Here’s how to find the right effort level for a strength workout.
You’re sweaty and sore, and just hoisting your gym bag onto your shoulder makes you groan. The workout was exhausting, but was it effective?
Many trainers and athletes have long believed that lifting to failure — the moment when you can’t complete another repetition of an exercise — is the best way to build muscle. But recent research has challenged that idea, suggesting that training at a slightly lower intensity can produce similar results.
“The question I ask people is: ‘Are we getting better or are we getting tired?’” said David Frost, an associate professor in the kinesiology department at the University of Toronto.
If you’re new to lifting, it can be tough to know how hard your workout should feel. Learning what failure feels like — and understanding when you should push that far — can help you build a sustainable strength training routine and allow you to safely progress as you get stronger.
What is training to failure?
There are two types of failure in strength training. “Technical failure” is when you can’t do another repetition with proper form and control, so you may have to rely on other muscles and joints to lift the weight. “Muscular failure” happens when your muscles are so fatigued that you can’t lift the weight at all.
While you can build muscle mass by training to failure, some experts say the risks may outweigh the benefits. “If you push yourself to failure and damage your muscles to a very extreme degree in a single workout, that’s going to impair what you can do the next day and the next day,” Mr. Frost said. Pushing yourself to lift with poor form can also increase your risk of injury.