What does ‘reps to failure’ mean?

Trifocus Fitness Academy - reps

What does ‘reps to failure’ mean?

Personal/Fitness Training Blog

‘Reps to failure’ means pushing yourself to your physical strength limit. Lots of body builders and trained fitness professionals use this method of training to gain physical strength and muscle.

Explanation of what failure means when it comes to exercise

 Failure during exercise is actually a really good thing in some way. When you have failed with your last rep it shows that you have pushed your physical strength to its limit. You have worked your muscles extremely hard and simply cannot complete your last rep. Only you would know when your mind and body tells you that you cannot complete another rep of the same exact exercise.

What is ‘reps to failure’?

 Imagine yourself doing an arm curl at the maximum amount of weight that you are comfortable with. If you are pushing your arm and bicep strength to its peak amount of repetitive movements as you are doing more reps, your arm muscles and the weights start to feel a lot heavier until you reach your last rep where you absolutely fail to complete. You have drilled your muscle fibres to its final bit of power putting an immense amount of pressure on that resulting in feeling a little fatigued.

Risks involved when using ‘’reps to failure’’

Stay aware of the risks that involve any exercise so you may protect yourself against any sort of possible damage.

Pushing yourself to the limit could be dangerous especially when you are performing an exercise like the bench press. For example, you may not be capable of placing the bar back on the safe stands of the bench and this is why you need a spotter. A spotter will be anybody who cares about your well-being when training. You could use a friend, family member or a personal trainer.

You may also find yourself in the case of dopamine depletion. Adrenaline requires dopamine to be produced so if you fire yourself with a load of adrenaline you might risk depleting your dopamine levels.

Getting more done in less time

 Many trainers and athletes believe using this method of training is the right way to go to experience a great increase in muscle development in a shorter time. Lots of athletes also become addicted to this type of burn when training because it causes a feeling of success even though you failed the last rep.

Reps to failure means that you will be concentrating all of your energy and strength towards the exercises you are about to perform, not holding back, giving it no less than 100% and transforming yourself into a machine!

Importance of recovery

Remember that you need to give your body time to relax in between sets. You have just pushed yourself to your body’s max limit. To avoid any injuries a good amount of rest is important. After the workout make sure to relax your muscles and take a rest period so your body can regain its energy and heal your muscles.

Reps to failure is pretty useful when you are looking for results sooner rather than later and if you are really looking forward to building your physical strength.

Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy

To learn more about exercise and become a personal trainer, please follow this link.

Trifocus fitness academy personal training course registration

How regularly should you do cardio to create endurance?
What is metabolic strength training?

Enquire Today





    Select your Enquiry Subject






    Social Links