when doing a workout do you keep lifting untill cant go no more?

**daniel_3855** · 05-12-2008, 11:30 AM

when iam doing my weights i keep lifting untill i cant lift no more on each set is that right?

**pognog** · 05-12-2008, 02:38 PM

Eh..I think that depends on the excercise you're doing, and what kind of training you're doing. I don't think you go to failure on every set when you're doing increment sets. With dropsets, maybe yea or supersets.
I usually shoot for 10-15 reps per set, then usually last set, I'll go to failure, only if I'm not working on that bodypart again for the rest of the night. For example, going to incline bench after flat bench.
But then again, that's just me, and I'm pretty amateur. Maybe some pro's can chime in.

**DSM4Life** · 05-12-2008, 05:11 PM

At some point you will burn out which turns your workout into useless movements and possibly overtraining. At that point its time to go. Most people try and keep their workouts within 1-1.5 hrs time which i feel personally is a amount of time to spend in the gym. After 1 hr of heavy lifting you should start to feel some kinda of fatigue if not maybe you aren't working hard enough.

So to answer your question, no i wouldn't workout like that.

**daniel_3855** · 05-13-2008, 12:47 AM

but if you dont go to failure on every set how do you know that you have anoth weight on? do you stop just before you start feeling the failure coming? as if i do a set of 15 reps without going to failure it feels like ive not worked the muscle good so feels like ive done nothing???

**DSM4Life** · 05-13-2008, 04:46 AM

Originally Posted by daniel_3855

but if you dont go to failure on every set how do you know that you have anoth weight on? do you stop just before you start feeling the failure coming? as if i do a set of 15 reps without going to failure it feels like ive not worked the muscle good so feels like ive done nothing???

Weight doesn't mean anything if you aren't dong the form properly. Just thought i'd try that in there.

What are you doing with high reps (15) like that ? Give me an example of your workout.

**daniel_3855** · 05-13-2008, 08:09 AM

chest 15 reps
back 15 reps
traps 15 reps
tries & bies 10 reps
legs 15 reps
shoulders 15reps,

i only do around 3 sets on each muscle

so what i should be doing is if failure is 15 reps i should stop at 10?????
and on the small mucles i should stop at about 6 if failure is 10?????

i only do half hour workout everyday. and cardio everyday, as iam on a cutting diet.

monday traps, lats.
tues bies, forearms.
wed tries, shoulders,
thurs traps, lats.
fri bies forearms.
sat off
sun chest, legs.

**daniel_3855** · 05-13-2008, 01:12 PM

bump

**damiongage** · 05-13-2008, 01:53 PM

I think 15 reps is a bit high...I like 6-8 with heavier weight and 10-12 reps for things like flies. Except for squats...I like 20 reps

**daniel_3855** · 05-13-2008, 02:21 PM

do you workout untill failure?

**DSM4Life** · 05-13-2008, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by daniel_3855

do you workout untill failure?

For most exercises people pyramid.
Ex

DB curls: (max being 50lbs for 4 reps)
warm up

40lbs 10-12
45lbs 6-8
50lbs 4 reps
then possible another set of 50lbs. I would do this until you can get 50lbs for like 8-10 reps then you would want to move on to 55lbs DB's then look like this

warm up
45lbs 10-12
50lbs 8-10
55lbs 4

Then keep working your way up. Nothing is perfect but this is a good place to start out.

In my opinion banging out 3-4 sets at high reps (15) is a waste unless your doing it to learn proper form.

**damiongage** · 05-13-2008, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by daniel_3855

do you workout untill failure?

not usually...let me give you an example

bench 3 sets of 8...if I get them all...next week I up the lbs 2.5 per side and soot for 3 sets of 6...next week 3 sets of 7... this way I am always either adding reps or adding weight....If I do fail, I usually only fail on the last set...

Dumbells are a little different...

**daniel_3855** · 05-14-2008, 02:35 AM

hi dont get this bit mate

bench 3 sets of 8...(if I get them all...) when you say get them all ?

if i dont go to failure on every set ie if i lift just untill i start to feel a little strain then stop. i could do like 15 sets on 8 reps if i wanted as it feels like iam not working the muscle hard anoth?

like last night done my bis done 4 sets of 8 without going to failure and the last set 5 i went to failure it feels like i havent worked out any good?

as before when to failure everytime i could feel the muscle pumped up?

so my main question is if iam doing 4 sets the first 3 i should stop before i get to failure then last set do it untill failure yes???? so if failure is 15 i stop at around 8-10 on first 3 sets????

sorry guys just want to make sure iam doing it right.

**daniel_3855** · 05-15-2008, 07:07 AM

bump

**pognog** · 05-15-2008, 02:55 PM

It really depends on how much weight you got on it, if you can do 15 reps easily, apparently you're not doing heavy enough. Increase it to the amount of weight where you can only do 12 reps succesfully, by the third set you will automatically go to failure at about 8-9 reps, given that you're not using the pyramid method of increasing wieghts in between sets.

There are endless ways of working out, depending on what your goals are. Dropsets, supersets, pyramid sets, 7's, compound sets. You are going to have to do alot of reading on different types of workouts.

The general idea is, high rep, lighter weight for definition, low rep, higher weights for growth. Just use that basic rule and you'll figure out what's right for your goals. So there isn't a simple answer for your question, the answer varies from excercise to excercise, and from body part to body part.

**helium3** · 05-17-2008, 01:37 PM

as far as failure goes, it isnt necessary for growth, it is mainly used to increase stamina and strength to a certain degree.you dont need go to failure to acheive full fibre recruitment or a protein sythesis response. people often think you have to hammer a muscle completely into the ground to for it to grow this just isnt the case, even though it may work it is often overkill.

the only thing you really achieve is strengthening the cns(central nervous system) to withstand alot of punishment. after blasting the shit outa your muscles you wake up the next day and feel like your knuckles are dragging on the floor. this isnt your muscles telling you that they are wasted, it is your cns that is fried, the cns takes a lot longer to recover than your muscles.