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Do you need to lift to failure to build muscle mass? 🧐 💪
Justas Muzikevicius
November 19, 2023
Sports Med U | Educating Minds, Elevating Potential
Influence of Resistance Training Proximity‐to‐Failure on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review with Meta‐analysis
Refalo, M.C., Helms, E.R., Trexler, E.T., Hamilton, D.L. and Fyfe, J.J., 2023. Influence of resistance training proximity-to-failure on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 53(3), pp.649-665
In today’s letter
Overview of how proximity to failure affects muscle size
Analogy for muscle hypertrophy
Rapid Results =
No proof that exercising until muscle failure is better than stopping short for muscle growth
Theoretically, closer proximity to muscle failure, as indicated by higher velocity loss thresholds, leads to non-linear increases in muscle hypertrophy.
Whether you push to muscle failure or not, the amount of weight lifted or relative load doesn't significantly affect muscle growth during resistance training
Professional take away = It would be suggested to have reps in reserve for the first sets & go to failure on the last one.
Bite-size study - Infographic style!
Definitions:
Sub-group analysis = A statistical method used in research to examine and compare specific sub-groups within a larger population or dataset. It helps researchers understand how different segments of the population may respond differently to a particular variable or intervention.
Velocity loss = In the context of sports or fitness training, velocity loss refers to the reduction in the speed at which a movement is performed during a set of exercises. It is often used to gauge fatigue and training intensity, with a higher velocity loss indicating greater fatigue
Deeper look
Aim of study
“To review the literature and determine how training to failure affects muscle growth. This Systematic Review & meta-analysis grouped studies into 3 themes”
Theme 1: Research comparing groups doing resistance training until they can't continue with the repetitions (reps to failure) with groups that stop short of this point.
Theme 2: Studies comparing groups performing resistance training to set failure (defined as anything other than the definition of momentary muscular failure) to non-failure groups
Theme 3: Studies exploring the idea of different levels of nearing failure during resistance training by applying various thresholds for how much they can slow down or terminate their sets. (velocity loss)
Click here for a video explaining velocity loss is more detail (6min):
Click here for video demonstrating velocity loss training(20sec):
Background info
Resistance training promotes muscle growth (muscle hypertrophy) by changing muscle structure. Factors like exercise volume, weight lifted, training frequency, and lifting speed affect muscle growth. "Proximity-to-failure" (how close you are to muscle fatigue during reps) is crucial.
In the scientific literature, there's inconsistency in defining and measuring proximity-to-failure, making it hard to understand its impact on muscle growth and provide practical advice for adjusting it in training.
Studies suggest that higher velocity loss (>25%) during resistance training is more effective for muscle growth than lower loss (≤25%), but differences between 20-25% and >25% velocity loss are minor, implying a non-linear relationship.
The lack of a universally agreed definition for "failure" in scientific literature further complicates the study of proximity-to-failure in resistance training.
Methods
Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis | 15 eligible studies analysed
Research Questions:
Effect of Resistance Training to Failure vs. Non-failure on Muscle Hypertrophy (5 studies included)
Influence of Velocity Loss on Muscle Hypertrophy (4 studies included)
Muscle Hypertrophy with resistance training to Momentary Muscular Failure (6 studies included)
Results
9 studies looked at two ways of doing resistance training: going until people can't do more reps (set failure) and stopping before that point. They measured muscle growth in different muscle groups.
5 of these studies used the "momentary muscular failure" definition and were grouped as Theme A. The other four studies used different definitions for set failure and were grouped as Theme B.
Among these 9 studies, five made sure the total work done was the same in both methods, while three did not.
In these studies, 5 used heavy weights (more than 50% of their max), and 2 used lighter weights (50% or less of their max).
In Theme A (momentary muscular failure), 4 out of five studies didn't find any big differences in muscle growth between the two methods.
In Theme B (other set failure definitions), there were also no significant differences in muscle growth between the 2 methods.
Another 6 studies looked at resistance training in people who were already fit. They compared doing reps quickly until you had a big loss in speed (>25%) and doing them at a moderate speed (20-25%) and measuring muscle growth (Theme C).
