How Lifting to Failure Can Be Slowing Your Gains

In this QUAH Sal, Adam, & Justin answer the question “Does lifting to failure, bodybuilder style, tax the Central Nervous System like lifting heavy powerlifting type maxing?"
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Video - • 1533: How Lifting to F...
“How Lifting to Failure Can Be Slowing Your Gains"
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[@raiderkeno]

This is so true just recently quit going to to failure doing drops or super sets every workout for a very long time. Within two weeks everything changed got stronger, less fatigue , body comp made a drastic change. Could not believe it. I just searched for confirmation and this video confirmed it.

[@agustincai]

depends on the volume, more volume less intensity, more intesity less volume

[@khmak9387]

I think Pavel Tsatsouline's Grease the Groove method is based on a similar principle.

[@ehLeanne311]

@@agustincai Nope, doesn't depend of anything, just because you can work harder on less volume doesn't mean you should, that's old school

[@CHRISTIANNWO]

Yeah, I tried my nervous system by going to failure. I took down a few notches and all of a sudden I feel a lot stronger.

[@liamjames7852]

I train every set to failure hard work pays off 💪

[@alexxander1768]

but you look pretty bad.

[@lastofadyingbreed2304]

Great advice, I'll be putting this into practice.

[@lastofadyingbreed2304]

@Saud forget bout it 💪

[@ENTRIFICE]

I always do less, and I'm absolutely JACKED. I haven't lifted weights in 3 months!

[@mikejones9906]

Lmaooooo

[@gitarman666]

Roids will do that bro

[@moko1181]

You guys are great, thank you 🙏

[@thesupremegentleman1444]

If you are really going to failure it works really, really well. BUT, you have to control the volume. You cannot do many sets and train to failure. That’s why the doggcrapp training works, because of limited volume. If you leave 2-3 reps in the tank, it can work as well, but you have to do more volume. Both work, but all variables have to be taken into consideration.

[@felicegiraldi6980]

absolutely! This is what most people forget about. If Volume is high, Intensity needs to be lowered; so leave some reps in the tank. If Intensity is very high (failure), volume has to be lowered. Both approaches work perfectly, but i prefer high volume no failure, because my joints feel so much better with lower intensity.

[@ehLeanne311]

Nope you completely missed the point, that's old school thought, , don't let the body control your intensity, just because you can't lift as intensely with greater volume and can lift more intensity with less volume doesn't mean you should, that's letting your body dictate what you should do rather than using your mind to control how close to failure you will go, backing off on intensity when you can do more, is self-control and the best, somehow your body responds better if you just stop short of that you can do, it's like you are teasing the muscles to growth because they get the benefit of stimulus with not exhaustion and depletion of the muscles and CNS which leads to faster recovery and growth

[@bible-james4277]

I need to try this , thank you mind pump I've always went to failure, off and on lifting weights for few years ....I can see this being able to do a couple more sets an feel better by not going to failure and have more energy

[@dustin6528]

I can’t imagine not going to failure on a safe, practical exercise at least once a week.

[@daniel8695]

Idk what they're classifying failure as, but I always go to failure where failure for me is at the point where I honestly dk if I can get another rep, and I finish the set there. My goal in doing that is achieving a great pump, and it has always worked well for me.

[@Oscar-fi1ev]

There’s only one definition of failire and it’s at the point where you cannot progress further with the movement and fail mid rep

[@JayS700]

Failure is where you can't do another rep or fail mid rep. It is fine for a pump and bulk but studies show it will to early strength plateaus as well as slower recovery times. But if you are not trying to get stronger, you should be fine.

[@daniel8695]

@@Oscar-fi1ev Doing that with freeweights is dangerous and dumb, to be frank.

[@daniel8695]

@@JayS700 I don't do straight sets. I do rep ranges, and it has always worked wonders.

[@JayS700]

@@daniel8695 it doesn't matter too much on whether you do 3×8s or 6,8,10s, etc. The theory is if you push your muscles to failure during your workout (last rep unachievable, or last rep isn't finished), then you are doing yourself a disservice in terms of strength building. However, if on your last rep you can complete it and you may have one or two reps "left in the tank", your muscle strength will progress faster than classic hypertrophy training and your recovery (how you feel in the gym the next day or the next day you do that specific workout) will be quicker

[@supimsatan]

Depends on the reprange tho, 15+ reps needs to be near failure, or full failure.

[@xgin2637]

Nice.

[@MrGrebnellow]

Two questions. First one is what exactly is failure? I own maps anabolic and sal says to do the reps until you would start to sacrifice form. But in this video it is mentioned to keep two or three reps in the tank. So what should I be doing if I'm doing maps anabolic and what is failure considered. Thanks guys love your programming and your podcast!

