GO HARD OR go home is gym-floor lore but it looks like the maxim has solid scientific backing if you’re looking to increase muscle size – and who isn’t. But if you’re looking to increase strength, failure is not an option, or at least, not an overly effective one.
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University analysed how training close to failure or not impacts muscle growth and strength in the main muscles used in an exercise. The good news for those pursuing beach muscle is that muscle size – or hypertrophy – does seem to benefit from training closer to failure.
“If you’re aiming for muscle growth, training closer to failure might be more effective. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you adjust training volume by changing sets or reps; the relationship between how close you train to failure and muscle growth remains the same,” said Michael C. Zourdos, Ph.D., senior author and professor and chair of the Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion .
In the study, researchers estimated the number of repetitions in reserve, which means how many more reps you could have done before reaching failure. They collected data from 55 various studies and ran detailed statistical analyses to see how different reps in reserve levels affected strength and muscle growth.
While aiming for failure builds muscle growth, results of the study, published in the journal Sports Medicine, found that how close you train to failure doesn’t have a clear impact on strength gains. Whether you stop far from failure or very close to it, your strength improvement appears to be similar.
The researchers suggest that individuals who aim to build muscle should work within a desired range of 0-5 reps short of failure for optimised muscle growth while minimising injury risk. For strength training, they advise you work toward heavier loads instead of pushing muscles to failure and stop about 3-5 reps short of failure.
“Training closer to failure enhances the accuracy of self-reported repetitions in reserve,” said Zac P. Robinson, Ph.D., first author and a Ph.D. graduate of FAU’s Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion. “When people estimate how many reps they have left, this perception influences the weights they choose. If the estimation is off, they might use lighter weights than needed, which could limit strength gains. On the flip side, our meta-analysis shows that training closer to failure also leads to greater muscle growth. So, for the average individual, training close to failure may be the best option – as it seems to improve the accuracy of our perception of effort as well as gains in muscle size. Moreover, training near failure may also improve psychological factors like visualisation, which are important for achieving maximal strength.”
The bottom line: if your mission is adding size, failure is an option.
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