Think of your most intense workout ever. You were really struggling on those last
repetitions, right?
But tell the truth: If your life depended on it, you probably could have done just one more. Or maybe two, or three -- but finally you would reach a point where further effort was utterly impossible. That’s the difference between working to pre-fatigue (or tiredness, which is what you normally do) and working to failure.
Working to failure is the cornerstone of a controversial technique know as High Intensity Training, or HIT. The idea is that by working to failure during one or two sets (which is all your body can take), you build strength and size as well as -- if not better than -- you would by doing many sets working to fatigue. Practitioners of the HIT method are so intent on completely exhausting their muscles that they work beyond their capabilities, using spotters to help lift on those last agonizing repetitions
About a third of the NFL’s teams and several college basketball teams use some modification of a HIT program, according to Jeff Chandler, Ed.D., chair of the research committee of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and director of research at Lexington Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Lexington, Kentucky.
Does HIT work? There are many testimonials that indicate that HIT workouts can be effective, but there is currently little research to back them up. “The majority of the research currently available indicates that the volume of work performed -- the number of sets times the number of repetitions -- is more directly related to increased strength and mass than single sets,” explains Dr. Chandler. He allows that a great deal is still not understood about resistance training, but sees two flaws in a strict HIT approach.
First, Dr. Chandler says, constant training to failure means you need more recovery time, which dictates fewer workouts. It’s tougher to make progress when you’re working out less, he says. And second, training to failure may increase your risk of overuse injuries -- like the repetitive use that causes tennis elbow -- and traumatic injury that may occur when fatigue causes technique to break down.
But never say never. “When you really get down to what people are doing, some HIT guys are using multiple sets and some multiple-set guys occasionally train to failure. Variety is a plus,” Dr. Chandler says.
(Reprinted from “The Men’s Health Guide To Peak Conditioning”, copyright 1997)