[@mikejones9906]

What you're talking about is mechanical failure, what they're talking about is true failure which is when you can't do another rep even if someone offered you a million dollars to do so.

[@petercalicchio4973]

Training to failure is training to fail - Pavel Tsatsouline

[@christopherqueen3194]

Being older, I’ve learned to push myself hard but not too hard. Going all the way to failure screws up my sleep and makes it harder to be consistent through the week. I intuitively reasoned that holding back slightly would result in better long term improvements.

[@drugonzalez7908]

Adam always has to make sure his two cents are heard or he starts getting agitated lol

[@ehLeanne311]

It's so true, all the experts in the science of muscle hypertrophy now realize now that training to failure is completely detrimental and should be avoided, you have to remember that the muscle is gaining the greatest benefit at maximum output not when it is anaerobically compromised.

[@shantavetyan4053]

Another issue is that people sacrifice too much volume for (what they perceive to be) more intensity. Usually, it’s the people who claim they can get in and out of the gym in 30 minutes.

[@johncalla2151]

The question does bring to light the fact that "failure" is a term that encompasses many different causes and therefore different effects. If you're doing a 1RM set then the failure will be neural in nature; i.e., your nervous system just can't generate enough force for a second rep. Failure for a much higher rep set (15+) could be caused by lack of energy, lactic acid burn, failure to get blood in and out quickly enough, etc. But how much does the latter type of failure tax the CNS really?

[@mikejones9906]

They're talking about true failure, not mechanical failure. Every person that gets gains mostly trains to mechanical failure but true failure on a lot of sets kills you, it's no joke.

[@mariekeiningham4151]

I was looking into powerlifting before the shutdown. Then I fell back into my obsessive ways and went with P.E.D to take down the intensity of my workouts. Yes that program was still a step down for me, it was that bad. I am trying to stop overtraining, it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. It requires mental strength.

[@mikejones9906]

A competitive person or an athlete is always gonna train like they're competing with everyone in the gym. Took Coach Greg's advice on actually taking your time in between sets and not that 60 seconds nonsense and it works great. The only way I can mentally take a few minute off between sets, is by super setting everything.. Helps a lot with having patience.

[@colbylevi7]

Interesting. This is the opposite of what Fouad and team would suggest. Personally I stop just short of failure because I work out alone and I am not risking being trapped below a bar.

[@themondoshow]

Fouad is on STEROIDS BRUH. This advice is for REGULAR people

[@tabularasa820]

A reframe, which can your CNS recover from quicker: a 20 rep set of breathing squats versus 1rm squat? Which one can your CNS recover from quicker?

[@himanshusingh3933]

1rm definitely for me

[@tabularasa820]

@@himanshusingh3933 I’m the exact opposite. If I’m training high intensity squats to a 1rm, it takes me 7-14 days to fully recover. But when I’m in high volume training blocks and doing a 20 rep set of breathing squats (my 10rm done for 20 reps with pauses to breathe between reps) I can recover in about 3 days. I wonder if this has to do with muscle fiber type, training experience, or some other factor of individualization.

[@himanshusingh3933]

@@tabularasa820 I can do with at least 4 day gap but after breathing squat man even one week after sore ham and glute

[@tabularasa820]

@@himanshusingh3933 20 rep breathing sets can be brutal. Maybe I’m doing them wrong. 😀

[@himanshusingh3933]

@@tabularasa820 don't know about right or wrong but I only used to do 1 set of 20 rep for about 7 or 8 week one time a week 2inch gain in quads and mental strength so good thing will do it again sometime

[@MTPT299]

I think much of this depends on volume and training frequency.If someone is training a bodypart maybe once or twice a week,then taking some sets to failure probably isn't going to tax the CNS too much.Whereas if someone is training a bodypart 3 or 4 times a week,with less intensity and volume within a workout,then stopping short of failure is then advisable.Also depends on the individual too.Some trainers can handle the extra intensity,some can't.

[@NemeanLion-]

Going to failure is walking a tightrope. If you don’t know what your limits are, stick with leaving a couple of reps in the tank. I burned out so many times when I was younger because the bodybuilding industry always pushed the philosophy (even in the beginning programs) that what separates the champs from the slackers, is how hard they trained. And every video had a guy like Dorian Yates, training beyond failure.

[@ZigZagXL]

I am training 3 times a week to failure fb and keep pr almost every week

[@operationtruth288]

Excellent Information Video

[@paulsharpe8822]

So if a program prescribes 3 sets of 10, say a pushup for example, and I could get to 20 on the first set before failure, should I stop at 10, or should I go to 18?

[@Burtonesque413]

18 so then it will be within the 2-3 left reps like they described in your video. It is based on what YOU are capable of doing

[@paulsharpe8822]

@@Burtonesque413 Thanks! The idea of a set number never made any sense to me.

