Again: going to failure in strength training is not necessary for optimal results
The leg muscles of experienced strength athletes develop just as quickly through to failure workouts as through workouts in which athletes do not make reps to the point of failure. That's the conclusion of a Brazilian human study published in Biology of Sport.
Study
In Biology of Sport, Brazilian sports scientists at the Federal University of Sao Carlos describe an experiment in which 14 trained trained male students participated. The subjects trained their legs twice a week for 10 weeks. During this period the men trained one leg to failure, the other leg not. The not to failure training involved subjects voluntarily discontinuing their sets before reaching the point of muscle failure.Using scans, before and after the study, the researchers measured the muscle mass in the leg muscle vastus lateralis of the subjects. In addition, they determined the maximum strength the subjects could develop during a leg press.
Results
The subjects built up the same amount of muscle mass [CSA] in both legs. The same was true for the maximum strength the subjects could develop during a leg press.
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During the sets, the researchers recorded the electrical activity in the muscles. They saw no difference between the activity in the leg that the subjects trained to failure and the activity in the other leg.
More coming soon.
Source:
Biol Sport. 2020 Dec;37(4):333-41.
The leg muscles of experienced strength athletes develop just as quickly through to failure workouts as through workouts in which athletes do not make reps to the point of failure. That's the conclusion of a Brazilian human study published in Biology of Sport.
Study
Results
The subjects built up the same amount of muscle mass [CSA] in both legs. The same was true for the maximum strength the subjects could develop during a leg press.
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
During the sets, the researchers recorded the electrical activity in the muscles. They saw no difference between the activity in the leg that the subjects trained to failure and the activity in the other leg.
More coming soon.
Source:
Biol Sport. 2020 Dec;37(4):333-41.