MATT ROBERTS | TRAINING ARTICLES

PROGRESSION PRINCIPLES

By David Villalonga

Should you train to failure or is it dependent upon the exercise?

On one side…

The main point is that training to failure puts a tremendous stress on the Central Nervous System (CNS). So, by constantly going to muscle failure, you can overload the CNS so much that it becomes impossible to train with high frequency. It´s possible to drain the CNS so much that it takes so long to recover that the muscle actually start to drain while the CNS is still recovering. So, if you train before your CNS has recovered, you will have a subpar session which won´t lead to much progress and might even cause you to regress over time.

On the other…

To maximally stimulate muscle growth you need to create as much fatigue and damage to a muscle as possible. Vladimir Zatsiorsky “a muscle fiber that isn´t fatigued during a set isn´t being trained and thus won´t be stimulated to grow” To be stimulated a muscle fiber must be recruited and fatigued.

The more demanding an exercise is on the CNS, the farther away from failure you should stop the set. However, in exercises where the CNS in less involved, you should go to failure.

The following shows when you should stop a set of an exercise:

Type of Exercise

Olympic lifts, ballistic exercises, speed lifts with 45-55% of maximum, plyometrics, and jumps and bounds

CNS Involvement

Very high

When to Stop the Set

When the speed of movement decreases.

Type of Exercise

Deadlifts (and variations), squats (and variations), lunges and step-ups, free-weight pressing (overhead, incline, flat, decline, and dips), and free-weight/cable pulling (vertical and horizontal)

CNS Involvement

High

When to Stop the Set

One to two reps short of failure. Accept some speed loss but don't go to failure.

Type of Exercise

Machine pressing and pulling, chest isolation work, quadriceps isolation work, hamstrings isolation work, lower back isolation work, and abdominal work

CNS Involvement

Low

When to Stop the Set

Go to failure on at least one set per exercise; you can go to failure on all sets.

Type of Exercise

Biceps isolation work, triceps isolation work, traps isolation work, calves isolation work, and forearms isolation work

CNS Involvement

Very low

When to Stop the Set

Go to failure on all sets. You can go past the point of failure (drop sets, rest/pause, etc.) on one to two sets per exercise.