[@Burtonesque413]

@@paulsharpe8822 you’re welcome! Yeah their advice is usually really solid, so I trust that his anecdote about trying this really helped him out. I’ve tried applying it before, but periodically kept finding myself going to complete failure again by habit 😅 I’m gonna really try to commit to it this time though.

[@heromask388]

Notice how they say "2 reps" what is "2 reps"? 2 reps of 2s? Or what? Where's the finish line at?

[@anirudh8575]

He meant, stop 2 reps to failure on the exercise you are performing. If you do 10 reps for a bench press and that's failure to you at let's say 70kgs, then do it for 8 reps instead

[@glamoc0000]

Guys, you do realize that 90% or your audience already are stopping 2 reps short of failure even though.they think they are lifting to failure? So, you are telling them to cut that but 2 reps..

[@misomoiststeamer4395]

Yeah I’ve gone to failure once like truely on Bulgarians I did a set of 15 3 seconds down one second up. And my whole body WAs shaking on the 10th rep and then when I got done with it like I couldn’t see like I just kept tryna drink water but everytime I felt like I was gonna throw up

[@MrFaXism9]

everybody literally says diifferent damn im confusedd

[@DembBased]

I feel like they misunderstood what the question was asking

[@davequithisdayjob2813]

I agree with you. I don’t think the question was about isolation vs compound movements.

[@anteeantee8144]

guys that most bodybuilders only do mashines and isolations is simply not true in which world are you living if you are living in your power lifting bubble maybe you should open up a bit thats simply not true most body builders do benchpress like 90% or more if you are thinking they are only isolatin then you are just ignorant

[@TOrganic]

So it’s ok to go into muscle failure when doing workouts like chin-ups, and doing bicep curl you shouldn’t go be at failure?

[@ripper_op5442]

You are talking about strength, not hypertrophy

[@justj2440]

Immediately off. Mostly iso? Lol no. Many bb's don't lift to failure and do use many compounds. If you train to failure everyday on everything obviously it will be negative.

[@mikejones9906]

Every body builder trains to mechanical failure, what they're talking about is true failure when you have a training partner and you're trying your hardest to get that last rep. Nobody really trains like that but yea you have to look up the difference between mechanical failure and true failure to understand what they say.

[@justj2440]

@@mikejones9906 that's beyond failure actually. Or simply negatives to failure. Then there positive or momentary failure which many people interchange. Its a pretty subjective viewpoint with a lot of people. And no based on interviews and new trends many do endless reps and go intense for volume but far less go to failure than the old days. My comment is also so old I've forgotten this video completely lol

[@mikejones9906]

@@justj2440 I worked out with an in law who's jacked a long time ago and I asked him how many reps I should do per set and his answer was "Until you can't do anymore" lol but you're right the old school guys will break you during a workout, all they believe in is volume and intensity.

[@TheAlexmercer360batmanfan]

I always end my workouts with a set till all out failure. Concentric failure only but with great effort and perfect form. However, I will not lie, doing many sets throughout the day going amrap *while ensuring I don't fail...* and making sure my performance doesn't go down the next day... Was when I made the most improvements. Probably because I don't sleep well at all and can't rip benefits from failure training coupled with optimal recovery at a high frequency.

[@mikejones9906]

They're talking about true failure which is when you can't do another rep even if your life depended on it.

[@AB-hc8cg]

Jay cutler said in a recent collab video with trystin lee that he never trained to failure in his body building days

[@dustin6528]

He was also juiced to the moon

[@AB-hc8cg]

@@dustin6528 true. But you can’t ignore hard work and smart training because they juice

[@nasa_fanboy4434]

So interesting, i have listened to alot of Dorian Yates, and his theories made perfect sense to me logically, but now im questioning everything lol

[@imemailingmybrother]

I can't understand where they are coming from in this one.... I never see jacked dudes in the gym who lift leaving a few reps in the tank. All the average Joe's lift like this.

[@ertugrulkorpinar51]

How do you know if someone has reps left in the tank ?

[@imemailingmybrother]

@@ertugrulkorpinar51 that's a good point. I suppose an experienced lifter can tell the difference between failure and having a few reps in the tank, including the person next to them

[@Ruth1T0ne]

Exactly 99% of gym goers train like this.

[@AB-hc8cg]

Jay cutler said in a recent collab video with trystin lee that he never trained to failure in his body building days

[@imemailingmybrother]

@@AB-hc8cg I see what you are trying to say, but something tells me that Jay Cutler might have better genetics than, I don't know, everyone else in the world, besides a few other people....

[@jamiebyrne8570]

How lifting to failure is limiting your gains? It's probably not. If it is, you're doing it wrong. Stop talking.