Training to failure!!!!!
 

Hi guys
Just a quick question......is it right to train to failure on every excersise of every set every workout for optimal gains??

As I couldnt progress past 11-12 reps on near enough all my lifts without failing I thought I'd increase the weight and lower my reps so I was failing in the 8 -10 rep range to see if that could kick start my progress again.

Well,I've pulled my back and my chest.....great eh!!!!nothing serious but enough for abit of uncomfortable pain and to halt my training for a couple of days.

How can I avoid doing this again,as obviously I want to add weight to see some progress,but I don't wanna take the chance of injury again.

And I think I've maxed out in the 11-12 rep range.....any help is much appreciated guys
Thanks,
Mark

if you are healthy and it's not your first month in gym... training to failure on every set of every exercise of every workout is OK, provided your workout frequency and volume per workout is in accordance.

not mentioning of diet which is a basic must for any kind of workout philosophy and deload/week off.

Well from my experience progressively heavier sets with a predetermined amount of reps for each set until you get to your last set which would be the heaviest set that is performed until failure works better as far as seeing progress and avoiding injury.
For example:
Barbell press 135x15 185x10 225x8 250x8 275x6 315x7(failure)
It your were to do each set to complete failure your routine my look like this:
135x50 185x35 225x20 250x13 275x8 315x2
On the heaviest set you would be exhausted from the previous sets and would be weaker. It would be hard to make progress and you would probably hit a plateau quickly stuck at the same weight for a period of time. With the first example you would simply go for one more rep each workout on the heaviest set or add small weight increments such as 2.5 or 5lbs and try to perform the same amount of reps.
Example:
week 1 315x7
week 2 315x8 or 317.5x7 or 320x7
with this method you can steadily make progress each week and continue to get stronger. Well at least in my case...Never know until you try something.

instead of above, why not:

warm up: 135x8, 185x6, 250x6
workset: 315x10, 315x8, 315x7-8, 315x6-7?

i target 25-30 reps TOTAL for 4 worksets... when i am able to hit 30 reps total in 4 sets (10,8,7-6,6-7 etc) I increase the weight for my worksets, say by 5%..

it's very simple yet very effective..

My workout at present have been 3 sets,about 4 exercises per bodypart except bi's and tri's which are normally 2-3 exercises....

I take a weight say on bench.....press it,and fail on say 11-12......rest.....then press it again,probably failing on 8-9....rest pause...then press till I hit 12......rest again.....then press,probably failing at 6-7 on this set....rest pause...and press again till I hit 12 again....and so on....I do this way on all my lifts.

Either way works greatkeen, your way is more intense. The example I posted would be a back off week for me. I've done both ways before. It just depends on your recovery system. For some people multiple sets to failure on a single exercise would quickly lead to over training and injury. I think the best way to learn what works best for your body is trial and error.

yeah for injury part...warm up well... for the over training part...take complete week off training when unable to increase the weight or reps for 3-4 times straight, an exercise rolls around.. or can watch for other subtle signs of over training..

something along the lines DC? if so why not follow the original thing as is laid out?

One thing this discussion hinges upon is what are you defining failure as?

Technique breakdown
Concentric Failure slightly cheat form
Complete Concentric Failure

Obviously, complete concentric failure is not advisable to do every set. But I would hesitate to get close to technique breakdown on every set either.

As Ecko31 posted, stearing clear of failure in early sets, allows you to get in more total volume and allows you to get in more reps on the heavier sets.

Hi commander.....

I'm referring to failure slightly cheat form,in other words my legs are all over the shop as I'm struggling to rack the weight back up....or I have to drop the bar onto my power rack cause I can't get it back up.....and I do this from the very first exercise on the first set to the last exercise on the last set....I obviously have gone about this the wrong way :-( should I just drop the weight and make sure I'm using strict form on all my exercises,and as soon as it goes,class that as failure???rather than using the weight I use and class failure as I can't get it up anymore????