As the old exercise adage goes, no pain, no gain. But how much pain do you have to endure to reap the benefits of weight training? It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish, fitness experts say. For years, some trainers have told gym goers that to get the best results, they need to train “to failure,” or until they are physically unable to do one more repetition or exercise. I’ve been teaching.
However, some recent research suggests that applying this extreme method to weight training may only benefit certain people. “People who want to gain as much muscle mass as possible should consider training to failure,” Michael said. Zoldos, director of exercise science and health promotion at Florida Atlantic University, co-authored a review of 55 research papers on the topic in the journal Sports Medicine. Zourdos et al. found that lifting weights “to failure” can make your muscles bigger, but is not necessary for increasing strength.
He said people who work hard but don’t push themselves to the point of exhaustion are still likely to improve their health and fitness. “There’s a difference between training for health and training for elite performance,” he says. For the average person simply looking to improve their fitness level, Zurdos says it’s much easier to get results. He said people who work out regularly will benefit from intensive sessions with five to 10 failures, rather than training to complete exhaustion.
He also notes that “training failures” often come with a price, and those who train to that standard may end up missing the next gym session or two because they’re tired or sore. He also said it was for a reason. In very rare cases, overdoing it can be harmful and lead to a fatal condition called rhabdomyolysis, where the damaged muscles begin to break down and can cause kidney damage. James Fisher, a sports science expert and consultant from Southampton, UK, said the idea of working to complete exhaustion could be repulsive to many people.
“What we’re really talking about is how hard you should work when you go to the gym,” he says, adding that this concept means you can spend less time in the gym if you work harder. It added that it should be interpreted as follows. “If you don’t have time, you can push yourself harder so you don’t have to work out as long,” he said. Fischer explained that to increase strength, it’s important to build your muscles up to a certain threshold.
In very rare cases, overdoing it can be harmful and lead to a potentially fatal condition called rhabdomyolysis (Source: Freepik)
“Lifting a weight that you could easily lift 10 times or more is not putting enough effort into it,” he said. “Increasing the weight to feel the right stiffness in the ninth and 10th reps will benefit the muscle fibers.” Still, Fisher says the best workouts ultimately come down to “what people actually do. ”. About how far they push themselves.
He said that to improve overall health, strength training is probably the best thing people can do for health, quality of life and longevity. Whatever your fitness goals, Fisher said you can incorporate the concept of failure training into your workouts.
Afterwards, you should rest the muscle groups you trained for about two days, he said. For those with more experience, experts recommend saving failure training for occasional workouts or the last set of exercises in a session. “It’s not meant to be done by everyone or every workout,” Fisher says. “This is a difficult exercise method.”
