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Training to Failure vs. Not to Failure: How It Affects Recovery in Resistance Training

A long-standing debate in strength training is whether training to failure is necessary for optimal gains.

Moreover, does training for failure come at the expense of recovery?

Understanding recovery dynamics is crucial for strength coaches who design programs with frequent training sessions or competitions.

This study examines how different resistance training protocols (to failure vs. not to failure) affect recovery over 72 hours.

How does training to failure vs. stopping short of failure impact short-term recovery in terms of neuromuscular performance and biochemical markers?

Study: Time course of recovery following resistance training leading or not to failure​

What did the researchers do?

Study Protocol

10 highly trained male athletes completed three different resistance training sessions, all using bench press (BP) and full squat (SQ) at 75% of 1RM:

• 3 × 5(10) – Three sets of 5 reps (not to failure)
• 6 × 5(10) – Six sets of 5 reps (not to failure, same total volume as 3 × 10)
• 3 × 10(10) – Three sets of 10 reps (to failure)

Measurements

• Neuromuscular ⮕ Countermovement jump (CMJ), movement velocity with 75% 1RM, and a reference velocity load (V1).
• Biochemical ⮕ Growth hormone (GH), cortisol, creatine kinase (CK), testosterone, and ammonia.
• Assessment timeline ⮕ Baseline (AM/PM), immediately post-exercise, and at 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours post-exercise.

What were the results?

Neuromuscular Performance

• Training to failure resulted in the longest-lasting decline in movement velocity and CMJ height.
• Non-failure protocols recovered significantly faster, restoring performance by 24-48 hours, while the failure group remained impaired at 72 hours.

Biochemical Markers

• Creatine Kinase (CK) (a muscle damage marker) was highest in the failure group, remaining elevated up to 48 hours post-exercise.
• Ammonia and Growth Hormone spiked immediately post-exercise in the failure group but normalized after 6 hours.
• Cortisol was significantly higher post-exercise in the failure group, indicating a higher stress response.
• Testosterone increased 24 hours post-exercise in the two high-volume groups but not in the low-volume group.

What does this mean?

• Training to failure leads to greater neuromuscular fatigue and biochemical disruption, requiring longer recovery times (48-72 hours).
• Not training to failure (but matching volume) leads to similar training stimuli with faster recovery, allowing for higher training frequency.
• For athletes needing rapid recovery, avoiding failure is likely the best approach.
• While failure training can stimulate hypertrophy, it may impair performance for multiple days—a critical factor for in-season training.

Limitations

• Only trained male athletes were included, so results may not be generalized to females or untrained individuals.
• The study only looked at short-term recovery (72 hours)—long-term adaptations were not measured.
• It did not include hypertrophy or strength adaptations over time, which would provide a fuller picture of training outcomes to better contextualize the value of failure compared to its recovery cost.

Coach's Takeaway

• Non-failure training with matched volume is more effective than failure-based training for athletes.
• Avoiding failure enables faster recovery, making it ideal for athletes who train frequently.
• Training to failure significantly slows recovery (lasting up to 72 hours).

I hope this was helpful.

Ramsey

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