Should You Lift Weights To Failure? (2024)
Should You Lift Weights To Failure?
The Science-Backed & Practical Answer
Written by: Jonathan Fletcher
Should You Lift Weights To Failure?
When I think of training to failure I can’t help but think of the montages in movies like Blakley’s favorite “Rocky III” or the scenes out of the epic “Pumping Iron” with Arnold Schwarzenegger. You know the ones. The music is building, everyone is drenched in sweat, and they’re pushing that last set of bench press until they can do no more.
Franco Columbo has to jump in and pull the barbell off of Arnold’s chest because he can do no more. Ahh yes, training to failure.
It’s the secret sauce if you’re looking to get big and strong, isn’t it? Go big or go home is the key right? Maybe, and maybe not.
Let’s dig into the science of training to failure in this article.
We’ll look at what it is, some common myths around it, whether or not it works, the safety of it, and how you can include it in your training.
There can be different definitions of “failure”, and different contexts for those definitions.
One thing we certainly AREN’T talking about is failure to make it to the gym or failure to be consistent. We don’t need peer-reviewed research to know that either of those aren’t good for any kind of progress.
Training To Muscular Failure
When it comes to failure in training, the most common type you hear of is when a muscle contraction can no longer be achieved because of total fatigue. We call this MUSCULAR FAILURE. Check out this quick video that demonstrates muscular failure.
When you call upon our muscles to work, they spring into action by calling “motor units” into action. The more work you try to do, the more motor units are recruited. When you attempt a 1 rep max or when you take a set containing multiple reps to failure you’ve called upon all (or darn near all) of your motor units.
After a period of rest your body can restore ATP (your energy currency) and flush out metabolic waste like hydrogen and lactate from your muscles. Then, you can do more work.
Training To Technical Failure
Another type of failure is when you can no longer produce a mechanically “correct” movement because of accumulated fatigue. In other words, your muscles are fatigued to the point that you can longer do the reps with correct/good form. We call this TECHNICAL FAILURE. The video below demonstrates an example of technical failure.
***It’s the opinion of Digital Barbell that you carefully consider all aspects of your training, fitness and overall life when considering training to MUSCULAR FAILURE. Consider the risks of the particular exercise that you are doing and never put your life at risk or expose yourself to unnecessary injury risk. Some lifts should NOT be trained muscular failure. If you are unsure about your particular case you should consult a coach. When in doubt, if you’re training to failure, use technical failure as your marker. Stop when your form breaks down.***
Common Myths About Training To Failure
It’s unknown if one particular person in history gets “credit” for the concept of training to failure, but it’s been around for a long time. Maybe the cavemen were even doing max sets of boulder presses and dinosaur bone curls? Anyway, somewhere along the line, someone had the idea that pushing muscles as far as they could possibly go was the best way to achieve maximum muscle growth and strength gains.
I mean who doesn’t like the feeling of a good “pump”? You know…When your muscles are full of blood and are twice the size of how they normally appear.
Unfortunately, that pump fades in about thirty minutes and we’re left scratching our heads wondering if those sets to failure were worth the effort.
Does Training Failure Work?
Lucky for us, lots of smart people have wondered the same thing. They went beyond wondering and did real research on the subject.
There’s no doubt that to achieve maximal muscle and strength gains you can’t sandbag your workouts. You have to work hard. But does it matter if you go to failure on your exercises?
This 2012 study looked at 28 male novice trainees. They divided the men into 2 groups. One group trained with 30% of their 1 rep max and the other trained with 80% of their max. Within those groups, half of the men trained to failure in their sets and the other half trained a rep or two shy of failure. At the end of the 6 week study there was no difference in strength gains or in muscle cross sectional size (growth).
It wasn’t a perfect study though. It would have been nice to compare those groups to a third group that lifted to closer to 5 or 6 reps before failure. That being said there is plenty of other research that has shown that maximal muscle growth occurs when you are closer to failure vs in those lower effort ranges. We wrote about that in our Muscle Growth 101 Article.
Other research has validated the 2012 study showing that training to failure does NOT provide substantial benefits in strength and size compared to training to within a couple reps of failure.
We also know through research that total exercise volume (sets, reps, and load) is a HUGE factor in overall growth and strength gains.
How To Use Training To Failure
I just finished telling you that training to failure doesn’t provide extra benefits, but extra volume is useful. Kinda confusing huh?
Here’s the deal.
Training is simple, but it’s also complicated. When we work with a client we have to look at the big picture. What are their goals? What’s their experience level? How old are they? Any previous injuries?
We alluded to it earlier, but we don’t see the worth in training to failure on heavy compound lifts like the squat and the deadlift. The risk of injury just isn’t worth any potential reward.
The downside of training to failure is that it’s pretty darn fatiguing. Both on the muscles involved, and on the Central Nervous System that’s in charge of the muscles.
Combined with the safety concerns, that’s why we don’t recommend training to failure with the heavy compound lifts. If you took a heavy set of squats to failure, you’re going to need at least 3 days, if not more to recover.
Remember that total volume is important, so was that set to failure worth it if you couldn’t train effectively for a long time? I don’t think so. This is an example of how you need to consider the big picture when it comes to programming sets to failure.
You need to balance practicality and science along with the human aspect of fun and adherence to a program. If you enjoy training to failure regardless of whether or not it’s giving you added benefits, here’s how you can do it without crushing yourself or your progress.
Which Exercises Are Safe To Train To Failure?
If you’re going to do some of your sets to failure, choose your exercises wisely. Stick with lower-risk, simple, single-joint movements like bicep curls, tricep extensions, calf raises, shrug,s etc.
If you take a set of tricep pushdowns to failure you won’t incur the same level of fatigue that you would if you took a set of back squats to failure since the total number of muscles involved and the load are much much lower with the pushdowns.
What this means is that the overall level of fatigue of these “to failure” sets is less, and that you can train that muscle group again relatively soon.
How Often Can You Train To Failure?
We recommend aiming to train each muscle group 2-3x per week for the best results. That’s how we train, and it’s how we program for our clients too. You should be tracking your workout progress, and if you’re experimenting with sets to failure and seeing that it’s causing your lifts to stall out, it’s probably not worth it. Stick to sets around 2 reps before failure for most of your “hard” sets so that you can get in the total effective volume over the week. Plan out your week. Look at where your rest days are and try to put your “to failure” days in a slot that allows for ample recovery afterward.
We mentioned the “human aspect” of training. We can’t underestimate that. At the end of the day, the best training program is the one that you can stick with long term even if it’s not scientifically the most optimal. If you’re bored, you might not stick with it. If training to failure every once in a while keeps it interesting for you, have at it. But be smart about it. Play the long game.
Let’s summarize.
Research shows that training to muscular failure DOES NOT provide substantial benefits to muscular strength and growth over sets taken within a few reps of failure.
Training to MUSCULAR FAILURE is almost NEVER worth the injury risk unless we’re talking about single-joint exercises with lighter weights. Stick with TECHNICAL FAILURE when using sets to failure.
When using sets to failure, make sure that it’s not hindering your overall exercise volume because of decreased recovery.
If you’re going to train to failure, try to structure it so that you have a rest day after to facilitate adequate recovery.
If training to failure and getting a huge muscular pump keeps you motivated to train long-term, have at it! Consistency over the long term is what leads to progress and success.
If you have questions or need help, send us a message. We’re happy to help!
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Thanks for reading!
Jonathan