Q!uestion for Francine, Roe and the rest of the crowd

[punky3333]

Ok, question one. I think I read in one of the other threads both Roe and Francine saying that it's important that you work to failure, whether you are doing lower weight, endurance kind of workouts, or higher weight strength videos.

So if I am working on Power Hour:

1) I find it difficult to judge how heavy I can go and still make it to the end of the long set. Am I better to go a little heavier and then just stop early if I get to failure, or try to pick a weight I know I can make it to the end with?
2) When you say failure, how far do you take that? Like failure where the weight falls out of your hand and your arm collapses, or failure when you know you just can't sustain the next lift? I usually go by whether I am worried I'll hurt myself on the next rep, or whether I am having to lean my body in to assist getting my arm up (eg biceps curls) - if I know I'll have to use the rest of my body to get it up, then I consider that failure. Fair?
3) If you misjudge and go too heavy, do you just go right to failure and skip the rest of the reps, or go almost to failure and then drop the weight and finish the rest of the reps if you can?

How's that for Wednesday night questions!?

You guys are all great!

p.s. Francine, I'd love your email address. I wanted to ask you some ab questions.

Thanks in advance!:7

 

[Francine]

training to failure

Hi Punky!

It's important to train your muscles in a variety of ways. There is no one RIGHT way to train! The most important factor in finding out the right way to train is to first have a specific goal and create a plan of attack to get there!

To answer your questions: "training to failure" describes training where each set is continued to the point where further concentric repetitions "in good form" cannot be completed. It's linked to the magnitude of effort and ability to withstand pain and fatigue. Like all training methods, training to failure is a tool. No tool should be used all the time for all applications. But used wisely, it can be a useful training method. Any training program which plans for progressive resistance, consistency, and variation is likely to produce success.  Going to failure has its place at certain times for certain goals, but doing it all the time (like any other training method,) is generally not very productive, you have to keep your muscles guessing by challenging them in cycles with a variety of techniques, varying your weights, reps, sets, sequences of exercises and also the tempo!

To figure out your sticking point, you need to experiment through trial and error! If you find a certain weight is no longer challenging than indeed you need to raise the bar. To do this I recommend (knowing the other weight just didn't fo it) Going slightly heavier and starting your set, when fatigue sets in or your form is being jeapordized drop down to what you were using to finish out the set, you will eventually build up a tolerance to the higher weight, baby steps will get you there, there are alot of reps in Powerhour, so you definielty don't want to burn out too fast with upping too quickly, it's a gradual increase!

I think I answered all your questions, Try to focus on the burn,the poundage you are using and pay attention to your form at all times(critical)! When any momentum starts to kick in and you are swaying with the body, re-adjust your stance to get back in alignment and if that doesn't take a break of the tension then the weight is too heavy, adjust accordingly!

HTH
you can contact me at [email protected] ;-)

 

[Calico]

RE: training to failure

Francine,

Along the lines of Punky, I did Power Hour on Wednesday and decided to challenge as many muscles as I could by increasing to a weight that was as much as I could handle. What I did was slow the reps down or do every other one. I went from doing 30 pound squats to 40, from doing 35 pounds chest press to 40, from 10 pound chest flys to 15, from 30 pounds back exercises to 40, from 20 pound biceps to 25,went to 8 pounds for side laterals and 25 for overhead press, I kept triceps and lunges the same(I have enough trouble with lunges as it is). Is this a good idea to mix it up and increase your weight every so often with this type of workout? I don't have a slow and heavy series yet so I figured if I challenged and slowed the reps down I wouldn't be doing any harm. I am not really even sore today. The funny thing is once you have 40 pounds on the bar when you drop back to 20 boy does it feel light:7 !! Thanks for any input on this.

 

[Francine]

Annette

Hi Annette,

Thanks for sharing your version of Power hour;-) Well Done!

That is wonderful that you upped your weights , skipped the reps to maintain form and also varied your tempo! Those elements are exactly what you are looking for when you are no longer challenged with your current program! The journey to a better body always takes on several levels & several types of variations in training volume and intensity, as well as differences in speed of movement.

To answer your question "Is this a good idea to mix it up and increase your weight every so often with this type of workout?"

"Absolutely"! Every so often is the key word for challenging the body further, breaking plateus or just simply having an every so often deconditioning phase!(Breaks do a body good too

You sound like you have Great body awareness, use that as your guide when it's time to move on and/or your goal has been met!

Keep up the Great work!

 

[punky3333]

RE: training to failure

Thanks Francine - you definitely answered my questions!

 

[roe]

RE: training to failure

Failure, or momentary muscle fatigue, can be achieved in many ways, as Francine noted. Varying workouts is important to prevent boredom and keep our bodies challenged, but when a person has a very specific goal, us trainers need to develop a program to follow for a period of time to try to reach that goal, and change it up if the goal wasn't met. It really is a work in process.

I train mostly women, and since all of them refuse to use heavier weights despite my convincing that they won't get huge, bulky muscles, I have to increase the volume with either more sets, more reps, or both to fatigue the muscle. Although you don't have to train to complete failure in every workout, it is important to challenge the muscles in whatever approach you are using at the time.

Alternating weeks where doing fewer reps with heavier weight and more reps with lighter weight is my preferred method of training. And many times I alternate days of heavy weight Cathe workouts with ligher weight Firm workouts (4-8 lbs) and have not had any injuries with this type of no rest cycle. I don't even have a goal in mind when doing this other than having fun!

-Roe

 

[punky3333]

RE: training to failure

Thanks Roe! I was thinking about something like that as well. I've been working slow and heavy for a while, but I need some variety again. I still have a lot of room for moving up (my maximum weights are still not that heavy), but I figure I can get there a little at a time right?

Thanks for the ideas!