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In this video I discuss HIT; the pros, the cons, and how best to think about it in the context of your larger training goals. Just like most things in training, this is a pretty nuanced topic. Currently, it appears as though, on average, training to failure is not reliably or significantly more stimulating than training a rep or two shy of failure. However, there are a lot of qualifiers here. This doesn't mean that it is absolutely NOT more stimulating in EVERY context, just that on average, it doesn't seem to make a statistically significant difference in most research when compared to training a few reps shy of failure. However, context matters, and things might change at lower intensity exercises that require a closer proximity to failure to recruit all available motor units. Also, it doesn't preclude the real possibility that some people may respond better to failure than others.

With that in mind, recovery is always a concern, because failure does seem to generate more fatigue relative to trying shy of failure. However, that also likely depends on the person AND on the exercise; biceps curls to failure are not the same as deadlifts to failure in terms of fatigue generation. This applies to injury risk as well. All the being said, even if training to failure is slightly more stimulating, we have to weigh that against the extra fatigue it generates. Whether or not it is a good tradeoff depends on your ability to recover, your weekly volume targets, and your exercise selection. All of this might seem a bit murky, but one thing for sure is that you do not need failure to build muscle. Lots of research and lots of real world people have shown this over and over again. So while failure is an option, it's not the only tool in your tool box. It may be more appropriate for some exercises, for some people, in some contexts, and may be less appropriate for other exercises, and other people in other contexts.


Let me know if you have any questions!

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