Should You Train To Failure?
Should You Train To Failure?
Every knows the saying “No Pain No Gain”, but is this true?
Years ago in my mid twenties every set I did was to failure. Sometimes it was failure with forced reps or negatives as well.
If anyone remembers the Dorian Yates & Mike Mentzer Philosophy of always going harder & heavier than your last workout.
For a while it worked (like any training will), but then things went wrong.
I got hurt a lot.
My joints killed.
My desire to train diminished.
I even got depressed & started to dread workouts at that intensity.
It was a BIG mistake.
Every set should not be taken to failure, actually hardly any sets should ever be taken to max failure.
Unless you are competing or testing your one rep max this is not smart. Especially on big lifts that are taxing like squats & deadlifts.
If you can get 10 reps stop at 8/9.
On a scale of 1-2 train in the 7-8.5 range. Not the 9-10 range.
Always leave a rep or two in the tank.
5 sets at 80% intensity is better than 3 sets at 95-100% intensity.
Train hard, but train SMART.
Rob King is a Competitive PowerLifter, Coach and Writer.