SHYING AWAY
by Kevin Dye
Out of the multitude of training methods that are
available, what is the common demoninator inherent in the majority? Training to failure.
Reaching this point is of such significance to trainees that is an accepted factor that it
must be reached to be assured they have given their best and have stimulated optimum
growth for their efforts. To some, having gone to failure is almost seen as mystical, as
you have laid your life on the line, entered the pain zone, endured it as long as humanly
possible, and come out alive, ready to re-enter again another day!
What is failure?
Failure can be defined at reaching a point in a set where
using perfect form no further movement can be completed. The reason this point is
considered so important is due to the physiological processes kicked into effect at that
juncture of the set resulting in optimum gains being stimulated. But does a rep below this
level do anything significant? I didn't think so for 21 years, and never trained less than
100%, less I miss out on the gains that "could" be made only by reaching the
highest pain level failure provides. This was my aim every time I started a set, and I
wouldn't give in till my body couldn't raise the bar any further. I could never settle for
less no matter how I felt as less would have meant a drastic drop in my manlyhood, which
is totally unacceptable to any hardcore trainee.
But as great as my gains were my first few years of
failure training, they never came close in the latter years, which left me bewildered as
without consistent progress how could I ever hope to grow bigger and stronger? Having used
most methods in my efforts to train harder and harder to force new gains, I had exhausted
my options, I literally had nothing left to rely upon to increase the intensity levels to
effect my rate of progress, and considering my advanced status, this left me with just one
option, challenging the one area is held in highest regard among HIT; failure itself.
Coaxing
Had someone previously tried to convince me that reducing
my effort in the gym would lead to better gains I would have ignored him completely,
looked upon them as something of a wimp, and saw their efforts as a feeble excuse to train
in an easy fashion as to forgo the discomfort of true training. After all, how could less
lead to more? But on second thought, isn't that exactly what happens when a trainee
becomes more advanced and has to reduce their sets and/or exercises to account for the
increasing stress levels? So maybe there was some worth in coaxing growth instead of
forever trying to force it, but how effective such a method was would never be known until
I took the initiative and tried it myself, so my journey began.
Unnatural
After completing my first workout stopping a one rep shy
of failure on each exercise, I didn't know what to think, it went against all I'd believed
and was so foriegn it made me feel like I'd missed an opportunity to progress as their was
no pain or discomfort to use as a guage. But immediately afterwards I noted the lack of
depletion that usually overwhelmed me, leaving me zombie like and inoperable for half an
hour or more. That was a definite bonus. But as this was so unusual to me I had trouble
accepting the avoidance of my "fix" of pain and discomfort, and mentally this
didn't gel with my concious. But I decided to give it a decent trial period to assess its
value, so I continued on, gradually growing used to the reduced stress every trip to the
gym.
Powerlifters
A major factor that aided me to accept stopping short of
failure as a valid training method was reflecting on the immense mass of powerlifters, who
never go to failure yet support of some of the largest bodies ever to walk the earth.
Naturally they rely upon the most effective exercises any trainee could use; the basics,
yet their level of output is far below what it would be for the average high intensity
advocate, in fact it would be a great deal less, yet as they get stronger they are forced
to move up to heavier weight classes almost as a side-effect for the burgeoning strength
levels. So despite their advoidance of failure they grow bigger and stronger for their
less than maximal efforts, a fact I couldn't ignore and one that kept me keen to keep at
it.
Rational of Reduced Effort
Without going into the science behind why training less
than all out is effective, I will provide my opinion based upon my findings and beliefs as
to why this output reduction produces results. For a start, taking less away from the body
allows it to recuperate faster, meaning the overcompensation process [where growth occurs]
can conclude sooner. When going to failure this might take upto a week or more, yet while
shying away it seems to happen within days. This puts the body in a better position to
cope and react rapidly to the stressor it's being hit with, it's stress to be sure, but
far from the magnitude of that which failure inflicts, so it's within the coping radius,
as it's not too indepth and upsets the system as a whole much less.
As you complete each workout feeling "worked"
not "destroyed", you can easily psyche up for another dose in a matter of days,
as the enjoyment aspect is no longer in conflict with the uncomfortable pain factor
inherent in reaching failure. The discomfort of lagging pain in the muscles and joints is
reduced to the point of being insignificant, leaving a feeling of knowing you've trained
rather than you've done such thorough destruction to your system it might never be the
same again! Having less discomfort to contend with means you function better in daily
tasks and aren't crippled to the point that you feel restricted or unable to indulge in
your regular endeavours, a welcome aspect for many who need to manually work for a living.
The best part is the way the body bounces back, allowing
another small weight increment to be added to each exercise next time around. It's the
gradual build up of all these small advances that provides long term gains, as while you
could add big additions, how long could you realistically expect that to happen before you
plateau?
Instead the slow but steady method provided by shying away
from failure is both mentally and physically comforting, as you are seeing something
worthwhile for your efforts, and that is repeated on a VERY regular basis, a reassurance
you are getting something in return for your efforts.
Injury Potential
Even though it's been said that the last rep of a set
taken to failure is the safest out of the whole set due to the greatly reduced power
output, that is only true if it is done using the same perfect form you should be used
throughout the set. But often egos prevail and body english comes into play, resulting in
shifts in body position to get the bar up for another rep than what should have been
attempted. It's these minor indiscretions that puts trainees in precarious positions where
they shift themselves so far out of alignment that the stress of the barbells intended
target shifts and effects areas that can't cope with such poundages, or worse yet they
lose balance and their form totally breaks down. This is far more inclined to happen with
failure training as the nature of the protocol involves seeing how far you can push, which
some interpret as as far as they can possibly go regardless of safety or rational.
