New Research Says Training to Failure Builds Size But Not Strength
As hardcore as it may look train to failure and push yourself to the point of turning purple, it may not be as necessary as we once thought for seeing progress. Previous research has confirmed that for muscular growth, it's the proximity we work short of failure that matters, rather than consistently training to the point of failing.
But how does training close to failure effect strength gains? A new meta-analysis set out to uncover this, and further explore the relationship between muscle growth and training close to failure.
The Analysis
Published in Sports Medicine, the meta-analysis aimed to investigate the relationship between estimated proximity to failure (reps in reserve) during resistance training with two main focuses — strength gains and muscle hypertrophy. Reps in reserve (RIR) means how many reps we have left in the tank at the end of a set. You can read our guide to the RIR and RPE scale here:
The meta-analysis reviewed a total of 214 studies and aimed to clarify whether proximity to failure affects strength gains and muscle hypertrophy differently. The studies used in the meta-analysis included different populations, training durations, and methodologies to increase robustness.
The Results
The meta-analysis found:
Strength: Strength gains are minimally impacted by how close sets are taken to failure. The analysis consistently showed no significant association between estimated reps in reserve and improvements in strength.
Hypertrophy: Muscle hypertrophy tends to increase as sets finish closer to failure. The results show that muscle hypertrophy decreased linearly as participants train further away from failure.
The Conclusion
The meta-analysis concludes that strength gains increase independent of how close sets are taken to failure. This indicates that factors other than proximity to failure, such as the intensity of the load used, for example, 1 rep max percentage, play an important role in improving strength.
Studies highlighted in the meta-analysis indicate that as load intensity increases, the proximity to failure necessary decreases. This aligns with the principle that heavier weights recruit more motor units and contribute to more strength gains.
On the other hand, there are clear improvements from training closer to failure for muscular hypertrophy. This is likely due to training closer to failure generating increased mechanical tension on muscle fibres, which is a key determinant of muscle growth.
What Does This Mean for Us?
A review published by the Journal of Sport and Health Science, it was established that muscle growth can occur without working to failure but instead working within close proximity to failure and similar increases in muscular strength and size occur between the two methods.
Pushing ourselves 0-5 reps short of failure is the sweet spot when it comes to muscle growth. While previous research has shown that training to failure won't hurt your gains, and will still grow muscle, the risk of injury and overuse does increase as you lift beyond your capabilities. And, if we can see benefit from training close to failure, rather than to it, then it's worth reaping the benefits, without the downsides. However, if you want to seal the deal, training to failure will get the job done for muscle growth.
Conversely, for strength it is more important to focus on heavier loads, however not working to failure. It makes sense from the standpoint that training to failure can be very demanding on the body, and more difficult to recover from in following sets. With other evidence showing strength improvements from working close to failure, it's safe to assume that aiming for 3-5 reps short of failure is the sweet spot for strength training, whilst also mitigating risks.
Ultimately, from this meta-analysis we can assume that we can use a range of different programming methods, individualised for our own needs in order to achieve different training goals. Perhaps further encouragement to not sweat the small stuff in terms of perfect rep and set ranges, and instead focus on training hard and with intensity, close to failure to see results.
You Might Also Like
