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now. Welcome back sports fans without fail. We're
here today to talk about Training always right,
but really we're gonna talk about the idea of
training to failure What that looks like whether
it's one set which a research article that we're
gonna talk about explains My latest blog post
talked about training the last set being the
failure for certain different stimulus or results
coming off of that. So yeah, Tiana brought this
article to me when we're talking about podcast
ideas and things we're going to talk about about
this great article and then just kind of brought
to life a couple of different things, whether
we're that article, the blog post kind of I wanted
to be the preface for that. So please go and
read that as well with that. It talks mainly
about strength and different ways that you can
get it. So yeah, Tiana, tell us about the article
and kind of how this thought and this process
came to you here. Yeah, so I saw this pop up
a couple of times because this recent study,
I think it was either November or December of
last year, they did this one particular study
and that has been taken and used in articles
all over the place since. So one of the ones
here was they're discussing the use of a single
set of an exercise to failure versus your traditional
three to four sets with varying reps, depending
on what the goal is there for hypertrophy and
strength. I will say based on the study versus
the articles written, it does seem that they
kind of overstated what the results were a bit
when they're saying like, oh, well, you can just
go ahead and train one set and it's just as good.
There's a little nuance there as to what that
actually means. But to kind of to break it down
a little bit for the overall study, there was
a comparison of the single set training performed
to failure versus a type of training with two
reps in reserve. So this is something that is
estimated by the person completing it and that
entails that they have some understanding of
their own body in the sense of understanding
what two reps left in them would feel like. So
there is that taken into consideration. And another
thing to note here is they actually did use resistance
trained participants, which Sometimes in the
studies world, that can be a unique thing because
we're always trying to adapt this to the sports
performance space, athletic performance space,
and a lot of the time individuals. So in this
particular case, it was nice to see that they
used in this one 42 resistance trained participants
and they were between ages 18 and 40. So you
do get some in that range of like active athletes.
and then some, you know, more of your masters
type athletes, I'm sure. So yeah, that's basically
what they were they studied and broke down here.
And then they did put them through an eight week
program. And that eight weeks consisted of two
full body sessions each week. And then each session
included nine exercises for a single set of eight
to 12 reps at for max capacity. Yeah, so the
article was interesting to me and like immediately
when You brought this to mind I also thought
about Using this for hypertrophy which made me
think about Brad Schoenfeld It was like really
big into hypertrophy like a lot of his research
has to do with that and so I I just start going
looking at Brad Schoenfeld stuff and It's interesting
because a lot of his research is like you need
more exposure in the week rather than just one
set to failure. It's like they've got sets to
failure which are shown to be improved but it's
not necessarily just the one but could be. Right.
I mean like some of his frequency stuff says
two times per week. Obviously we've got that
here Some of his training volume suggests you
should have 10 to 20 sets though Depending on
your experience level and recovery and I would
say that these resistance trained people have
experienced and know how to recover maybe a little
bit better than the novice Lifter would be so
it's kind of interesting to get the two uh different
perspectives and it also just made me think about
when would I use this as a coach so um let's
just briefly for our listeners talk about the
list of exercises here so another thing we had
mentioned in our conversations off air that was
like interesting is that they went bench press
and squat one rep max for strength uh because
they wanted to see strength was power through
jump height and endurance. Also, muscle thickness
was assessed so they could see if hypertrophy
was an outcome that they had as well. So, exercises
that they used in the workouts, like Tiana said,
two times per week, one set to failure. Lap pull
down, seated cable row, machine shoulder press,
machine chest press, cable tricep push down,
dumbbell bicep curl. Smith machine squat, plate
loaded leg press, and machine leg extension.
Another thing that I think is kind of fascinating
here is that the bicep is like the standalone
free weight. Everything else is machine or cable
and has a bit of stability added to it, right?
