What Muscle Failure ACTUALLY Looks Like

Are you actually training to failure or are you stopping too many reps short and leaving gains on the table? Here is a video demonstration of what it looks like to train to failure. You may have even been told that it isn’t necessary to take your sets to failure and that leaving two to three reps in the tank is just as effective for building muscle as going to failure is. I disagree. Way too often lifters underestimate their true effort and capacity to work. When this happens the entire premise of RIR or reps in reserve is distorted. If you feel that you have worked to your highest level of effort but in reality, you are already 1-2 reps short of your max effort, then you are going to wind up closer to 4-5 reps shy of the type of stimulus that allows you to grow. By training to failure, you are ensuring that you’ve met the threshold for adequate growth stimulus at best and at worst capped yourself at no more than 1-2 reps short of true maximum effort. Either way, you are more likely to ge