Is Muscular Failure Really Necessary?

One of the bedrock principles of the Total Results exercise philosophy is that, whenever possible, we take each exercise to the point of momentary muscular failure.  I define muscular failure as the point where forward movement of the machine’s movement arm is no longer possible in good form.  To take it a step further, good form means using an appropriate speed of movement (eight to twelve seconds in each direction), while keeping the movement arm under control and avoiding any heaving, jerking, lunging, or off-oning in order to simply continue the exercise.  Once forward movement has ceased, the client will continue to push or pull on the movement arm for an additional five to ten seconds (the thorough inroad portion of the exercise) to ensure that muscular failure has been achieved.  We do this for every exercise of every workout, with few exceptions.  Why do we do this?  Is training to the point of muscular failure really necessary?  Let us take a closer look.

The following points have been discussed to some degree in previous articles, but there are two prevalent viewpoints in weight training:  the inroad theory and the volume training theory.  The disparity between the two philosophies reached its apex in the 1970s and 1980s with the very public back and forth between Joe Weider (volume training), the publisher of Muscle and Fitness and several other bodybuilding magazines, and Arthur Jones (inroad theory), the founder of Nautilus and MedX exercise equipment.  Those who subscribed to the volume training theory (and many still do) performed split routines (different muscle groups on different days), with multiple sets per exercise while training four to six days per week. There was typically plenty of rest between sets.   In contrast, Nautilus workouts were performed no more than three days per week, with a workout consisting of eight to twelve exercises and one set of each exercise taken to muscular failure.  Sometimes, additional high-intensity techniques (since proven to be unnecessary) were utilized.  Very little time was taken between exercises.  Ken Hutchins, a former employee at Nautilus, created the Super Slow Exercise Protocol (the foundation of Total Results exercise) in 1982, where the volume of exercise was further decreased, speed of movement of each exercise was slowed down considerably, and workouts consisted of five to seven exercises (sometimes fewer) performed once or twice per week.  

Now that we know the history and evolution of high-intensity exercise, we can circle back to our original question.  Is training to the point of muscular failure really necessary?  It is important to understand that by nature, the body is very resistant to change; it wants to conserve resources and maintain homeostasis.  Therefore, an intense stimulus is required for positive physical changes to occur.  There are only two true ways to quantify muscular effort: zero percent and 100 percent.  We still don’t know what the exact ideal percentage of effort is necessary for physiological stimulation; for all we know, it could be 85 percent.  What we do know is that zero effort will not accomplish anything; if we push to and beyond muscular failure (with the thorough inroad technique at the end of the exercise), we have ensured that we have given the maximum possible (100 percent) effort toward creating a stimulus.  There is an inverse relationship between intensity of effort and exercise volume and frequency.  The deeper you inroad (fatigue) your muscles, the longer it takes for your body to recover.  As such, we need to make sure that our workouts are brief (no more than seven exercises) and infrequent (no more than twice per week).  This will help us to progress steadily and avoid overtraining.

There are other reasons why training to the point of muscular failure is critically important.  High-intensity exercise (in conjunction with a diet that is low in sugar and refined carbohydrates) plays a large role in helping you to maintain insulin sensitivity.  Glycogen is the stored form of carbohydrate, and it is the preferred fuel for intense exercise.  Pushing to and beyond muscular failure helps to empty out the glycogen from your liver and muscle cells and lowers your risk for developing metabolic syndrome, which is the precursor to type 2 diabetes.  This means that your pancreas will not have to release as much insulin in order for nutrients to make their way into the cells.  There is what is known as the size principle of muscle recruitment.  This means that during exercise, muscle fibers are recruited in sequential order according to size, starting with Type 1 fibers, and then progressing to Type 2A and Type 2B, which have the greatest capacity for growth and strength.  Only if the exercise is of sufficient intensity can these larger fibers be recruited, and when muscular failure approaches all of these fibers are enlisted and fatigued deeply.  Additionally, cardiovascular and metabolic conditioning are significantly enhanced when going to the point of muscular failure and moving quickly between exercises.  This is why we set all of the machines up ahead of your workout and encourage you to go quickly from one exercise to the next.

Total Results exercise is hard - much more challenging than traditional weight training protocols.  This is a good thing, and the opportunity to overcome a mental and physical challenge will make you better in the long run.  Although it is unpleasant and uncomfortable, training to the point of muscular failure is perfectly safe (the repetitions at the beginning of the exercise are actually more dangerous than those last couple of repetitions).  Sure, you could make some progress by performing an arbitrary number of repetitions and stopping there, but you would never know what you are truly capable of achieving.  Muscular failure is a positive event; embrace it and reap the rewards!