Fat Loss 4 Idiots Opinion

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

What exactly is training to failure?

By Jon Cardozo

If you spend any time in the gym or in bodybuilding forums, you have probably come across a number of terms which were initially unfamiliar to you. Often people will throw around these terms casually without really knowing what they mean.

I thought it would be a good idea to define some of these terms for you to avoid confusion. One important term I would like to discuss now is training to failure.

There seem to be a lot of people that throw around this term without really knowing what it means. Don't worry if you're one of them, we'll get you straightened out pretty soon!

To put it simply, training to failure means that you lift a particular weight until you simply cannot lift any more. Your muscle gives out and you cannot lift another repetition by yourself. This, by the way has been promoted by many different so called bodybuilding gurus.

However, there's one trainer in particular who cautions us about how we interpret this concept. Vince Delmonte makes a distinction between momentary failure and complete failure. So what's the difference? I'm so glad you asked.

If you train to momentary failure, you work a muscle until it is exhausted and cannot lift anymore weights at that time. You can do the same thing going from one muscle group to the other. However, this is different from training to complete failure or absolute failure. Doing the latter means that you will end up training until you're completely exhausted and your body cannot go on anymore.

Working out like a maniac is not good for your muscles, but it is terrible for the rest of your body. Your connective tissues can be overtaxed and increase your chances of injury. Even worse though, is the possibility of overwhelming your nervous system or immune systems. This is something you really need to guard against.

Everyone goes a little too far in the gym every once in awhile. But you should learn to recognize your limits and not put too much strain on your body. In the long run, you'll be much more effective and much healthier as a result. - 17269

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