[fast-twitch]

would it be wise for a natural bodybuilder to train to failure everyset , if not why?

[cmart315]

I would definitely have to say it would not be very wise to go to failure every set, unless possibly for power lifting. I will say out of the 4-5 sets I usually do, my last 2 are usually to failure depending on what exercise I am performing. And I am not a power lifter.

[fast-twitch]

Originally Posted by cmart315

I would definitely have to say it would not be very wise to go to failure every set, unless possibly for power lifting. I will say out of the 4-5 sets I usually do, my last 2 are usually to failure depending on what exercise I am performing. And I am not a power lifter.

say i do 12 sets for chest about only 5 should be to failure

[Ryu]

I would say to switch of as much as possible. I believe that failure training does not aply in a high volume training. It is a failure training or a high volume.

It worked ok for me for a period of time. So try to switch between both methods.

[Dylan5000]

Originally Posted by cmart315

I would definitely have to say it would not be very wise to go to failure every set, unless possibly for power lifting. .

As a side note to the other replies in this thread, many powerlifters never train to failure at all. The Westside lifters rarely do, and Ed Coan has said that he never deliberately takes any of his sets to failure.

[str8flexed]

not every set, but i certainly think you can do quite a few

[Casey Butt]

The problem with training to failure is that it can impose too great of a recovery period on the CNS. During that extended recovery period increased muscle protein synthesis returns to baseline and, from a muscular perspective, the extra time is wasted - you could have trained the muscle productively again if you had not trained so hard in the first place.

In addition, other factors affect the "impact" of training to failure. Training to failure with low-reps and compound exercises that recruit large muscle masses is always most stressful. Training to failure at higher reps with isolation exercises is least stressful.

The WeighTrainer - Training To Failure: A Look Inside

[fast-twitch]

thank you for the imput everyone , helped cleared that up

[Mygeeto]

Originally Posted by str8flexed

not every set, but i certainly think you can do quite a few

yer..imagine going to failure on ALL the sets of incline presses, incline flyes, flat presses, flat flyes, pullovers, cross overs, ect. lol go to failure on the warm ups too

[BigSexy]

fail on the first first set, fail on the last set, adjust volume/intensity. volume--increase/decrease number of sets, and intensity increase/decrease reps.

[zod]

if you go failure on every set, it would be overtraining.
imho, you should go failure only on the last set if you are working out alone.

but if you have a spotter with you, (ie bench presses) than you could do last 2 sets. you could do the set before last to failure by yourself. and the other one by the help of your partner.

that would be wiser.

[PRO41]

Always going to failure means you are putting the muscle chemistry in the same place every time. Even if that starts out being optimal, the risk is that the body can figure out a way to get to failure with the least possible adaptation - even if you can't figure out what corner it's cutting, it will figure it out.

So when you look at training to failure as a stimulus, it's clear that you should vary that.

The other point of view to consider is whether failure is not so much a training stimulus as it is a marker for the boundary of where training is effective and where it is counterproductive. A milestone more than an activity. Even then I think the risk is that the body can end up adapting to "move the goalposts" - for example if you get overtrained then the failure comes earlier than it used to, and the exercise dose goes down, and you end up getting to a steady state of failure which isn't as big a workout as before.

[monkeybiker]

I think it is different for different people. I nearly always train to failure but don't perform many sets. I make very little progress otherwise.