Training to failure or FAILURE

JoeMama

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Nope, not another "is it good to train to failure" question. It's more of a "what is failure question". I'll always train to failure on some workouts and not on others, but here's the question.

Say I'm benching and going to failure. One day the gym has great music blasting, I've had a good day and I'm just all psyched - I'm doing my last set and mentally I think "if I can get 4 here it's a new PR" - I feel the adreniline rush as I get under it, number 2 is hard, but I'm not stopping, I barely get 3, but there's no way I'm stopping, on number 4 the bar goes a little crooked and my spotter gives a fingers worth of help to finish off the set.
A week or so later, I go to the gym. They're playing Lawrence Welk on the radio, I had a crappy day, I'm there alone and on the last set I ask some jackass for a spot. Same weight, I want to get 4 on my own. Half way through the 2nd on I think "damn this is hard, maybe I can get 3" - and on the 3rd one the idiot I asked to spot needs to help me.

Now, did I go to failure both times? I failed more mentally the second time - I know physically I can do 3 and probably 4, if I was at my mental peak - but I can't get to the level every time I go to the gym. Do most of you get to that state every workout? Most workouts? How often?
 
Beelzebub

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go until your form suffers, that's failure. going past that is asking for trouble.
 
somewhatgifted

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You should wear headphones if the gym ruins your workouts like mine does. lol
 

phil216

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To me the music that is playing in the gym eans very little. I go in there with one thing in mind, get it done and go home. I vizualize my workout before I even get there and then just do my thing, nothing really distracts me at this point, I do not talk to people, I really doe not interact at all when in the gym
 

JoeMama

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Yea - the music really doesn't effect me much either, I was just using it to set the picture of a really good workout as compared to a workout where you still worked hard - but it just wasn't as good.
So Phil - you're saying you pretty much have the same mental focus day in and day out? I don't talk to anyone at my gym either and even days where I don't feel like going, once I get there I always work hard, but there are days where I know if I was a little more focused, where if could have ignored the pain another couple seconds I could have knocked out another rep.
 
somewhatgifted

somewhatgifted

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As living breathing animals we are all affected by our environments. I however talk to people, give others adivice and still complete my goals. Focus can be turned on or off and a workout is not like doing time if you enjoy it. I train to failure on my last two exercises. And the last set is usually excruciating as i usually have weights ready to do supersets.
 
bigpetefox

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Since adding rest-pause type sets to my training, I train beyond failure usually.. It sucks 'cause my CNS suffers and I tend to puke late at night..
 
Beelzebub

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training beyond failure for me = being overtrained in 3 weeks or less. as soon as my form goes, i'm done. everybody has their own system though, just figuring out what works for ya is the hard part.
 

JoeMama

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I think that's what I struggle with. When I was younger (late teens to about 25) I used to workout into the throw-up stage frequently, I usually worked out 2 hours at a clip and like 5 days a week. Needless to say, I was overtrained and along with a crappy diet I never got much bigger.
Now, I workout 3-4 times a week and usually take my last set to failure - but except for squatting and deadlifts (which I can't really go heavy on because of a bad back - so I do higher reps) I don't ever get to that "I feel like I'm going to puke" stage - and I guess I'm worried I'm not working hard enough.
Everyone now talks about overtraining - I worked out for 8-9 years, then took about 10 years off (still averaged about 1 workout a week) and just got back into it maybe a year and half ago and I'm trying to find the balance between working hard enough for good growth and overtraining.
Do you monitor your resting heart rate so you'll know when you are overtraining or how do you know?
 
Beelzebub

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i can tell when i'm overtrained just by how i feel throughout the day. tired all the time, lifts are stagnated or going down, no appetite, feel achey, etc. after a few days off, i'm back to normal. i rarely take a whole week off, usually just skip 2 workouts and rest up.
 

meowmeow

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Where can I download Lawrence Welk? He does trip-hop right?:D
 

chainsaw

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Sometimes I lift with a friend and he likes to put all kind of weight on the bar, even if he can't do it.

For instance he may be only able to to 225x8 reps on Flat bench, but then go to 275x8 reps on the next set. After the first 2 reps he is finished but keeps on wanting to do more, does this have any kind of benefit.
 

phil216

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Yea - the music really doesn't effect me much either, I was just using it to set the picture of a really good workout as compared to a workout where you still worked hard - but it just wasn't as good.
So Phil - you're saying you pretty much have the same mental focus day in and day out? I don't talk to anyone at my gym either and even days where I don't feel like going, once I get there I always work hard, but there are days where I know if I was a little more focused, where if could have ignored the pain another couple seconds I could have knocked out another rep.
I can honestly say that at this point in my life I have learned to block everything else out and just focus on the task at hand, which is to train with balls to the wall intensity. A few years back I would not have ben able to do so bu after training for so long I can.
 
Beelzebub

Beelzebub

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Sometimes I lift with a friend and he likes to put all kind of weight on the bar, even if he can't do it.

For instance he may be only able to to 225x8 reps on Flat bench, but then go to 275x8 reps on the next set. After the first 2 reps he is finished but keeps on wanting to do more, does this have any kind of benefit.
so, you help him with 6 more reps? definately too much IMO.
 
Beelzebub

Beelzebub

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there is no HAVE to train to failure, it's just a tool, nothing more. for some it works, for some it don't.
 
spatch

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there is no HAVE to train to failure, it's just a tool, nothing more. for some it works, for some it don't.
Exactly. Im just saying someone cant say "I go 90% to failure" with out first going to failure and knowing where it is. You cant say you have seen 90% of the world with out knowing how big it is, can you?
 

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