Is Training to Failure a Good Idea?

Most of us have been conditioned to give our absolute everything in everything we do—all that “just push a little more, and that prize is yours”! So it’s only logical why many people work out in the gym with this thought driving them. The harder you push, the more the gains, right? But is training to fail a good idea?

Well, it turns out that it may not be the case—it may instead be a case of “work smarter, not harder”, as the new adage goes. Here’s a deeper dive into the topic.

 

But First, What Is Training to Failure All About?

As the phrase suggests, training to failure is all about training till you fail.

Traditionally, each set has a certain number of reps based on their goals and abilities, decided by the performer. In the “training to failure” method, you’re performing reps in a set till your muscles give out, and you can’t perform anymore; if you’re able to perform any more reps, you haven’t reached failure.

Each set is followed by a rest period, after which the next set is performed. There can be 2-3 such sets.

What Supports Training to Failure?

There’s no doubt that lifting weights is one of the most effective ways to grow strength and muscle for people across all age groups. This increased muscle growth and strength has a range of benefits, such as easier weight loss and better overall physical and mental health.

A resistance training technique that’s become quite popular is training to failure. Many gym-goers and powerlifters believe that training until failure is not just one of the best ways to induce muscle growth but “the best way to do it.

Why? For many different reasons.

The first one is a little something called “mechanical tension”. One of the main contributors to muscle growth, mechanical tension happens when you lift weights, where the weight is pulling down and stretching your muscle as you try to resist it (as you do in resistance training), which creates tension. Ergo, mechanical tension.

To achieve the highest possible level of mechanical tension, you need to use as many muscle fibers to work as possible, which happens when you close in on failure during the set, leading to muscle growth.

The second factor is something known as muscle protein synthesis, a naturally occurring process wherein protein is manufactured by the body to replace any protein lost during workouts.

This may sound counterproductive, but this is how muscle growth occurs since protein is replaced in larger amounts than is lost, which leads to muscle growth.

If you push till failure, your muscle protein synthesis is higher than if you do comfortable sets.

Lastly, more reps should equal more muscle, right?

These three primary factors seem to do training for failure a good idea.

 

But Is Training to Failure a Good Idea?

Though we’ve spoken about what makes training to failure a good idea, it seems there are more studies to show why you shouldn’t be training to failure, but instead striking a balance between reps and form.

Though mechanical tension increases as you get closer to failing, it starts to plateau after a while—around 3 to 5 reps before you hit failure. If 15 reps are your failure point, doing 10-12 reps in the perfect form will achieve better and more mechanical tension than hitting all 15 with imperfect form.

Similarly, ideal muscle protein synthesis levels are reached at the same point as mechanical tension, so you don’t have to wear yourself out with those extra reps since the result is the same even if you don’t.

Additionally, it turns out that more reps do not equal more muscle since the fatigue from pushing till failure will adversely impact your performance in subsequent sets.

Counterproductively, the power and muscle strength applied are much lower in sets where training to failure was practiced compared to those that weren’t.

Lastly, training to failure may lead to higher amounts of cortisol (released when you’re stressed), lactate, and growth hormones being released, all of which can hamper the growth of muscle.

 

What Are the Adverse Impacts?

Besides simply not feeling good about bungling up your last few reps, training to failure can be quite uncomfortable. You end up pushing too much, mentally and physically, to achieve failure. Sounds illogical, right?

Additionally, and more importantly, you will end up damaging your muscles if you go down the “training to failure” route. You’ll also take longer to recover from your workouts by as much as 24-48 hours than you would take if you weren’t training to failure.

This means that you will go into your immediate workouts with less energy but still push the same, leading to possible injury, hampered performance, and frustration at not performing well despite trying.

Carry this on for long enough, and you’ll hit “overtraining”, where your anabolic hormones reduce, and conditions once suited to building muscle becomes more and more unsuitable. No matter how much you train, you’ll see no gains.

 

What Is the Best Way to Train to Failure?

Training to failure has no actual benefits to most folks. However, it still can benefit some folks, depending on a range of factors such as a person’s age, regularity of exercising, and training history.

Therefore, if you’re still intent on practicing training to failure and being one of those who it may benefit, ensure that you take ample rest between sets. Sufficient rest is essential to increasing the size of your muscles.

According to research, five minutes of rest between sets was more effective than one minute.

Additionally, don’t frequently train to failure; incorporate this method only occasionally (once a week or once in two weeks), and don’t skip your de-loading week.

 

What Is the Best Way to Train Otherwise?

Though you ideally shouldn’t be training to failure, you shouldn’t be stopping well short of it either. Doing only seven reps when your failure point is fourteen isn’t going to help your muscles grow.

As mentioned earlier, stop only a couple of reps before failure. Let a few reps remain in your reserves. If you hit failure point at 20 reps, stop 1-3 or 3-5 reps before.

This will also leave you with enough energy to perform your subsequent sets well and hit all the reps in those, too, as well as leave behind enough energy to recover well from the workout.

However, what could present an issue is correctly estimating how many reps you’re capable of in a set at a given point. Each day is different; you may be able to ace 15 perfect reps on one day and only be able to manage 10 the next day.

Therefore, there are high chances that you may underpredict the number of reps you can do till failure, in which case you’re not going to work out enough or overestimate the number of reps that you can do, in which case you’re going to hit failure point.

This is an especially common issue among those just starting out—beginners underestimate reps by as much as four or five reps. In contrast, experienced lifters are only underpredicted by one or two reps.

 

How to Predict the Failure Point

You may have noticed the difference in the underestimations mentioned earlier between beginners and experienced lifters. Apart from the fact that underpredicting is common in lifters of all levels, this goes to show that experience upsets your prediction game. As you work out more and get more in tune with your body, you’ll be able to better predict how many reps you have left in you until failure.

But is waiting around for experience the only option? Luckily, no. Set aside a day where you can exercise till failure in each set (ensure you have a spotter on this day to prevent any injuries and ensure that help is at hand if you need it).

For example, if you’ve done three sets of deadlifts with a certain weight and managed five, four, and three reps in each set, respectively, take the average of this (the total number of reps across all sets divided by the number of sets), which gives you four reps.

This way, you know that you can manage four reps safely without hitting failure. In the initial days, do this every time you feel like you’ve made progress (as your strength grows, your failure point reduces) till you’ve progressed enough and are experienced enough to estimate your reps without this method.

Remember, if it feels too tough or easy, you can always recalibrate, but the average number is a good reference point, especially in the initial days.

Another method to follow is training until technical failure. This means doing as many reps as possible in a set with perfect form and stopping when your form fails, which is when the set ends, even if this means fewer reps than you were supposed to do.

 

The Final Word

Despite all the research that exists to tell you that training for failure is a bad idea, many folks will try to convince you that it is, trainers included. This doesn’t mean that they’re bad or uninformed or wrong; it’s simply possible that training to failure worked for them.

Training to failure may be beneficial for those preparing for powerlifting and bodybuilding tournaments. However, in no case is training to failure recommended for beginners or amateur athletes.

That said, see what works best for your body. It may take some time to figure out, but once you strike a balance between working hard and smart, you’ll see the gains.