Definition Of Failure And Importance Of Working To Failure When Exercising

Failure means to do an exercise until you physically -- and mentally -- cannot do another repetition.

This applies to resistance exercises like weight training, pull-ups and push-ups.

To do an exercise to failure you continue until you cannot move the weight no matter how hard you try. You continue to push -- you don't give up -- and yet the weight will not move. That is failure.

It does not mean stopping because your muscles are burning or you feel tired. That is going to mental failure. Physical failure means you simply cannot get the weight to move.

Why exercise to failure?

The reason to do an exercise to failure is that this is a powerful stimulus for muscle growth.

And when the muscles grow larger they consume more calories. Therefore it becomes much easier for you to lose weight.

When you have more developed muscles you look better, you feel better and you can be more active.

Mental failure

Usually, in fact, the reason you stop a set of exercise is not physical failure. It is mental failure. You feel tired. Your muscles burn. So you put the weight down.

That's OK. Sometimes you are just doing a light workout and just want to pump up your muscles a little bit.

But to really get results you need to challenge yourself sometimes. And that means not giving up just because you feel some burning in your muscles.

That burning won't hurt you. It's just a sensation. In life -- when you are really living -- there is sensation after all. So don't give up on yourself too soon. That one last repetition is probably giving your muscles more stimulus than all the previous 10 put together.

Failure and endurance exercise

Doing exercise to failure doesn't apply to cardio exercise like the treadmill, the stair stepper, jogging or walking.

Endurance exercises have another purpose entirely. They are intended to develop the cardiovascular system, not to specifically develop your muscles.

You really don't want to do an exercise like walking until you cannot do one more repetition. You can almost always do another repetition somehow. You'll just eventually collapse. That's not what you're trying to accomplish.

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