Going to failure

Hi.

What is your (this forum) opinion on reaching muscular failure during strength exercises e.g ground rows? Should this be avoided? There seems to be several different opinions regarding this. Some say you have to reach failure to drive adaptation and some say it should be avoided, e.g leave a couple of reps in the bank.

Thoughts?

Jan, while I’m new to GB, I’ve been a strength and conditioning coach for about 6 years. The concept of “going to failure” or feeling the workout doesn’t work in the barbell world, and doesn’t translate to GB either. If a muscle has reached the point that it fails, then there is big risk. For a push-up, perhaps not so much, but for movements that require inverted or hanging positions, there could be consequences.

Beyond the safety factor, it just isn’t true that one needs to train to failure to make gains. If you consider that there are variables to a training regimen, such as doing 3 sets of 8 one week, and then 3 sets of 10 another, and then 4 sets of  8, 4 sets of 10, etc., then you will see that total reps has increased at a manageable rate. This is in fact an overload, but the changes are small.

Physiologically, the adaptation of a challenged muscle is a better approach than one run to exhaustion every single time. Using a car engine as an example, it’s the difference between letting it cool down, maybe changing the oil and spark plugs, versus an entire engine rebuild being required after every driving event. Muscular failure = more time to rebuild (as well as damage issues), and more time to rebuild = less training evolutions. That means you’re not hitting a slow, steady and progressive rate of improvement, which is actually training the muscle to work (like a baby learning to crawl, walk run?).

I hope this helps!

Leon

22 hours ago, Jan Doennum said:

Hi.

What is your (this forum) opinion on reaching muscular failure during strength exercises e.g ground rows? Should this be avoided? There seems to be several different opinions regarding this. Some say you have to reach failure to drive adaptation and some say it should be avoided, e.g leave a couple of reps in the bank.

Thoughts?

No matter the sports, the point of Leon is the same of me.

muscles failure means technical failure and motor schema is going to change. Strength is primarily a neural factor about improving a schema. if the schema is going to change then the strength adaptation are going to fail.

Alessandro, that’s correct. It’s like moving in the opposite direction.

Ok. Thanks for the replies. An example, when doing push ups, if one struggles on the last reps, the technique breaks down, wich in turn affects strength adaptation negatively. To master this exerxise one should be able to complete all sets and reps without going to failure (technical breakdown) even on the last rep of the last set. With this exercise done once a week will it be enough  volume to drive adaptation? Seems like i am stuck with struggeling on the last reps of the ladt two sets on  rows and push ups.

17 hours ago, Leon Clough said:

Alessandro, that’s correct. It’s like moving in the opposite direction.

sorry I written jan...instead of Leon...I have the same vision of you.

Jan,

To answer your question about “driving adaptation”, the short answer is “yes”. What you may want to try is adding a set, or add a set of controlled negatives. The research and practice of “negative” training (fighting against gravity for control of the decent in a movement like pushups, squats, overhead press) is well established. See how that does, but also trust the process and be ready to sometimes spend longer in one movement than another.

Recycling a lesser movement as a warmup or recommitting to going back through each exercise from the beginning for one or two Sets over a week period or so may help find some weakness there that could be holding you back from the more “advanced” movement. That was be case for me.

hope this helps,

Leon

Thank you for the reply. I am coming from barbell training and linear progression, adhering to starting strength by Rippetoe, where progression happens from training session to training session. 

Yes Jan, pretty familiar with Coach Rip... he’s awesome! I would also hope that you don’t abandon that, like I did. I’m restarting (ReStarting Strength??) and it sucks. If you can manage to maintain current strength and slowly progress in GB, you’ll be better for it in the log run. It’s a juggling act/teeter totter of sorts.

I’d recommend that get on board with Ashleigh Gass CsCs, who is my mentor of sorts in combining strength movements and GB. She owns and operates GB Florida with her partner in crime, and has an amazing recovery story as well. 

Leon

Yep, awsome program, but i am currently working on mobility, have sacrificed that for strength for too long, have to reset, and the fact that i find it difficult to rest enough to keep the linear progression going.

I am familiar with ms Grass, follow her on instagram and heard a podcast she did with mr. Robb Wolf. Good stuff.