So I'm interested in their thought process of
what's maybe they wanted more stability because
they're going to go all out, right? Does that
make sense? So they can just not have to worry
about like Smith machine. I can just worry about
going all out and I don't have to worry about
Somebody really losing balance, you know while
they're trying to squat, you know same thing
like press Same thing with the leg extension
right go all out. Don't have to worry about a
lot of stuff So maybe these things were laid
out as like a safety measure I could see the
same thing for Lat pull down instead of a chin
up, right? There's like probably less variance
that you have happening with like the full extension
on the chin up or pull up just Guess similar
processes here you get to these same loaded position
the same positions every time by using the machine
rather than Having a body weight like doing dumbbell
Bench press to failure right you've got less
variance and like less risk I guess I Guess one
of the things that can't comes to mind when I'm
thinking about the way that they plan this study,
though, is if you're going to base things off
the one rep max of squat and bench. Why? I guess
what's your perspective on why they wouldn't
choose to actually do the reps in the study using
the same exercises that they were planning on
testing the difference for? I mean, again, I
think. What I just said is there may be less
risk in going to failure with these other exercises
and they felt like those exercises supported
those Movements. I mean, I mean they may have
they may have cited reasons that they use them
As like other research has shown that these things
can lead to increases in strength or something
for Squat max right like I'm sure I mean possibly
but also Number one, we're using resistance trained
participants. So safety wise, we should be there
already if we're testing a 1RM to any degree,
if we're safe enough to test it. I don't see
why we couldn't do our reps to failure there.
But yeah, I mean, I can understand, I guess,
in a more clinical setting. I just, I wonder
if the results would have been the same if they
had trained specifically in the tests that they
were using. Yeah, gauge progress. Yeah, I mean
said principle, right? So if if they did that
they'd probably have They would have a good amount
of return towards that exercise because they're
actually doing it, you know Again, my thought
is just they use the extra stability so that
people could worry less about having to stay
balanced or I think they could just probably
Safely go all out to failure to complete failure
for those people So, I mean that's what I would
say is they probably selected those exercises
because they can attribute it can be like In
research be attributed to increases in one rep
squat max and then they're also Safer let's not
say safer, but there's a little there's more
stability So inherently probably more or less
risk happening while going to failure in some
of these exercises the bicep curl was the one
that you know, I guess I Guess they didn't need
to use Need to use stability with so Yeah, so
again interesting Of all the stuff that you have
happening with there So the other thing that
kind of stood out to me here is we're talking
about this the single set group working in that
the single set of 8 to 12 reps at max capacity
and I Mean that's so we're saying here that max
they did 12 reps correct to get to failure Because
they're using heavy enough weight for that to
work. Is that my understanding that part, right?
Yeah, but the the other the fail group went to
absolute muscular failure so the resistance had
to be By cranked or fine -tuned into the point
where they were failing somewhere in there, right?
Right, but then that brings up the question for
me How much different here are we talking if
we're using a single set to failure? but the
reps are much higher. So say there's, you know,
a group that's doing reps to failure, but their
weight's lower. So it's taking them 20 reps or
25 reps to failure. It kind of changes the whole
premise of the study in that point, because then,
you know, if you're adding that up to your traditional
sets and reps, you're going to be pretty similar
in where you're ending up with your total rep
count. Yeah. I mean, that does play into like
how much volume you're actually taking on if
you're going to absolute failure versus if you're
doing eight to twelve reps but you're selecting
where you are with two reps in reserve at that
point so yeah there's probably some there's definitely
going to be some results that are like leaning
towards that but um that's like hey we're going
to do We're gonna do four sets of eight or we're
gonna do one rep one set to failure maybe you
end up with 32 reps in your one set to failure
and The metabolic and mechanical demands are
obviously a lot different as you get towards
the end of that Set of 32, let's say then it
is if you do four sets of eight so I mean, that's
some of the stuff that you would just talk about,
like the muscular damage, the metabolic stress,
those things are higher, which can contribute
to more hypertrophy being gained in those things.
So I think maybe that's one of the things that
we're trying to show is that we can do, if you
need to do, if... Can it be done with one set?
