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Written by aaron whitely
28 March 2009



"Dorian Yates trains for only 45 minutes, but it's brutal! You can feel the intensity! He uses three exercises per bodypart, three sets each. The first two sets are short of failure, while the last one is an all out effort to failure with assistance from his training partner."

-Dorian Yates Blood & Guts Workout Routine



"What kind of half-ass set was that?" asks your training partner.  "You didn't train to complete muscular failure! How are you going to get big if you don't train to complete muscular exhaustion! You could of did 2 more reps you big pus! What's the matter, did you take your girlfriends birth control pills instead of your GAKIC?" Keep talking smack you think to yourself, continuously training to failure may result in reduced anabolic hormones and may lead to overtraining!  According to the newest study in the Journal of Applied Physiology training to muscular failure each set leads to reductions in anabolic hormones such as IGF-I and testosterone and caused larger increases in cortisol compared to lifters who don't train to failure.  The subjects in the study trained twice a week using a periodized weight training program.  One group trained to complete muscular failure for each set while the other group trained did not complete sets to muscular failure.  The researchers defined muscular failure when the subjects could not perform a full extension or the weight was paused for more than 1 second during a repetition.  At the end of the 16 week study, training to failure over the 16 week study resulted in reductions in circulating IGF-I concentrations and elevations in IGFBP-3 (IGF- Binding Protein 3).  In addition, the group that did not train to failure had reduced resting cortisol concentrations and an elevation in resting serum total testosterone concentration.  Additionally, the group that did not train to failure had similar increases in 1-repetition maximum strength gains in the bench press, parallel squat, and muscle power output of the arms and legs extensor muscles1.   The group that did train to failure did have increased muscular endurance at the end of the study so unless you are preparing for a bench press competition for reps, training to failure might be the way to go.  If you are trying to maximize size, than not training to failure may lead to enhanced testosterone and lower catabolic activity such as reduced cortisol.  The reduction in anabolic hormones (IGF-I and testosterone) from training to failure goes against decades of advice to train to failure for maximal muscle growth.  Although Dorian Yates trained to failure does not mean you should train to failure.  Training to failure each set may lead to overtraining and lowered testosterone and IGF-I levels.


IGF-I and IGFBP-3(IGF-I Binding Protein 3)
In skeletal muscle, IGF-I can increase the uptake of glucose and amino acids enhance protein synthesis and suppress protein breakdown3, 4. Moreover, IGF-I stimulates muscle growth by increasing the stimulation of satellite cells5. IGF-I is produced in many tissues, but the main source of circulating IGF-I is the liver, and the main regulators of hepatic IGF-I synthesis are GH and nutrient intake6.   Additionally long term resistance training that is of sufficient intensity and volume has been shown to increase IGF-I responses 7, 8, whereas overtraining has been shown to decrease IGF-1 responses9, 10.