, are you anabolic yet? Thank you for sharing:)
So what I gain from this is, if you have limited time to train per week. Training to failure could be a good fit. I do full body 3 times a week as I can’t go more than this. I always go to failure on last set only on each exercise. Most sets are 3 but smaller.muscle.groups.i only do 2.sets. I am an older lifter 40 yo and changed from push pull miss leg day split NZ that is pretty true. I find it a lot easier to do legs now as u can’t really skip it doing full body.
Wow, a concept that is still and rightly “debated.” Imagine if all popular “scientific” claims were evaluated as such!
I’d rather take the advice of arnold over some geek with some badly written study.
Here’s what happens:
You lift a weight heavy enough that you can only do 10 solid reps, and no more.
As you progress through the set, lactic acid builds up.
This lactic acid causes your nervous system to become stressed.
This stress impedes your muscles’ ability to do what you’re telling it to keep doing.
The body therefore has to recruit more and more type 2a/2b fibers to keep lifting.
At the end of the set, the last few reps, almost all type 2a/2b fibers are recruited.
And most dumbasses stop far shy of this, or practically drop the weight for the last few reps, avoiding all the micro damage they could have had if they’d done slower negatives for the last few reps.
Came here after watching Picture Fits sec video on “training to failure”. Idk who to trust, Jeff Cavaliere or the Triangle Guy.
My very scientific experience with this has taught me that if I max lower body compound exercises like squat and deadlift, then I can only train lower body that way 1x per week at that level of intensity. However, that is not optimal. What our running and track coaches teach is that, generally speaking, the Russian program of training legs (high volume/ more frequency) has been found to be more effective for runners than the American program (more weight/ to failure/ lower frequency).