Training to Failure and Pyramid Setting
Bodybuilders differ greatly from that of the traditional athlete. Some strength and conditioning coaches actually don’t considered bodybuilders actual athletes. What? That’s nonsense, right? The reasoning is such because traditional athletes’ and bodybuilders’ training programs are very different. Bodybuilders utilize many, many different practices from the world of strength and conditioning, but the actual competition is different than that of a traditional athlete. Most practices that are utilized by bodybuilders are discarded or rarely use by athletes because they actually cause painful delayed onset muscle soreness or simply the development of too much muscular mass for the sport in question.
Three training methods that are beneficial for hypertrophic goals and bodybuilders especially are that of the Repeated Effort Method (Training to Failure), Pyramid Setting and yielding exercises. First, let’s discuss the ever so popular training to failure. The Repeated Effort Method (training to failure) implies that the person completes a set with the set amount of weight until he/she can no longer lift the weight for another complete repetition. This is called volitional failure. Despite popular belief, most average lifters who think that they are performing a set to failure are actually not doing so. They often stop at discomfort. The main problem with this effort is that it can not be completed in its entirety by oneself. It usually requires the aid of an additional person to spot the lifter in order to complete the set until complete volitional failure. However, when executed with perfection this method is great for producing hypertrophic results. Some bodybuilder, however, use loads that are actually causing the lifter himself/herself to lift to failure and not even realize it. If he/she is lifting a load and on the 10th rep that is the last possible rep (as the load should do) then this is training to failure. Pyramid training is often confused or mistaken with training to failure. Pyramid training can be used in the fashion of increasing or decreasing (reverse pyramid) setting. A more common term for a reverse pyramid is a drop set. Pyramid training works in a similar way to muscular failure training in that it is designed to fatigue all motor units. Pyramid setting can be used in conjunction with training to failure and may, however, result in more total repetitions performed because each time the lift is completed to failure the weight is reduced and the lifter continues. Pyramid setting is not a widely research topic as is muscular failure, therefore, the results in terms of research are minimal.
Research on training to failure is a little less conclusive than research on other factors of training that can be altered to produce hypertrophy but some conclusions can still be made. There are many physiological reasons for the reasons as to why training to failure may help to induce muscular hypertrophy. By performing the set until volitional failure, the body is going thru all the motor units within the muscles being used until they are all exhausted entirely, thus resulting in the inability to lift the weight any more. That is, when a motor unit is fatigued, the body must ta
p into additional motor units to continue to perform the task. This allows for the lifter to stimulate motor units in the higher threshold without actually lifting a lot heavier. Training to failure is also effective in increasing GH levels post-exercise. Because hypertrophy is hormone dependent this is a very important response for muscle gain.
Yielding exercises, or eccentric exercises are those that concentrate on the eccentric portion of the movement opposed to concentric portion of the movement. It is important to consider these exercises when understanding the training to failure concept. Research is not specific on the extent to which the lifter reaches failure. It does say that one must reach volitional failure or cannot perform the set any further for any more repetitions. However, physiology tells us that when a concentric contraction can no longer be performed, the muscles are actually not completely fatigued. That is because eccentrically your body can produce more force than concentrically. That being said, even though you cannot concentrically move the weight for any further repetitions you can actually eccentrically move the weight for more repetitions. More research should be conducted on performing sets to failure concentrically AND eccentrically. By performing a set to volitional failure concentrically and then finishing by performing the set to eccentric failure, this could possibly result in greater muscle damage and therefore possibly greater muscular hypertrophy.
Training to failure, like we said, is a very beneficial addition to a training program. However, it should be used sparingly and intermittently due to its tendency to increase overtraining if used consecutively for long periods of time. The largest concern with training to failure is the susceptibility to injury. Injury is a risk not so much due to the actually the physiological responses of volitional failure but more so do to the fact that when performing the set to volitional failure it is difficult to do alone without a spotter when using free weights. Unless one is properly training in how to lift in this style without a spotter, a spotter is usually needed to perform the volitional failure set in its entirety. So, if you chose to include training to failure in your training program it will be beneficial for you to do so with the aid of a spotter or lifting partner. Overall training to failure seems to offer some benefit when used periodically as opposed to all the time, but more longitudinal studies should be used to make a concise decision on recommendation guidelines for muscular failure training. It seems that muscular failure training is more beneficial for athletes struggling with a plateau than athletes who are utilizing the regular resistance training guidelines and still making gains. Consider implementing training to failure in your training program when designing a resistance training program for hypertrophic results!
Sources and Photo Credits:
Zatsiorsky, V. M., & Kraemer, W. J. (2006). Science and practice of strength and
conditioning. (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Willardson, J. M., Norton, L., & Wilson, G. W. (2010). Training to
failure and beyond in mainstream resistance exercise programs. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 32(3), 21-29.
Willardson, J. M. (2007). The application of training to failure in periodized multiple-
set resistance exercise programs. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(2), 628-631.
http://www.fitnessandpower.com/training/bodybuilding-misc/133-training-to
failure
http://bodychronicle.com/2011/five-reasons-why-training-to-failure-sets-you-up
for-muscle-building-success/
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