Skip to main content

Does Lifting Weights 'Close to Failure' Really Build Muscle?

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Aug 2, 2024.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Aug. 2, 2024 -- A popular tactic among weight lifters is “training to failure” -- pushing yourself to the point where you can’t do a single more rep.

That might help a person grow bigger muscles, but won’t necessarily increase their overall strength, a new review published recently in the journal Sports Medicine finds.

People who stop their sets before their muscles completely give out will experience an improvement in strength similar to that of folks who train to failure, researchers found.

However, muscle size does benefit from training to failure, results showed. The closer a person is to failure when they stop their reps, the more muscle growth they tend to see.

“If you’re aiming for muscle growth, training closer to failure might be more effective,” said senior researcher Michael Zourdos, chair of the Florida Atlantic University Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion. “For strength, how close you push to failure doesn’t seem to matter as much.”

For the review, researchers analyzed data from 55 prior studies that examined people’s repetitions in reserve, which means the number of additional reps a person could have performed before reaching muscle failure.

Results show that people who want to build muscle should train close to failure, which will optimize muscle growth while minimizing the risk of injury, researchers said.

For strength training, people should focus on lifting increasingly heavier loads, instead of pushing their muscles to failure, researchers said. They should stop about three to five reps short of failure.

The difference might come down to people’s perception of how much they can take, said lead researcher Zac Robinson, a doctoral graduate of Florida Atlantic University.

“When people estimate how many reps they have left, this perception influences the weights they choose. If the estimation is off, they might use lighter weights than needed, which could limit strength gains,” Robinson said in a university news release.

“On the flip side, our meta-analysis shows that training closer to failure also leads to greater muscle growth,” Robinson said. “So, for the average individual, training close to failure may be the best option -- as it seems to improve the accuracy of our perception of effort as well as gains in muscle size.”

Sources

  • Florida Atlantic University, news release, July 31, 2024

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted August 2024

Read this next

U.S. Restarts Free COVID Test Program

THURSDAY, Sept. 26, 2024 -- Starting today, the U.S. government is offering another round of free COVID tests. "U.S. households will be eligible to order 4 free COVID-19 tests...

Brain Injury & PTSD: Veterans' Study Suggests Area of Damage Is Key

THURSDAY, Sept. 26, 2024 -- Brain damage that veterans suffered from flying shrapnel has provided a major clue that could lead to better treatment for post-traumatic stress...

Trial Confirms 'Life-Changing' Impact of Gene Therapy, Beqvez, for Hemophilia B

THURSDAY, Sept. 25, 2024 -- A new gene therapy approved earlier this year can serve as a sustainable single-dose treatment for people with hemophilia B, newly published clinical...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.