Out of these 6 studies, five saw muscle growth in both fast and moderate rep speeds. However, they didn't find significant differences between the two methods in each study.
Discussion key points
Influence of Volume Load, Relative Load and the Definition of Set Failure on Muscle Hypertrophy Following Resistance Training Performed to Set Failure Versus Non‐Failure
Theme A, they didn't find any significant difference in muscle growth between resistance training done until you couldn't do more reps (momentary muscular failure) and stopping before that point (non-failure). The difference they observed was so small that it didn't really matter in practical terms.
Does the Magnitude of Velocity Loss Achieved (and Theoretically, the Proximity‐to‐Failure Reached) During Resistance Training Influence Muscle Hypertrophy?
YES, there statistically significant difference between high velocity loss and moderate velocity loss conditions on muscle hypertrophy
Higher velocity drop (higher fatigue) showed a higher increase in muscle size
Influence of Resistance Training Performed to Set Failure (Including Momentary Muscular Failure and Other Definitions) Versus Non‐Failure on Muscle Hypertrophy
One big challenge in understanding how a stopping point (proximity-to-failure) affects muscle growth is that there's no agreed-upon definition for "set failure" in the research. Previous analyses compared studies with different failure definitions, and they didn't find any significant muscle growth differences between training until failure and not training to failure.
However, looking at all the studies regardless of the failure definition, the authors did find a small advantage for training until failure when it came to muscle growth. This was different from what previous analyses had found.
But here's the twist: when the authors dug deeper and looked at studies based on their specific definitions of failure, they found two things:
(i) Training until momentary muscular failure didn't seem to have an advantage over stopping before that point for muscle growth
(ii) Getting closer to that point of failure didn't always result in more muscle growth.
Effect of Volume Load on the Influence of Proximity‐to‐Failure on Muscle Hypertrophy
The authors suggest that It's possible that the total number of sets you do per muscle group per week (which was the same in 7 out of the 9 studies) has a bigger impact on muscle growth than the total amount of weight lifted (volume load).
Effect of Relative Load on the Influence of Proximity‐to‐Failure on Muscle Hypertrophy
The differences in the width of the confidence intervals between the two methods were likely because people had a harder time accurately estimating how close they were to muscle failure when lifting lighter weights compared to heavier weights. This is probably because lifting lighter weights can be uncomfortable, and it's challenging to tell when you're really close to muscle failure.
So, the idea is that when lifting lighter weights, individuals should aim to get closer to muscle failure to make sure the muscle fibers are working at their max. This could help grow muscle mass more.
Influence of Different Velocity Loss Thresholds on Muscle Hypertrophy
A recent meta-analysis looked at how different levels of velocity loss affect muscle growth. They found that losing more speed (> 25%) during reps (which happened in most studies) was better for muscle growth than losing less (≤ 25%).
The study also discovered that when athletes have higher velocity losses (20-50%), which means they're getting closer to muscle failure, their muscles tend to grow more. This relationship isn't a straightforward, linear one.
However, it's important to be cautious when interpreting these findings because people have different levels of proximity to failure even when they're losing the same amount of speed during their exercises. So, getting closer to failure doesn't always guarantee more muscle growth.
Clinical use
To promote muscle growth in resistance training, it's important to get close to muscle failure during each set and do about 12-20 sets per week for a muscle group. Achieving momentary muscular failure isn't necessarily better.
When people get close to muscle failure in a set, it likely puts more tension on type II muscle fibers. However, too much fatigue can hinder the neural drive and force production of these fibers over multiple sets, and thus it’s not optimal for speed and power production.
In resistance training, it's not a strict choice between going to failure or stopping short. Athletes can mix both in a single session. It would be suggested to have reps in reserve for the first sets & go to failure on the last one.
For safety and effectiveness, it's recommended to approach failure cautiously. Choose it for exercises that are less complex, have lower fatigue risk, or when doing the last set. Also, consider factors like training experience, muscle group volume, and load.
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