Muscle failure

Rusty740

stanmann571 wrote: »

Seth1825 wrote: »

Rusty740 wrote: »

If you're not lifting to within 3 reps of failure, you're not doing anything. Still true today as it was 10 years ago, as long as you're lifting at %60 of your 1RM or greater.

wait can you explain that? So you're saying for example if I can do 8 reps of a weight, I should start to fail at the 5th rep? Sorry just want to understand more about how to gauge that. Thanks!

NO, what it appears is being said, is that your working(training) load should stop within 1-3 reps of failure. so if you're working 3 sets 8 reps, your failure point should be in the 9-11 range.

Yes this^ is it. Except ideally I guess you go to zero reps to failure (Failure of "Form" mind you though). The idea is that in general, failure is a really really good way to tell if you are doing more than it takes to overload your muscles and joints, and it also lets you lift heavy or light (which we know both have benefits so long as you go close to failure). I've been watching a lot youtube of Mike Israetel lately and IMO there's no one who really explains this stuff more logically than him.

It's based on the idea of Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) except that RPE is really hard to consistently estimate, especially for new lifters and those lifting on a bad day for instance. How many reps you have in the tank is a really simple, easy thing to put your finger on. Here's a couple fancy charts I pilfered from some websites that helped me get a good handle on what my reps/weights should look like. Sets are another important thing Mike Israetel gets into a lot. In general, diminishing returns happen after 4 worksets and there is a goldilocks range per week of total worksets per muscle group that is dependent on a lot of factors. Just last night I was watching a chest hypertrophy video of his that said do 12-20 sets per week of chest. Anyway, I'm blathering.

blakejohn

That is a great guide, thanks for sharing it.

sgt1372

I don't believe in setting myself up to fail in any aspect of my life, so I have never lifted w/the goal of failing.

Doesn't mean that I have never failed to complete a planned set of lifts, just that I don't believe it is necessary to set a goal of lifting to failure in order to achieve greater strength and muscle growth.

I use a progressive lifting approach gradually increasing the amount lifted over time which is common to many programs from beginner to advanced where the objective is to sucessfully lift more weight w/o resorting to muscular failure to achieve it.

blakejohn

Progressive is a good approach, a few times I used the Pyramid program both up and down.