Countless studies have demonstrated that progressive overload is the key to muscle and strength gains. The most effective approach to building muscle focuses on becoming progressively more powerful by subjecting our bodies to more mechanical tension over time. Each training cycle should focus on improving performance on the basic exercises that build the most muscle.
Our goal is to lift as much as possible during each workout. And to increase that overload from week to week – month to month. We accomplish this by keeping a couple of repetitions in the tank on each set until the very end of our workout. We want to lift heavy but stay fresh as long as possible during our workouts to generate more mechanical tension in the muscles.
A simple way to maximize your performance during each workout is to avoid training to failure on most sets. Going to failure too soon in your workout will hurt your performance and undercut your total workout volume. For example, if you went to failure on pull-ups using your 10-repetition maximum. You might only get 7 repetitions on your next set and 5 or 6 on your third set. Your total number of repetitions would have been 22 or 23 repetitions. If you had stopped a couple of repetitions short of failure on your first and second sets, you could have performed at least 8 repetitions on all three sets for a total of 24 repetitions.
If this was your last basic compound exercise for your back, and you took the final set to failure, you might have performed a total of 25 or 26 repetitions. Your workout volume in either case would be greater than if you had taken the first set to failure.
My recommendation to avoid failure on most sets is supported by numerous studies. A 2007 study by The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research concluded, “Training to failure should not be performed repeatedly over long periods, due to the high potential for overtraining and overuse injuries.” Another study of lifters using loads 75% of their one rep max concluded, “Fatigue and metabolite accumulation do not appear to be critical stimuli for strength gains.”
Lots of bodybuilding articles advocate short rest intervals and training to failure repeatedly to increase human growth hormone levels, but I haven’t found any studies correlating it with long-term muscle mass increases. I have found studies that have concluded just the opposite. Going to failure too soon in your workout will hurt your performance and undercut your total workout volume/progressive overload.
Training to failure is a method of producing progressive overload, not a trigger in and of itself, as some experts would have you believe. Scientific studies favor the superiority of performing multiple sets of an exercise vs. one set, but the number of sets is just one variable to consider.
The most important is arguably intensity. You can achieve great results performing one set to failure, but it is the minimum effective dose when it comes to volume and doesn’t allow you to practice the movement to develop strength, which is as much a skill as an adaptation. If you don’t want to invest much time in the gym, one set will produce excellent results, but according to the latest research, they will be suboptimal.
Still, I’d argue that as long as you get progressively stronger, you will eventually reach your genetic potential for size and strength, regardless of your training methodology. Building strength depends on multiple variables:
- Volume: the number of sets you perform each week.
- Frequency: how many times you train a muscle each week.
- Intensity of effort: proximity to failure.
People have built incredible physiques using a variety of training volumes, frequencies, and intensities because there are many ways to manipulate them to produce progressive overload. In general, as you dial up one variable, you will need to dial down one or more of the other variables to produce adequate stimulus while avoiding overtraining. For example, one set taken to failure is generally as hard to recover from as three or four submaximal sets, so you would have to account for that by reducing your weekly training volume.
In order to manipulate intensity, you must be able to quantify it. A simple yet effective way to evaluate your rating perceived exertion (RPE) is using this table developed by respected strength coach and competitive powerlifter Mike Tuchscherer.
Training to failure isn’t necessary to maximize growth, but you have to work with heavy loads, perform the lifts with proper form, and work sufficiently hard. Working close enough to failure means you don’t want to leave more than three or four reps in the tank on your working sets. Unfortunately, many people don’t know how close to failure they are during a set. Taking your last set of each exercise to failure is a foolproof way of ensuring you maximized the stimulus and are working hard enough for your muscles to grow and validating your perceived exertion level on your preceding sets.
For example, if you performed two sets of 6 repetitions with 200 and your perceived exertion was 8, meaning you could have performed only two more reps, but you’re able to complete 9 repetitions on your third and final working set, you now need to revise your RPE from an 8 to a 7 for your proceeding sets.
Modern powerlifters and old school/pre-steroid era bodybuilders often advocated avoiding muscle failure. Bodybuilding legend Bill Pearl is a great example. He criticized proponents of going to failure every set by saying that it quickly leads to overtraining, injuries, and mental burnout. He argued who wants to go to the gym with the goal of constantly failing? He advocated stopping one or two repetitions short of failure. His advice follows a bodybuilding axiom, “stimulate, don’t annihilate” your muscles into growth. The key to muscle growth is progressive overload, not training to failure.
