Hey Friend,
One of the biggest mistakes guys make in the gym is thinking they need to push themselves to the absolute limit every time they train.
"Go big or go home."
"No pain, no gain."
"Train to failure!"
We've all heard those sayings before - and maybe even lived by them at some point.
But here's the truth: training to failure is one of the fastest ways to slow your progress, burn yourself out, and get injured.
The Problem with Training to Failure...
When you push every set to the max, your form starts to break down, fatigue accumulates faster, and recovery takes longer. Sure, it feels intense - but intensity alone doesn't equal results.
What usually happens is:
- You leave the gym completely drained
- Your joints ache
- You feel sore for days
- And your motivation starts to dip
Over time, this ALL or NOTHING approach leads to setbacks, plateaus, and nagging injuries.
Stimulate - Don't Annihilate...
The smarter approach is to train hard, but stop short of failure.
You still push yourself, but you leave a couple good reps in the tank - what strength coaches call reps in reserve (RIR).
This approach allows you to:
✅ Stimulate muscle growth without hindering your recovery
✅ Train more frequently and consistently
✅ Build the skill of strength and mastery in your lifts
✅ Protect your joints, tendons, and ligaments
When you train this way, your workouts actually become enjoyable again.
You'll look forward to going to the gym - not dreading it.
Why This Works (and Has for Decades)
This isn't a new idea. In fact, old-school Soviet weightlifters built their programs around never going to failure. They focused on crisp, powerful, technically perfect reps - and dominated the sport of Olympic Weightlifting for decades because of it.
Even today, if you watch elite powerlifters or Olympic weightlifters train, they rarely push to failure. They hit their reps cleanly, rack the bar under control, and walk away strong - not broken.
The only time they truly "fail" a lift is when they're testing a new one-rep max and miss the lift. But they are not doing that in everyday training. You'll never see them grinding out sloppy, shaky, red-faced reps like the average gym bro chasing failure for bragging rights.
The Rise of "Training to Failure"
The obsession with going to failure really took off in the 1990s, popularized by Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty system and later by six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates.
Now, don't get me wrong - I've got massive respect for Dorian. The guy was a beast, and his work ethic was second to none.
But that "beyond failure" style of training - doing forced reps, negatives, and other high intensity techniques - comes with a price. It's brutally demanding, recovery is slow, and the injury risk skyrockets.
Even Dorian himself has admitted that the injuries from that training style still haunt him to this day - torn muscles and long-term wear and tear that will never fully heal.
Keep It Below Redline...
I like to use this analogy with my coaching students:
Training to failure is like driving your car and revving the engine to redline all the time.
Sure, it might feel powerful and allow you to squeeze out some extra performance for a while... but eventually something's going to give.
If you keep revving the engine to redline, it places excess stress on the motor, parts will wear out, and eventually something's going to give.
But if you keep it below redline, you can still hit near-maximum performance - safely, efficiently, and consistently.
That's why one of our mottos in the gym is:
"Keep it below redline."
It's perfectly fine - in fact, it's smart - to rack the weight knowing you could have done another rep or two if you had to. That's the difference between ego training and intelligent training.
The Real Risk Isn't Missing a Workout - It's Getting Injured...
Here's something most guys overlook:
If you skip a workout - no big deal. You can train again tomorrow.
If you have an easy workout - no problem. You'll build momentum for your next workout.
If you slip up on your diet - again, no big deal. You can start again and clean it up for your next meal.
But if you get injured... that's a whole different story.
You can't just hit the re-set button and "start again".
An injury can sideline you for weeks, months, or even a year or more. And in some cases, you might never fully recover.
Just look at Ronnie Coleman...
One of the greatest bodybuilders of all time - but now, after years of pushing his body to the absolute limit with max-effort training and heavy lifting, he now struggles to walk without crutches and deals with constant pain.
That's the price of going beyond your limits for too long.
Train Smarter, Not Harder...
If your goal is long-term progress - not just short-term pain - focus on improvement, not exhaustion.
Leaving a rep or two in reserve doesn't mean you're being lazy.
It means you're training with purpose.
It means you're prioritizing consistency over ego.
And it means you're setting yourself up to still be strong, healthy, and active for decades to come.
Because at the end of the day:
You don't grow from the workout itself -
You grow from recovering from the workout.
Stimulate. Don't annihilate.
Keep it below redline.
And live to lift another day. 💪
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