Yes, it can. And it should be this continuous
to failure because of these reasons probably
that Schoenfeld has really shown. Another thing
is the mechanical tension needs to be a certain
way. And that's probably how they got this to
muscular failure. But these other people are
going eight to 12 with two in reserve. So they
had to be somewhere similar. with the mechanical
tension that was happening. So yeah, I mean,
it's just a lot of things to consider, right?
And all of the studies there, but those would
be my thoughts as to that, just based on other
research that's done before this one and like
actually just looking at this research. And if
we're taking into consideration, one of the benefits
that they have said, which is, you know, being
able to complete as much gain as much hypertrophy
or strength or whatever that result is in that
one set in a shorter amount of time to maximize
what you get out of your training if you've got
limited time, then that's a really key point
in that eight to 12 rep range with having that
right amount of tension in order to get the results
in a quick manner versus that one set if you're
just thinking I'm going to walk in the gym. I'm
going to do as many reps as it takes to fail.
And that could take you all day depending on
what weight you're using. So making sure to keep
in mind the constraints they put on this particular
study. Yeah. I mean, I had a lot of different
thoughts about practically what does this look
like in a couple of different settings actually.
So honestly, when it comes to mind, what I think
about immediately is Hey, this is probably a
good strategy for a person who doesn't have a
lot of time to train. Right. I do my warm up
and then I've got maybe it's nine exercises.
Maybe it's five. I don't know. Maybe you allow
yourself to do a warm up sets and then go into
your set of failure on these exercises. But I
think it's I mean, like if you're if you want
hypertrophy, which Again, let me backtrack and
say let's just be clear to the listeners that
the results were like very small in favor of
the to failure group. So it's not like a big
stark wide gap in favor of to failure. But if
maybe for the person that needs to use this if
they don't have a lot of time and this is shown
to be a little bit ahead of doing sets to doing
a set to well you know get close to the end there
maybe it's worth it to just do five exercises
or whatever number works for you in your time
frame to fill your get a good pump right which
is another thing that schoenfeld has you know
brought up in research as beneficial to hypertrophy
is to get that muscle swelling. So maybe that's
something that you're chasing as well and not
a bad thing to chase. So maybe it gets you to
that. So it puts you in a state where maybe you're
going to have more hypertrophy results as a result
of the training. So I think for a person who
doesn't have a lot of time great but then i'm
thinking about my athletes like maybe i don't
want to do sets to failure on back squat but
maybe i can do sets to failure on something like
a kaiser belt squat or maybe some type of dumbbell
squat or something you know like that's super
that's fairly light right somewhere maybe i'm
looking eight to 12 somewhere that's maybe like
70 to 75 percent of their max maybe i'm looking
at i don't know something like that but maybe
it's my last set so maybe i've got my main blocks
right maybe two three main blocks and like one
of my final things is hey we're going to do one
set to failure Don't know if it's a total body
day. Maybe we're gonna do like a squat Maybe
a cable pushdown curl leg press I don't know
something like that, you know like something
maybe closer to what they have in the study if
you have the the means to do that, but Athletically,
that's that's kind of what I'm thinking if you're
in the offseason Okay, let's add this set to
failure at the end of our workout and maybe that
can help get us some some more hypertrophy if
that's what we're looking for. Obviously the
study said that there were small increases in
vertical jump for the failure group, so maybe
that's what we're looking for. Not really any
strength gains that were benefited, but hypertrophy,
a little bit of vertical jump. But it makes sense
to me why that would be for vertical jump because
everything was like quad dominant in their study,
right? The Smith squat, um the leg press and
especially the knee extension like that was all
quad dominant so there should be should be some
uh vertical jump improvements in that and something
to note here as well at the end here with the
results um i would say one of the things they
mentioned is the reps and reserve group um potentially
being a more comfortable option for athletes
in the sense that, you know, if you're not training
to failure all the time, that you're not going
to have that increased recovery need as you would
with leaving a couple reps in the tank and then
being able to come back for another training
session. So I know you mentioned like certain
exercises you may choose to do to failure and
you mentioned the off season. So is that something
you're taking into consideration while you're
saying like, well, Certain things I wouldn't
want to train to failure just because of that
recovery time necessary at that point Or where
were you coming from with with that? Yeah, I
was thinking more offseason because of the recovery
like there's probably gonna be a good amount
of soreness at least initially that's associated
with Doing a set to failure at the end of the
workout, you know so Even if it's Dom's there's
stuff you have to consider about what's it gonna
look like this may be I'm in the offseason Not
anything happening on the weekend. So it's maybe