On the other hand, shying away from failure tends to be
indusive to keeping perfect form, strict and smooth, throughout the whole set, begining to
end. As the effort is ceased out of deliberation rather than muscular fatigue, form is
kept intact and the exercise stress remains on the intended muscle(s) making it safer as
the trainee is always in complete control. That isn't to say a little help might be
performed by other muscles to help raise the bar, but when compared to that usually
involved with failure training it is so minor as to be insignificant. So in reality you
get more for your effort if only for the fact that your form remains strict and doesn't
shift suddenly to entice other muscles to help continue the set to its ultimate
conclusion.
Mental Burden
As a failure trainer I always debated the constant battle
whether I had in fact gone to total failure, maybe I could have done one more? This isn't
a healthy frame of mind to be in as you always doubt your efforts, even if you did do your
best. That tends to be "the nature of the beast" when failure is the God you
always seek to satisfy your convictions that you triggered the growth mechanism into
action. But by avoiding failure you rely solely upon the small weight addition next time
around, and as this is a visual acceptance of your rate of progression you no longer
linger in fear or doubt that your efforts in some way might have faulted your gains. You
know without doubt that enough of these small progressions will lead to both strength and
size gains, nothing else is possible, as progression is the essence of what effective
weight training is all about. After all, no matter how much failure training you indulge
in, if you don't see regular weight additions on the bar then what use is all that effort?
Single Progression
Having only one factor to concentrate on frees the mind
and provides better focus on a singular goal. With the double progression method where you
complete a certain amount of reps within a chosen guideline, you are always striving to
reach the maximum amount of reps so you can reward your efforts with another weight
additions to drop you down to your minum rep allotment. But with single progression you
only have to concern yourself with adding small weight additions provided you complete
your rep allotment, say 5 or 6, so with constant reassurance you are enthused to train
again, as you are handling steadily increasing poundages which reenforces a strong
draining drive. Remember, had you really pushed yourself you would have done another rep,
but stopping short still satisfies the stimulas needed to trigger the growth process, and
once rested it can then handle another small dose of stress with regularity that will
amaze you!
Failure learning
I strongly believe that in the first year of training that
all trainees should learn what it is like to take a set to the limit, for without failure
how would one know where one rep shy is? Trainees need to get themselves familiar with
that last rep that either makes or breaks them, and providing they use strict form they
will reap some great gains. This process needs to be gradual, and ironically it is cyclic,
as after the first month of shying away from failure to learn form and avoid undue
soreness, the trainee would do a year of failure training before resuming shying away with
a newfound understanding of where exactly in the set point is. Where previously his
avoidance would be haphazard and erradic, it now becomes a matter of knowing when the next
rep would take them to the point of failure and calling it quits just prior.
Experience
It's obvious that I wouldn't be praising this method of
training if I didn't believe it was of great value, and from what I have seen over the
past two months, its value has been beyond what even I would have believed, especially for
an advanced trainee with twenty one years of lifting experience behind them. Not only have
I been able to add small steady weight increments to each exercise at a rate that is as
regular as clockwork, but my joints haven't suffered any for these poundage increases as
they have been gradual, enabling my joints and tendons to keep pace with the workload.
After the first month I decided to weigh and measure
myself to see exactly what has occured from this method, and as I'd been making an effort
to keep my calories down to harden-up, I was initially upset that my bodyweight hadn't
changed from my usual 222#. Then I measured and found out the whole story. What had
happened, for the first time in my life, was I'd lost fat while adding muscle, so even
though my weight hadn't alterered, the ratio of muscle to fat was now in greater
proportion!
Overall, I added quarter of an inch to both my legs and
arms, just under one inch on my chest, while losing quarter an inch off my waist! And keep
in mind that this was in a mere eight weeks on an advanced body that has been through a
wide array of high intensity methods to entice it to become bigger and stronger. I was
pleasantly suprised that I was able to induce these gains using coaxing rather than
forcing, and it is obvious that the steady rate of progression I witnessed on each
exercise was enough to jolt my system in adaptation, despite the reduced intensity factor.
Even now, into my third month, I am still progressing each workout, and it never stops.
Weight additions of two pounds for the big exercises [like
squats, deadlifts, and back work], and one pound for the smaller exercises [like chest and
arm work] seems to be the correct rate for the body to adapt to. Initially I found the
hardest aspect was refraining from becomining too greedy and adding more than my body
could cope with, but that would have been foolish as plateaus would have resulted and I'd
rather add small incriments regularly than larger one sparodically! So use patience to aid
your long terms gains, not haste to impede them.
Conclusion
By now we can see that always using failure as a
conculsion of every set performed isn't the mystical realm it is held to be, it doesn't
HAVE to be achieved for progress to happen, in fact considering the aspects covered,
shying away allows faster recuperation, depletes less of the systems resources, and causes
less wear and tear on the body, which all combine for an ideal environment for stimulating
progress on a regular basis. So before you dismiss this as just another weakwilled attempt
to downplay failure simply because of lack of courage, I urge you to try it out for
yourself, and thrill in the weekly weight increases that spell success for any weight
lifter. Who knows, you just might learn to like it!
