Lifting Until Failure

Colli78
Colli78 Posts: 135
in Fitness and Exercise
I have always heard people talk about lifting until failure and I thought they were just not dedicated and weak minded. It was as simple as mind over matter and pulling from your inner strength to finish that last rep.

Yeah. My apologizes to all that I thought that about. Turns out, once you are in failure, there isn't a single thing that you can do. Today, I was bench pressing and hit that failure point. Nothing I could do, no amount of psyching up, no pep talks, no inner strength..NOTHING would push that bar up. I ended up having to roll it down my chest and my stomach and then sit up. It was totally hot, I assure you. :grumble:

Here is my question. I bench pressed 75 lbs on Tuesday, 3 sets of 8 and was was starting to struggle at the end. I waited 48 hours and then worked that same group of muscles again today. Same amount of weight. So, why could I get through the work out on Tuesday with very little problem, but today I ended up in failure? Being sore and struggling, I could understand, but complete failure? I completed 2 of the sets and was actually on the next to last rep on the last set when it set in. Should I wait longer than 48 hours to work the same muscle groups? Drop the weight the last set? Lower the reps? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Replies

  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
    your not doing anything wrong.

    unless the first time you could have done more then 8 reps. then session 1 was weak, session two good.

    how much you can lift and how many times can and does fluctuate.

    You can wait longer if you wish between chest days but the rule of thumb is not to wait more then 3 days.
  • jason_adams
    jason_adams Posts: 187 Member
    From my experience, 48 hours is not enough rest time to hit the same muscle group the same way.
    You could have used the extra day of rest, OR varied something. Different exercises, different rep scheme, different tempo.
    Your strength will come, but more week to week, rather than every 48 hrs.

    That being said, there are many other factors that will come into play:
    - other workouts
    - other activies
    - stress / sleep

    These and even other factors will influence how you can lift on any given day. Keep tracking, the goal is to see a trend over time.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,061 Member
    For a variety of reasons, some days you may be stronger/weaker. It happens. Just continue.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    There are any number of factors at work here..one very obvious one would be that you weren't fully recovered. I personally have more recovery time between the same lift than 48 hours...in my personal experience, 48 hours isn't enough time when you 're lifting to almost failure/failure every workout.

    What is your routine and where did you come up with it? This could be a programming issue. Are you doing a split of full body lifting routine?
  • Colli78
    Colli78 Posts: 135
    At one point I was benching 110, 3 sets 7 reps. Then I had a rotator cuff injury and stopped heavy lifting for a while to let that heal. Right now, I'm just trying to get back to that strength point. Even getting up to that 110 pounds, I never experienced failure. This was definitely a humbling experience for me.
  • Colli78
    Colli78 Posts: 135
    There are any number of factors at work here..one very obvious one would be that you weren't fully recovered. I personally have more recovery time between the same lift than 48 hours...in my personal experience, 48 hours isn't enough time when you 're lifting to almost failure/failure every workout.

    What is your routine and where did you come up with it? This could be a programming issue. Are you doing a split of full body lifting routine?

    My arms routine is bench pressing (75 lb), lateral arms raises (15 lbs), bent rows (25 lbs), lat pull downs (80 lbs), concentrated curls (25 lbs), and shoulder presses (20 lbs). Every other day I do legs. Start all of it off with 20 minutes of cardio and then rest on Saturday and Sunday. It was designed for me by a trainer at my gym.

    Edit to say: I don't have the most confidence in the world in those trainers though. They kept telling me over and over again not to lift heavy because I will get bulky. :mad:
  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
    I have always heard people talk about lifting until failure and I thought they were just not dedicated and weak minded. It was as simple as mind over matter and pulling from your inner strength to finish that last rep.

    Yeah. My apologizes to all that I thought that about. Turns out, once you are in failure, there isn't a single thing that you can do. Today, I was bench pressing and hit that failure point. Nothing I could do, no amount of psyching up, no pep talks, no inner strength..NOTHING would push that bar up. I ended up having to roll it down my chest and my stomach and then sit up. It was totally hot, I assure you. :grumble:

    Here is my question. I bench pressed 75 lbs on Tuesday, 3 sets of 8 and was was starting to struggle at the end. I waited 48 hours and then worked that same group of muscles again today. Same amount of weight. So, why could I get through the work out on Tuesday with very little problem, but today I ended up in failure? Being sore and struggling, I could understand, but complete failure? I completed 2 of the sets and was actually on the next to last rep on the last set when it set in. Should I wait longer than 48 hours to work the same muscle groups? Drop the weight the last set? Lower the reps? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks!

    You shouldn't be working the same muscle group on consecutive days. If you are just starting you might need more than one day to recover. The saying is that you don't get stronger when you lift, you get stronger the next day when your muscle repairs itself.

    Plenty of resources on how to split your workout out so that you avoid the same muscles on consecutive days.
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
    maybe you were fully recovered, maybe you weren't

    still doesn't change the fact that somedays your best will be different then others.

    the only important thing is to do as much as you can once you've already taken the plunge lol.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    maybe you were fully recovered, maybe you weren't

    still doesn't change the fact that somedays your best will be different then others.

    the only important thing is to do as much as you can once you've already taken the plunge lol.

    Agreed....OP, there are numerous reasons that you might not have been able to get your lift up...it could be as simple as depleted glycogen stores going into your workout....lack of sleep...lack of recovery...programming, etc. Heck, it could have just been a bad day...people have those. My lifts on Monday sucked...it was just an off day...it happens.

    Best thing you can do is keep at it...if you continue to see a trend and you aren't making improvements then I think you can start to look at recovery issues or programming but I wouldn't change everything just because of one bad workout.
  • Colli78
    Colli78 Posts: 135
    Thanks y'all for the advice and encouragement. Same routine today after resting all weekend and I NAILED it!

    You guys rock!

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