a Friday session that I do it So if you are sore,
you're gonna be sore you know, maybe Saturday
or Sunday and then You need to use your best
recovery strategies, you know thereafter to get
ready for Monday when we come back around, you
know, if that's your your training schedule,
so That's kind of what I was thinking for that
was the soreness element of it which is going
to happen later Then there are also going to
be some Increases in fatigue which could affect
Subsequent training sessions after that so you
want to have a good amount of space For whatever
it is. Maybe you're doing an upper body thing
on Tuesday let's say you've got Wednesday where
you're not really training and then you're back
Thursday with maybe a Lower body or total body
things try to get away from Whatever you just
did and maybe have some active recovery from
blood flow And focus on a different area. So
You're looking at things like that. I mean like
honestly, I think you could probably get away
with doing I do buys and tries, you know do some
resisted Don't know if being resisted or something
like glue bridge or something like that to probably
get you to something Could if you got a way to
do knee extensions, that might be a good thing
to do at the end of your workout Like I know
we've got some Kaisers here so we could do single
leg Knee extensions to failure, you know, we
could do both sides individually for whatever
they needed and we could get eight people going
at once in our space so that might be an option
for us and have the other person that's waiting
maybe cheer you on, which can probably give you
a few more reps than you would normally get.
So those are some options that just come to mind
automatically. Oh, another thing I wanted to
bring out, because this came to my mind too,
is the blood flow restriction is another big
thing in hypertrophy, especially when it comes
to the clinical setting of return to play. or
like, you know, return to participation. So that's
another thing I thought here. Not really hypoxic
as far as restricting the amount of blood flow
in this study, but it just kind of put me along
the same lines of that as you might, I mean,
because they already do sets, they do some sets
of failure or high rep sets with really light
loads in that. hypoxic environment, which has
shown benefits to hypertrophy. So it's kind of
along the same lines, I think, if you don't have
if you don't have access to cuffs for BFR. So
that's kind of the other thing that I was, you
know, getting similar lines of training from.
On this list here, with the different exercises
that they chose to study. If you were thinking
about seeing how this would go for your groups,
what would you kind of change out here? Aces
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a demo. Let's go. That's a good question because
they are so lower body exercises they chose.
I'm OK with because they they're looking at vertical
jump and that makes sense. But like I already
talked about. And I already mentioned the stability
for about everything so I kind of think it makes
sense for them. I don't necessarily understand
Why they used a free weight bicep curl and machine,
you know machine cable everything else and why
they wouldn't just use cable for the curl aspect,
but Other than that, I don't necessarily know
That I have an issue with there anything just
based on the the layout of the study If you have
more access to machines in your In your space
then it definitely lends itself a little more
specifically to you this study does but Obviously,
we don't say have to be a little more creative
with things that we're doing but it's definitely
something it's something that I find intriguing
and definitely it's it's getting me thinking
about what we get into our off seasons for fall
and stuff like maybe not initially in the first
couple of weeks but you know when we get into
our second third block of training this might
be something interesting to to look at you know
we could do the eight i could replicate an eight
week uh block here and retest on similar metrics,
you know, to whether or not adding that to, you
know, adding one set to failure or adding half
the group are doing one set failure and half
of them are doing, you know, like two reps in
reserve, you know, like you can almost replicate
the study where everyone's doing the same thing,
right? They're not doing only nine sets to failure,
you know, with different exercises, but They're
doing a similar training plan, but this group's
doing to failure to add is that adding anything
is it not? So it could be an interesting thing
to look at But it's definitely got me thinking
about You know, what are we looking for in our
offseason? How could we implement something like
this or is it even worth trying to implement,
you know, so Yeah, it's It's interesting. I definitely
see the application for efficiency and in a collegiate
setting, being able to move people through with
set times and being able to get the same amount
of work and benefits from the exercise with a
large group. So I do see definitely benefits
in that with this being the case with the single
set. I'd be interested to hear how people apply
it and depending on the population group you
have and age range, how it differs a bit. I'm
wondering if this is something that could help
with older age groups even then they've studied
in the sense of people not being able to work
for as long or as hard necessarily. And I'm thinking
even kind of elderly population types where failure
for them is going to come a lot sooner in some
of these exercises, and especially when it's
machine based. So interesting applications, I
think, outside of even what they looked at here.
