Why You Should Train To Muscle Failure
We’ve all heard the yells and grunts of guys in the gym. Making faces and frowning as their muscles cry out in failure.
In this article today, I’m going to be explaining the importance of muscle failure and how to achieve it.
We’ve all been there. That point of complete exhaustion when your muscles cry Uncle and you can’t lift a single thing.
I reached failure yesterday on the incline bench with 85 lbs dumb bells. If I didn’t have a spotter, I would’ve been in serious trouble.
I knew I’d reached my limit on my chest so I moved on the next muscle, unlike most, that continue to pound away.
Training to muscle failure means you’ve recruited just about all of your muscle fibers and they’ve all failed. Muscles produce lactic acid when they oxidize (move). Eventually they reach a limit of saturation and can’t move anymore.
Micro-tears to most of your muscle allows for maximum growth.
By damaging 60% of the muscle, only 60% will repair itself. But damaging 97% of the muscle will cause 97% to repair itself. The more muscle that repairs itself, the faster you’ll see significant growth. Greater repair means greater growth. The repair may take a little longer, but not significantly longer and you’ll see more muscle.
Make sure your tempo and technique remain constant. Be sure the failure is from your muscles and not your joints. Have a mind-over-matter attitude and push through the pain until you can’t perform the exercise any longer.
Beware when using this strategy as you will need a spotter. This is a great technique for maximum muscle growth though.
Of course, you need to know when you’re close to failing and communicate that, and your spotter needs to be vigilant.
I would end with the cliche, No Pain, No Gain, but that’s not exactly true, lol. So I’ll just say, Train Hard and Train Smart.
Looking to find the best advice on how to build muscle, then visit www.fitwithmitch.com to find the best advice on muscle building for you.