If you are an advanced lifter, you could cycle your training, increasing your proximity to failure from week to week as your cycle progresses. For example, you could start your training cycle by stopping most compound exercises four repetitions short of failure, also referred to in the literature as repetitions in reserve (RIR). The following week, you could stop all sets with three RIR and continue the pattern until you attempt to set a new personal record (PR). Then, repeat the cycle using a slightly heavier weight based on your new PR.
Progressive overload is the key to building muscle and strength, and there are many ways to produce it. The three primary modalities are single progression, double progression, and triple progression.
The first type of progression is a single progression. In a single progression, one variable changes from session to session. Since weight training focuses on adding weight to the bar, the variable is typically the load.
It is often called linear progression and is very effective, especially for beginners. Beginning lifters can often add 5 to 10 pounds to the bar weekly. This type of progression is best suited to basic barbell exercises. Below is an example of a beginner’s linear progression on the squat, starting with three sets of 5 repetitions lifting 185 pounds:
Week 1: 185 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 2: 195 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 3: 205 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 4: 215 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 5: 225 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 6: 235 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 7: 240 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 8: 245 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 9: 250 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 10: 255 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 11: 260 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 12: 265 lbs. x 3 x 5
Intermediate and advanced lifters can also use linear progression, but they must do it by cycling their weights over several weeks, beginning with a submaximal load and working up to a new personal record over several weeks. In the example below, the lifter starts with three sets of 5 repetitions with 255 pounds and ends the cycle completing three sets of 5 repetitions with 280 pounds:
Week 1: 255 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 2: 260 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 3: 265 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 4: 270 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 5: 275 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 6: 280 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 7: 285 lbs., 5, 4, 4
In this example, he could only complete 5 reps on his first and four on his remaining sets. His failure to complete all sets as planned would end his cycle. He would typically begin his next cycle with a slightly heavier weight. In this example, he might start with three sets of 5 using 260 pounds.
A double progression is when two variables are manipulated. Typically, these variables are weight and the number of repetitions per set. In this type of progression, we increase the number of repetitions performed before increasing the weight. It works well with barbells and dumbbells, compound, and isolation exercises.
In the example below, we are working in a 6 to 10 repetition range. The lifter starts at the lower end of the rep range and increases the number of repetitions each week until he hits the upper limit. Then, he increases the weight, and the cycle repeats.
Week 1: 115 lbs. x 3 x 6
Week 2: 115 lbs. x 3 x 7
Week 3: 115 lbs. x 3 x 8
Week 4: 115 lbs. x 3 x 9
Week 5: 115 lbs. x 3 x 10
Week 6: 120 lbs. x 3 x 6
This isn’t the only way to perform a double progression. I advocate keeping two reps in the tank until your final set for reasons I have already provided. When you hit the upper rep range on your final set, you will increase the weight during your next workout. Then start over at the lower end of the rep range with the heavier weight, slowly working your way back through the rep range.
A triple progression is when three variables are being manipulated. This type of progression is best used on basic compound barbell exercises, like the bench press, squat, and deadlift. Typically, these variables are weight, repetitions, and the number of sets. In the example below, our rep and set range are both 3 to 5.
Week 1: 315 lbs. x 3 x 3
Week 2: 315 lbs. x 3 x 4
Week 3: 315 lbs. x 3 x 5
Week 4: 315 lbs. x 4 x 3
Week 5: 315 lbs. x 4 x 4
Week 6: 315 lbs. x 4 x 5
Week 7: 315 lbs. x 5 x 3
Week 8: 315 lbs. x 5 x 4
Week 9: 315 lbs. x 5 x 5
Week 10: 320 lbs. x 3 x 3
In this example, the lifter increases the weight when he has reached the upper bounds of the set and repetition range. Once he could complete five sets of 5 repetitions with 315 pounds, he increased the weight and restarted the process at the lower end of the set and repetition range. This is an excellent method for advanced lifters but not for intermediate lifters, and it is certainly not appropriate for beginners.
I hope this article has shown you that training to failure isn’t the panacea to muscle growth that some experts would have you believe. Progressive overload is the king of all strength training principles, not relative effort.
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