But it's definitely, it's new and exciting and
something to give a try. Yeah, I think lastly
a concern that comes to my mind in the collegiate
setting is The nutrition and recovery side of
it Where sleep is probably less than optimal
and the during the academic year athletes are
having to study more or choosing not to study
and doing social events, you know afterwards
and so there's Sleep that's lost whether or not
they've adapted to that or not. I think is Not
what I'm focusing focusing on and then obviously
Protein intake and overall caloric intake is
also going to be less than optimal for I Would
say a good majority of the population, but they
don't have the means to support that type of
recovery right or to be in a caloric surplus
and honestly, maybe it's not the means maybe
some people are just Let's say absent minded
and not eating as much as they should maybe they
don't know how much they're actually eating or
how much they actually need to eat and so that
educational piece but also like the follow -through
on the education of like How are we supporting
recovery? uh could also play into whether or
not it's actually benefiting right so the study
could be i don't know maybe the results were
minimal in favor of failure because of something
like that right maybe those maybe that platform
for recovery wasn't where it should have been
right it could be different if they were given
you know, like they were more strict, right?
Or they had them set up in a way that they weren't
getting that. I mean, you could be looking at
like almost lab rat type of, we're going to keep
you in this space. We're going to feed you this
amount based on your body mass, right? And your
expenditure. And we're going to make sure we're
going to put you in this big sleep tank or whatever
makes you get this much sleep, right? Like I
think that would be in a very expensive study.
uh but it could yield different results for the
two groups right just based on how people are
recovering so uh that that's also something i
wanted to to mention as well wonder about pre
workout as well because if you're working for
that less of an amount of time that caloric burn
may not be the same so you may have over eating
on the other end If all these workouts are super
short and you need the calories, maybe in terms
of recovery, but going into training, are we
throughout the whole day? What does that look
like then? Are we burning a lot less or just
as slightly smaller amount? Kind of interesting
to think about where we'd be with total caloric
burn. Yeah. I mean, are you at a desk job? you
know after this workout before this workout or
are you practicing for two hours later in the
day or you know whatever so that's definitely
another thing to think about is what's the overall
stress that you're experiencing throughout that
that study so it's different right it's better
when it's resistance trained adults you get a
sense for how this would actually work or how
it might work a little closer to like athletes
but But again, if you're looking for it in the
athletic population, you always have to take
it with a grain of salt because they're not athletes.
They're not going to practice for hours, you
know, some in the heat, some are inside, you
know, so obviously these things can affect expenditure
or heart rates and recovery and just other systems
of the body. So yeah, I mean, definitely a lot
of things to consider, but hopefully, like it
did for us, just gets you thinking about, How
may this piece, does this piece fit in the puzzle
for us, right? It's nice. It's something that,
you know, obviously there could be some benefits
for it, but if it doesn't fit in our puzzle,
then it's okay. There are other things that can
go in there to help us, you know, get that same
result that you're looking for, right? Thanks
everybody for listening. Hey, let us know what
your thoughts are. How could this work for your
situation? Either for yourself, if you're one
of those people who doesn't have a lot of time,
maybe this can work for you. Or if you're a strength
coach or a coach in any different setting, how
could something like this work for your team,
for your athletes? So let us know. Give us some
feedback on how you think this could work for
you. Thanks everybody for listening. We'll catch
you on the next one