If you’ve been to any gym, boot camp class, or trained with a personal trainer before, I’m sure you know what training to failure means! Your muscle are burning and it feels as though they are going to pop out of your skin. You can barely stand on your legs…hell, getting your coat on is a challenge!

There are thought to be many great benefits to training to failure. It increases blood lactate which acts as a signaler to release growth hormone that has been linked to muscle growth.

However, training to failure has also been shown to have an increase in cortisol, which many coin the “stress hormone” and can have a linkage to maintaining or increasing body fat. It also has been shown to increase muscle damage and soreness over a 24-48 hour period. You may think this is good and will increase muscle size, but if you think about it, it actually will limit muscle growth. This is mostly due to inactivity and the fact that you’re not going to exercise when significantly sore. Therefore you get less overall exercise volume in the week.

Some recent studies have shed light on the subject and has shown training to failure doesn’t promote any further muscle growth than not. If you’re more comfortable in your everyday life, not having to brace to get on the toilet, getting the same if not better results, and potentially safer, then please get out of the old school mind set of “more pain, more gain”. There is no need to hobble out of the gym.

To Your Health,

Mark Radio