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Introduction
We’re going to split this article into two parts since the topics within are highly related. The first part
will cover training to failure and if it’s important or not for making gains. The second half will focus
on a direct byproduct of training to failure – delayed onset muscle soreness, or, DOMS. Strap in, this
will be a fun one.
And really,
scientific evidence does show some proof that the muscle is maximally stimulated in the last 3-5 reps
of a set leading towards failure (38) – we call these, “stimulating reps” (3). This evidence more than
likely stems from a physiological occurrence known as the, “Size Principle.” The Size Principle
states that the body will activate smaller motor units first and will call upon larger ones if fatigue
develops or if more force is required to move the weight (3,29). Since training to failure induces
massive amounts of fatigue, larger motor units must be activated to complete the set which stimulates
the entire muscle and, in theory, leads to greater gains.
Several studies have examined the effects of training to failure and many found that failure training is
no more effective at inducing muscle hypertrophy than non-failure training (6,9,19,30). Furthermore,
studies examined failure training in real-world scenarios and found that multiple sets performed to
failure (induced by fatigue from short rest periods) in a workout reduced the total amount of
repetitions per set and therefore reduced the overall volume of the workout (39,40,41). We know that
workout volume is one of the main keys to inducing hypertrophy (33) so lowering volume is more
than likely detrimental to gains. Fewer reps in subsequent sets will also reduce the total amount of
mechanical tension experienced by the muscle fibers which can also negatively impact potential
gains (3,33).
Increasing overall muscle activation is obviously the goal in training to failure, but studies show that
maximal muscle activation also occurs when training with heavy loads in excess of 80%
1RM (14,17,21). If we reference the above chart, the muscle is fully activated throughout the entire
set at higher intensities which constitutes fewer wasted reps. Perform your “maximally stimulating”
5-reps at 80% + (~8RM+) and you’ll get the same level of activation and number of stimulating reps
as you would with training to failure at lighter loads – without having to perform several reps per set.
We’ll sum it up
quickly again: studies have shown that muscle damage is not necessary for growth and does not
increase growth compared to subjects with less muscle damage (5,12,15,32). Furthermore, the
amount of soreness you experience is poorly correlated to how much muscle damage has actually
occurred (23) so the more soreness you experience won’t exactly translate to the degree of muscle
damage. In addition, aerobic exercise like jogging can induce high amounts of muscle damage but
doesn’t result in growth (5).
Now, time for the devil’s advocate again. Muscle damage does promote inflammation which can
promote several different anabolic signals and processes (33,34). Cell inflammation somewhat acts
as another component of tension on the muscle fiber – cell swelling stresses the cell membrane which
forces the cell to increase protein synthesis signaling and increase in size to lessen the
stress (13,18,37). However, muscle damage is not necessary to increase inflammation or cell
swelling (42).
Another potential devil’s advocate is the fact that muscle damage may promote satellite cell activity
which appears to be necessary for long term growth (10,28,35). Unfortunately for the sore muscles
crew, muscle damage is, again, not necessary for increasing satellite cell activation (2,24,34).
Conclusion
Ultimately, muscle soreness is just an aspect of training and should not be the main goal of training.
Individuals will experience soreness differently and many people will have certain muscle groups
that experience soreness more severely than others (36). For me, my adductors get insanely sore from
squats while my quads rarely have any tenderness. Does that mean my quads are not growing? Of
course not. You can have gains without the pain, just don’t take this to the extreme too much. You
still have to push yourself and place the muscle through high amounts of tension and stress to grow;
that will more than likely result in soreness. Extreme muscle damage has actually been shown to be
detrimental to gains and progress (31), so don’t follow the hype that gains stem from insane amounts
of pain.
We’ll sum the entire article up with the best quote when it comes to training to failure and soreness:
“Stimulate; don’t annihilate.” Lee Haney won 8-Mr. Olympia titles with this credo in mind and the
science seems to agree. Destroying yourself day in and day out in the weightroom will not offer extra
gains and may ultimately be detrimental to your goals. Use training to failure as an occasional tool,
and don’t be bummed if you can still walk the day after a leg workout.
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