Pushing yourself to far

justinrye

How do you know if your pushing your self to far when working out? Some work outs I struggle to get the last couple reps out but I'm not giving up and pushing to get them. For example bicep curls. Is this a case that may cause injury and I should just take the loss of the last couple reps or continue to push through.

sammyliftsandeats

If you are struggling to get the last few reps and your form is being compromised, I would suggest stopping because you may risk injuring yourself.

lemmie177

Lifting to failure is a pretty normal thing to do. Done properly, you lift until your muscles are simply unable to perform another rep and you put the weight down. No risk of injury. However, if your form is breaking down (ie during curls, you start swinging the weights, using momentum, leaning backwards, etc) then its best to just stop.

justinrye

Well said. Thanks.

cgvet37

If your form starts to break down, stop. If you need to lower the weight, do so. If you need to stop completely, do so. Listen to your form and your body. If your form is not breaking down, push yourself. Those last three or four reps do more for muscle growth. Hope that helps.

justinrye

cgvet37 wrote: »

If your form starts to break down, stop. If you need to lower the weight, do so. If you need to stop completely, do so. Listen to your form and your body. If your form is not breaking down, push yourself. Those last three or four reps do more for muscle growth. Hope that helps.

Thanks that's a great way of looking at it.

dykask

I agree form is very important. I hurt both of my elbows doing chin ups and not keeping my wrists straight. That was months ago, right arm is fine but the left is still not healed. Best to stop if form is getting bad. Now because of the elbow I have to focus more on dips, pushups and those types of upper body calisthenics. That isn't as good since nothing works the shoulders and upper back like pull ups. (Plus just how big of triceps does one really need?)

With body weight calisthenics, failing a rep isn't a big deal. When you get to that point just switch to doing negatives or to a different position that is easier. Negatives aren't that useful with the easy exercises like push ups, but there are many ways to reduce the effort a push up takes.