Can you achieve muscle without the misery? Do you really need to crush yourself to grow? Interesting new research reveals you don’t have to push yourself to the brink of failure with every set to see results and bulk up those muscles. You don’t always have to go hard or go home to make progress toward your fitness goals. Let’s delve into the research.
The study
In a study published in the Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise, the researchers wanted to compare training close to failure (with only one rep left in reserve) with gradually working closer to failure over time.
The study methods
In other words, 31 experienced weightlifters participated in a 10-week upper and lower body split workout program. The lifters were divided into two groups:
- Group one completed every set close to failure, training until they had only one rep left in the tank.
- Group two started the program, completing every set 4 reps short of failure (4 reps left in the tank), and worked their way up every week until they were also training close to failure with only one rep left in reserve.
The lifters also reported the difficulty of each workout. The researchers measured muscle size and power using ultrasound scans and 1-repetition maximum (1RM) tests. They also wanted to explore if the lifters could get better at determining how many reps they had left in the tank.
The researchers measured the back squat and bench press one-rep max, and the muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) of the vastus lateralis, which is the largest muscle of the quadriceps located on your thighs. They also measured the muscle thickness of the triceps brachii.
The results
The results revealed the following:
- Both groups showed similar improvements in strength and muscle, making notable headway, with bench press and squat maxes rising by 7-10%.
- The muscle size of the thighs grew by around 6% for both groups.
- The triceps brachii thickness statistically increased only in Group two, showing a slight advantage triceps-wise for the progressive group.
- Group two, which worked their way up to training closer to failure, reported lower effort at the start of their training program, but they still ended up with similar gains as group one.
- Group two, which worked their way up to training closer to failure, had slight improvements in their ability to determine their reps in reserve or how much they had left in the tank.
The takeaway
Both groups built muscle size and power over those 10 weeks of training, showing that you don’t have to push yourself to the brink of failure to see results. In this study, the group that completed every set four reps short of failure in the earlier stages of the study reported lower perceived effort and showed slight improvement in predicting how much they had left in the tank.
Completing your sets one to four reps short of failure should generate results. Some researchers have even shared that working every set to failure could be counterproductive when it comes to boosting strength. Gradually working your way closer to failure over time is a good way of incorporating progressive overload into your training.
