How hard should your workout feel for it to be effective? This is a question we hear from our in-home and virtual personal training clients all the time. Are you pushing hard enough, or is it maybe too hard? When it comes down to it, this is a question you must answer yourself, but our team is here to provide you with the tools and information to do so.

One popular fitness approach encourages what is known as “training to failure.” This means that every set of an exercise requires maximum output. For example: performing a set of push-ups until your arms collapse, or a set of deadlifts until it’s impossible to pick up the bar again. 

While this technique can lead to strength gains, it also comes with risk. So what are your other options, and can they still create progress? Read on to learn what the latest exercise science has to say, along with some practical tips from our team of fitness pros. 

THE THEORY

Your muscles change and grow when you push them to adapt to stress. So, the belief behind training to failure is that maximum stress creates maximum muscle recruitment and change: you perform the hardest set you can muster, rest until you’re completely recovered (for heavy lifters, this can be up to 5 minutes), and do it all again. If you’re aiming to improve your 1RM (1 rep max, AKA the heaviest amount you can lift for 1 rep), this could also be a few warm-up sets followed by one extremely challenging working set.

This can also be applied to power-training without weights: think sets of maximum effort sprints or explosive plyometrics.

Keep in mind that “the number of repetitions that individuals can be expected to perform to volitional failure at various percentages of the one repetition maximum (1RM) [i.e., the REPS ~ %1RM relationship] is foundational knowledge in resistance exercise programming” (National Library of Medicine, 2023). 

If your goal is to improve your absolute strength, knowledge of your 1RM will help your trainer adjust weights, reps, and sets accordingly. However, it is not necessary to improve your 1RM to see physical progress. As always, everything is relative to your personal fitness goals.

THE SCIENCE

Many studies have proven that training to failure can work. “However, detailed scrutiny of these studies highlights inconsistent findings. For example, some report that training to muscle failure results in greater increases in muscular strength and/or hypertrophy. However, others suggest that both training options (i.e., training either to or not to muscle failure) can produce similar improvements with respect to these outcomes. Some studies even indicate that training to failure has a detrimental effect. 

The inconsistent evidence on this topic currently hinders the ability to draw practical recommendations for training program design” (Journal of Sport and Health Science, 2022). Furthermore, training to failure creates more inherent risk: pushing to the end of your threshold often means form is beginning to collapse, which increases risk of injury.

OUR TIPS

In the end, you have to do what feels right for you. If you enjoy the feeling of pushing yourself to failure and it’s not hindering your progress, then there’s nothing wrong with continuing to train that way. On the other hand, many of our in-home personal training clients in Toronto, Collingwood, London, Hamilton, and Ottawa (and virtual personal training clients everywhere) find this style of exercise mentally draining. It takes a whole lot of psychological endurance and motivation to hit your maximum output, and asking yourself to do that multiple times a week can be exhausting. 

The most important thing is consistency. Nielsen Fitness trainers will always encourage anyone to choose a style of training that they enjoy and are most likely to stick with. Maintaining a moderate, regular exercise routine throughout your entire life is much more effective than a strict and intense training block that only lasts weeks or months.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Like most questions of science, the answer isn’t as satisfying as we’d like it to be. There is always an exception or contrasting evidence that prevents an answer from being definitive. The best we can do is provide you with tools developed from the most current information we have and support your goals from there. As in-home and virtual personal training professionals, this is an essential part of our role. If you need assistance with building a training program that suits your needs and goals, we’re your team. Book now and get your first workout on us!