Is training to failure the golden rule of training?

For exhaustion training, many people have different views. From the perspective of muscle building, exhaustion is considered the ultimate weapon to destroy muscles and achieve excessive recovery. Because it will make you sour, make you painful, and make you unable to take care of yourself. Without practicing like this, there is no sense of security. However, in the face of existing experimental evidence, what is the truth?

The meaning of training to exhaustion is that the fatigue caused by the previous muscle work makes it impossible for the trainer to perform a lift beyond the sticking point as a result of fatigue induced by previous muscle work. In layman's terms, it can't be done anymore. The weight range for training can range from 15rm to 1-2rm, and in terms of overcoming sticking points, the usual methods include: 1) reducing weight; 2) Find someone to assist.

Based on facts: square

Generally speaking, bodybuilders use this method more often, but for competitive sports athletes, muscle hypertrophy is just the foundation of the foundation. In addition, it is more necessary to train absolute strength, explosive power, and muscle endurance (think question: Do bodybuilders need these physical qualities?). What is the effect of exhaustion training on these indicators? An experiment evaluated the impact of exhaustion training on the above indicators. They conducted an 11 week equal capacity training experiment for athletes at the national level [1], and found that both exhaustion training and non exhaustion training increased the athlete's squat and push limits by the same amount. In this experiment, it was shown that there was no significant difference in the improvement of maximum strength between those who underwent exhaustion training and those who did not, while in terms of strength endurance, the non exhaustion group performed better.

A study on the strength of bench push for elite adolescent athletes (experimental period=6 weeks) showed that athletes trained with exhaustion had higher levels of 6RM and average power (explosive power) of 40kg of bench push compared to the control group.

Both of these experimental results seem to indicate that using exhaustion training can lead to positive changes in athlete performance in the short term (<11 weeks). However, please note that this does not mean that non exhaustive training cannot improve athlete performance.

Based on the facts: the opposing side

In another training experiment targeting American football players, it was found that [3], in all indicators (strength endurance, maximum strength, bounce, speed strength), the performance of the exhausted group was worse than that of the non exhausted group. Moreover, some indicators of athletes who used exhausted training did not even improve. The athletes in the non exhaustion group showed an improvement in all indicators and a significant improvement in muscle mass. A particularly noteworthy point is that these American football players have a training period of over 8 years, maintain a training frequency of more than 3 times a week, and have an average BMI index of 27.

Explanation of Evidence Conflict

These three pieces of evidence are strictly controlled, so there is no experimental error. So why is there a conflict in the experimental results? The first evidence suggests that exhaustion training and non exhaustion training can have similar effects on high-level athletes, but it cannot demonstrate the superiority of exhaustion training. The second experiment focuses on adolescent athletes, and due to their age, these participants have an advantage in physical recovery. Therefore, using exhaustion training has produced better results, which may be due to the body's rapid growth period, faster recovery speed, and stronger metabolic ability, or the interaction between exhaustion training and growth itself.

And the third evidence, I believe, is consistent with the first evidence, because the athletes in the third evidence have long training years, high levels, and for such athletes, not all intensity of training can have an effect on them. Exhaustive training may generate some "junk training volume", which not only does not promote the improvement of athlete's level, but also may lead to the unnecessary consumption of nervous system resources and the occurrence of excessive fatigue.

epilogue

For young novice trainers, even low-intensity training such as jogging, cycling, and mountain climbing can exhaust them and improve their training level. However, high-level athletes are different. Their bodies have undergone years of professional training, and any lack of serious training courses will not cause significant changes to their bodies. There is also a possibility of sports injuries due to unscientific training. Exhaustive training is not a golden rule, it is just a training tool that exists for specific training purposes. Training tools should also be matched to the most suitable audience for their use, and how to make this judgment depends on the experience and awareness of athletes and coaches.

Student qualifications

1. Izquierdo M, Ibanez J, Gonzalez Badillo JJ, Hakkinen K, Ratamess Na, Kraemer WJ, French DN, Eslava J, Altadill A, Asiain X, and Gorostiaga EM. Different effects of failed and non failed strength training on hormone response, strength, and muscle strength gain. J Applied Physics 100:1647-16562006

2. Drinkwater EJ, Lawton TW, Lindsell RP, Pyne DB, Hunt PH, and McKenna MJ. The training that led to repeated failures increased the bench pressure intensity of elite young athletes. J Strength condition Res 19:382-3882005

3. The Different Performance Results of Kevin M Carroll, Jake R Bernards, Caleb D Bazyler, Christopher B Taber, Charles A Stuart, Brad H Deweese, Kimitake Sato, Michael H Stone After Endurance Training with Repetitive Maximum or Relative Intensity