Training to failure

[belovenow]

Originally Posted by DrummerBoy

Nah, there ain't no reason to train to failure with resistance training (weights) unless you're aiming for a certain goal, like trying to be able to lift a certain amount of weight. Or if you're a competing athlete who absolutely needs every bit of raw strength you can attain.
For Joe Lunchbox, or the recreational jock who just wants to stay toned and look good and keep his weight in check, doing mor reps with lighter weights is the way to go: you meet every need you want and you save your joints a ton of stress; they'll thank you later, trust me.
Some of the muscle heads on this forum are gonna bash this post, but I stand by it. I've been doing the light-weight/more reps deal for several years now, and as a 40-something I can hang with just about any 20-something power lifter in cardio, endurance, speedwork, and even maximum amount of light-weight reps, like, say, doing the most 40-lb curls. The only thing they can beat me in as in lifting the most weight. But really, who gives a hoot?
How are these guys gonna look when they're 46? How're those joints gonna be feeling?

I disagree with you. To call me a muscle head is a joke - I'm just an educated guy with years of observation, who cares about his body, and and lastly I read a lot.

1) You're wasting your time in the gym if you're not ever pushing yourself... what you describe/how you describe your experience is what I see a lot of... people just going through the motions day after day. I suppose if you're happy with how your body is (not looking for it to be changed at all), then you're burning calories and maintaining some kind of stasis. I would argue though, that the majority of people out there in gyms and reading forums like this want to change their bodies. Working your way up to jogging 15 minutes on a treadmill is a great thing for most people; but once you get to that point, you need to do something different going forward. It's simple to do, just vary the intensity of the jog via speed and/or incline changes or of course continue to add time. In any case, doing the same thing cardio-wise or lifting-wise is just a waste of time if you want to continue changing the way your body looks or operates.

2) Your comment about joints is just wrong... stressing your bones and joints lifting weights encourages them/facilitates them getting stronger. There's nothing to worry about unless poor form or repetitive/hard impact involved. Lifting weights strengthens your muscles/bones/joints. There's sound and well understood biological reasons for all this... none of it is complicated nor mysterious.

To the poster above, go ahead and do what makes you happy. I suspect that long ago you picked up some weights to get stronger/bigger; then you achieved some sort of goal strength-wise and perhaps also learned that something hurt when you continued to try to do more weight after reaching said plateau. You've adapted by just giving up on doing more weight vs actually trying to mix things up/problem-solving, to continue improving. It's quite common. I just won't encourage you to spread word to others that what you've done is and continue to do in the gym is "normal" or "best" as there are sound biological reasons to do otherwise; to mix things up and to push yourself.

[Northside904]

Originally Posted by mbuszu

I disagree with you. To call me a muscle head is a joke - I'm just an educated guy with years of observation, who cares about his body, and and lastly I read a lot.

1) You're wasting your time in the gym if you're not ever pushing yourself... what you describe/how you describe your experience is what I see a lot of... people just going through the motions day after day. I suppose if you're happy with how your body is (not looking for it to be changed at all), then you're burning calories and maintaining some kind of stasis. I would argue though, that the majority of people out there in gyms and reading forums like this want to change their bodies. Working your way up to jogging 15 minutes on a treadmill is a great thing for most people; but once you get to that point, you need to do something different going forward. It's simple to do, just vary the intensity of the jog via speed and/or incline changes or of course continue to add time. In any case, doing the same thing cardio-wise or lifting-wise is just a waste of time if you want to continue changing the way your body looks or operates.

2) Your comment about joints is just wrong... stressing your bones and joints lifting weights encourages them/facilitates them getting stronger. There's nothing to worry about unless poor form or repetitive/hard impact involved. Lifting weights strengthens your muscles/bones/joints. There's sound and well understood biological reasons for all this... none of it is complicated nor mysterious.

To the poster above, go ahead and do what makes you happy. I suspect that long ago you picked up some weights to get stronger/bigger; then you achieved some sort of goal strength-wise and perhaps also learned that something hurt when you continued to try to do more weight after reaching said plateau. You've adapted by just giving up on doing more weight vs actually trying to mix things up/problem-solving, to continue improving. It's quite common. I just won't encourage you to spread word to others that what you've done is and continue to do in the gym is "normal" or "best" as there are sound biological reasons to do otherwise; to mix things up and to push yourself.

Next to lola, this is the most intelligent response yet. I hate people that advertise their regimen as the end-all be all for everyone else. Not everyone wants the pretty-boy, toned look. Some of us like to actually go hard each day in the gym so we get the results we're looking for. Like you, I definitely stay up on my P's and Q's about working out so I'm constantly reading, seeking out knowledge so I can improve myself in the gym constantly. You gotta change your routine every now and then to stimulate new growth because unless you have good genetics, working the same muscle groups won't stimulate new growth even if you add on extra sets/reps and go to failure.