Should You Train To Failure?

Training to failure is a topic that comes up frequently. I think it is actually a fairly straightforward topic. In general, sets taken to muscular failure generate excellent growth, but also generate the most fatigue. Sets that are taken close to failure seem to generate just as much growth (or at least very very close), without generating the same amount of fatigue. Therefore, in order to maximize total weekly volume, I generally recommend most sets be taken close to failure, but not actually to failure. I also consider "maxing" to be different from training to failure (a max is the final rep you can do with perfect form) and am a big fan of using it as a way to manage fatigue. That all being said, some people tolerate training to failure totally fine. I have a client with an incredible work capacity that can hit failure and match his reps, set after set. Also, remember, not every exercises generates the same amount of fatigue when taken to failure. However, once you have established a good foundation, taking most of your sets 1-3 (or even 1-5) reps from failure is a good plan to ensure good fatigue management on a high frequency program. Failure training can serve to "idiot proof" a low volume/frequency training program, and it's still good to do every once in a while to make sure you are accurately gauging your proximity to failure.

[danchanner]

This is a really interesting subject. Charles Atlas, one of the early body builders (before they took steroids), claimed you should not go to failure because the growth came from long term consistency and avoiding injuries. The "just 2 more reps" culture came in once body builders starting using steroids and other drugs to allow their bodies to recover faster. From my own experience, I found that training to failure just leads to physical and mental fatigue, as well as injuries.

[neilcole]

Got to admit, lm sick and tied of the nice weather you have!

[sherpa]

A lot of what Mt. boges sums up is learning how your own body reacts to the stimulus and recognizing when it is beneficial to go to failure based on how much your body can handle throughout the week/into your next workouts. Always leave enough to go tomorrow, but push yourself to overcome plateaus. *And that's right, I call him mount boges bc he's a mountain of fitness information*

[Telluwide]

I think a good rule of thumb is to do a set to where you can get the last perfect rep. If I feel that getting the next rep would require me to begin to bend, twist etc. lose that slow, perfect form rep, I stop right there....

[simpleman]

It all depends on what you want.
A combat veteran told me: never do today, more than you can do tomorrow.
That makes a lot of sense to me & I like that method.
I know there are different goals for different people. Do em your way.

[frogman]

I did my first set of pull ups to failure today and next set I used bands because I already felt fatigued. Whereas push ups I can train to failure on one set and be fine for the rest of the workout. For me, I think it's clear that stopping a couple of reps short on the pull exercises is the way for me to get consistent volume in. Push exercises like dips and push ups it doesn't seem to matter too much

[stevegraves]

I appreciate your short and informative videos. I’ve had better results doing one set of a given exercise to COMPLETE failure instead of 3 sets to near failure. The benefits for me: good muscle response, less time involved, fewer injuries, less wear and tear on joints and tendons.

[Mark-xwyt]

My ego always sours my workout when I can’t go to failure. I feel like a failure because I can’t push myself when I know I have the strength to do more. I’m just too exhausted and fatigued. This would really bother me because in my early days of training before injuries and quitting, I wouldn’t have this problem (or i think I didn’t). However when trying to get back into working out, I would always have this imposter syndrome where I felt like I just couldn’t push myself hard enough. I would feel like there was something wrong with my will/drive that just wasn’t improving enough with time.

To think that this mindset has been holding me back from having a good workout. It all makes sense.

[NiquelBones]

bro youre living my dream, big ass house with beautiful views and just training outside on a nice day keep it up bro

[bars]

Really good video Kyle, thanks for the upload.
Personally, I can't just stop without failing in a set. Even though its not like that, I feel that my workouts are kinda useless if I don't push it until ultimate failure.
Thats the main reason why I do need a rest day, (Im usually sore with HFT)
But I don't really think this is too bad. Pushing until failure makes me focus on the movement and the quality of reps, instead of counting reps and trying to guess how many reps are left in tank, and then taking a note to an exercise sheet etc. Just going all in makes it much more simple.

[mokyan]

Love how you are doing full, clean legit reps, with pause and good contraction.

You are moving smoothly and in control, well done. Quality.

[iliveinsideyourhouse]

Thank you for the information! I will do my sets close to failure right now, when I do them to absolute failure, I get too fatigued and sore to finished my workout lol. Again, thank you for the valuable information!

[jakemccoy]

Such an important and complex issue this is. Another factor is how advanced the person is. A newbie or near newbie is going to see lots of results training to failure. However, as someone who has been training for years, my training to failure is only good for me maybe once every two weeks just to shock my system. And I don’t know if “shock” is the right word because doing max reps of my regular exercises does not cause soreness. Anyway, I see my best results when I change up the exercise instead of training to failure. Like instead of maxing out with pushups, I may do archer pushups or some other pushup variant.

[Portitforward]

This knowledge helped me increase my volume and therefore gains over the last 6-8 months. Getting a lot of compliments on my physique :) For me, I do far more sets to failure when I am plateauing. In many cases I have found that my mental failure switch was earlier than my physical one, and pushing to total failure meant overcoming some sort of psychological obstacle instead of a physical one. Everyone is different, though. Cheers

[idanyakobson]

Respect for responding to so many comments, awesome content by the way

[ocearbhaill]

Your short & sweet, straight to the point style is unique, really good, keep going

[mcewenben]

A brilliant video once again. As an endurance athlete who likes to keep my strength numbers up i've found this higher frequency style of training really beneficial. Training 7-12 hours a week I was finding 3 days of high volume weighted calisthenics was taking to much recovery time away. Using your trifecta style 3 sets rpe 8-9 of a pull, push and either a squat/lunge or kettlebell swing monday through friday, ive found the fatigue just peaks in line with the additional endurance training. My body composition has greatly improved as well as my max reps on the body weight movements. I can't really thank you enough for the information you're putting out here. Keep it up mate.

[kent]

Finally something that makes sense on the debate of this.
Good info bro thank you

[mmustap]

This was my issue. I used to do sprints once a week and destroy myself to failure, but I noticed that I literally didn't want to lift a finger for the rest of the week or even eat healthy. I also noticed my sleep for the first day or two after sprinting was poor because my body was overheated and so I couldn't stay cool and it lowered the quality of my sleep and then my recovery wasn't great. Since then I've worked out moderately with decent gains, probably cumulatively better then those days too.

[indiegemsthatjam]

Another key part of this is the common trend of adding this move and that move, and ending up with 5 moves that work the same muscles. Ending up with a 2 hour workout that eventually beats down the motivation.