Most Trainees Lift Too Far Away From Failure (discussion)

[proverbslady]

@brock Always too much judgement. I think most of us lift because it is more fun than body weight or cardio workouts. Keeps the old ticker running and feels great afterwards. Depending on what happened to me during my workday, sometimes I can push more weight, some days I cannot. So shooting for a rep range for me of 8-12, if it feels easy I up the weight second round. If not, drop sets. This idea that everyone needs progressive overload or they are kidding themselves is just dumb. We do not all aspire to the same goals.

 

[brock]

@proverbslady No one claimed we all aspire to the same goals, but somehow I doubt "most of us lift because it is fun."

 

[john_christian_brother]

@brock My only take is that it makes other studies even more difficult to interpret, like how can you measure the effect of protein on muscle growth if the study participants aren't pushing themselves.

 

[richards33]

@brock I think I'm achieving failure or close to failure consistently with upper body movements and dumbbells, but I'm not as sure about lower body, especially since I'm not using barbells...I wonder if overall fatigue in lower body can get in the way of achieving muscular failure -- I think i'm getting close to failure with bulgarian split squats but I could just be fucking exhausted lol

 

[anewman1993]

@brock It's interesting to see that many lifters are selecting loads that may be too light for their primary goal, especially considering that most reported their primary goal was hypertrophy. This reinforces the idea that constantly pushing for progressive overload is crucial for muscle growth. It's not enough to just go through the motions and lift the same weight every week. It's important to challenge yourself and strive for improvement in order to see real progress. The meta-analysis mentioned in the article only further supports this idea.

 

[satinjackson]

@brock i go to failure as much as i can but sometimes it does get scary especially on compound lifts

Also i tend to clench my face/jaw really hard and it ends up hurting like a bitch the rest of the day. Idc about the pain , i just have screws in my jaw from surgery and feel like i’m about to break something lol

 

[slingmama]

@brock Generally I've always lifted heavy enough to be struggling during every set. It's just how I've always preferred to lift. Where I slack off and try to convince myself that I'm working hard is pulling movements. Any pulls, especially bent over or from the floor, really tire me out, and I too easily fall into the habit of putting lighter weight on the bar and just telling myself I had a good set. Gotta get over that and put in as much effort to every movement, especially the movements I don't enjoy, as to the ones I do enjoy.

 

[striveforclarity]

@brock I’ve heard this too. But if I can’t perform another rep, then I bang out some rest pause sets and partials, I’m pretty sure that must be failure ?

 

[dawn16]

@brock I dont like training legs to failure. My legs shake right after uncontrollably. It can be difficult to drive and could get dangerous because of the doms. I also get doms that i cant even get out bed or sit on the toilet or get changed. The doms can last for days aswell and i do dread getting them again

 

[rschlaegel1]

@brock If I train to failure, I get weaker and weaker over weeks and a few months and then I have to stop training all together. Diet, sleep, and bloodwork are good. I think I have a chronic Illness.

 

[rschlaegel1]

Between 2 to 5 depending on the week. I was doing a periodization program.

 

[kingse]

@brock Most of the time I have to settle for bench pressing without a spotter or a set of safety bars. Going to failure means a bar crushing my chest and hips. Even going to 1RIR is risky.

I would want to see what the behavior is like on a machine press instead.

 

[dj_mcdaniel67]

@brock What can I do if my tendons are getting upset before my muscles reach failure? This always happens for me when returning to the gym after a long time off, which is the state I'm usually in when I'm at the gym. Forcing it seems to create problems that are slower to recover from than DOMS.