Training to Failure: Is It Necessary for Strength or Muscle Growth?

EFWA Training Science Knowledge

By Dr Mert Eray Onen, Founder & Academic Director, EFWA · ORCID 0000-0001-8510-7293

Direct answer: No. Training to momentary muscular failure is not required for most strength or muscle-growth programmes. Sets performed close to failure can provide a strong stimulus, while stopping with a small number of repetitions in reserve often allows better technique, more repeatable performance and easier fatigue management. Failure is a tool, not a rule.

What does “training to failure” mean?

Failure is often used loosely. In research, momentary muscular failure usually means the point at which the person cannot complete another concentric repetition through the intended range despite trying. That is different from stopping because a repetition feels difficult, because technique has changed, or because the person has reached a pre-planned repetition target.

For coaching, the distinction matters. If a client ends a set because spinal position, bar path or confidence is deteriorating, the set may have reached a sensible technical limit without reaching momentary muscular failure. A personal trainer should define the stopping rule before interpreting the result.

What the established evidence supports

Established evidence: systematic reviews generally find no clear advantage for taking every set to failure when training volume is reasonably comparable. Grgic et al. (2022) reported no significant overall difference in muscle hypertrophy between failure and non-failure training. Refalo et al. (2023) likewise found no evidence that momentary failure was superior for hypertrophy, although the available studies used different definitions and methods.

For strength, non-failure training can perform as well as—or sometimes better than—failure training when it preserves load, movement quality and productive volume. The 2026 American College of Sports Medicine position stand synthesised 137 systematic reviews and concluded that training to momentary fatigue did not consistently alter outcomes in healthy adults (Currier et al., 2026).

This does not mean effort is irrelevant. A set stopped very far from failure may provide too little stimulus, especially with lighter loads. The practical question is therefore not simply “failure or no failure?” but how close to failure is close enough for this exercise, person and goal?

What remains uncertain?

Emerging evidence: proximity to failure may have a non-linear relationship with hypertrophy. Getting reasonably close may matter more than whether the final possible repetition is completed. However, studies estimate proximity in different ways, and lifters are not perfectly accurate when predicting repetitions in reserve.

An eight-week trial in resistance-trained adults found similar quadriceps growth when sets ended at momentary failure or were guided by repetitions in reserve, while failure produced greater acute fatigue and repetition loss (Refalo et al., 2024). This is useful, but one short study cannot define the ideal stopping point for every exercise or population.

A practical four-question decision framework

EFWA educational position: use failure only when its likely benefit exceeds its fatigue, technique and safety costs. The following is an EFWA decision aid, not an international consensus protocol.

1. What is the goal?

For hypertrophy, challenging sets performed near failure can be effective across a range of loads. For maximal strength, preserving heavy-load practice and high-quality repetitions may be more important than exhausting the target muscle. For power or skill learning, fatigue that slows movement or changes coordination may conflict with the session objective.

2. What is the exercise?

Failure on a stable machine or single-joint exercise is usually easier to contain than failure during a free-weight squat, Olympic-lifting derivative or unfamiliar movement. Consider what happens when the next repetition cannot be completed: can the client stop safely without improvisation or assistance?

3. What does failure cost later?

A failure set may reduce repetitions, load or technical quality in subsequent sets. That cost may be acceptable on the final set of a simple accessory exercise, but counterproductive early in a session containing several important movements.

4. Can the client judge effort?

Repetitions-in-reserve ratings improve with experience and tend to be more accurate nearer failure, but they remain estimates. Calibrate them periodically with safe exercises. A trainer might ask a client to stop at two repetitions in reserve, then occasionally observe a controlled set taken closer to the limit to improve shared understanding.

Worked example: applying failure selectively

Consider an adult client completing three sets of a chest press followed by cable triceps extensions. The goal is muscle growth, and the client has several months of supervised training experience.

• Chest press: stop the first two sets with about two repetitions in reserve. On the final set, stop at one repetition in reserve if technique remains stable.
• Triceps extension: use one to two repetitions in reserve for the first set. The final set may approach momentary failure because the exercise is stable and easy to terminate.
• Progression: add a repetition or a small load increase when the client reaches the top of the target range at the intended effort. See EFWA’s guide to progressive overload for the wider programming context.

This is not a prescription for every client. It shows how the stopping point can change within one session according to exercise risk, training priority and accumulated fatigue.

When failure is usually a poor choice

• Early technical learning, when fatigue obscures useful movement practice.
• Exercises in which a missed repetition is difficult to control safely.
• Sessions prioritising speed, power or precise skill execution.
• Return-to-training periods in which tolerance is still being established.
• Clients who feel pressured, anxious or unable to communicate a stopping preference.

Pain, dizziness, unusual breathlessness or neurological symptoms are not signs that productive failure has been reached. Stop, assess within professional scope and refer appropriately when indicated.

Evidence limitations

Definitions of failure, volume matching, exercise selection and participant experience vary across studies. Many interventions are short, use healthy adults and measure only selected muscles. Research comparing exact repetitions-in-reserve targets remains less developed than the broader failure-versus-non-failure literature. Group averages cannot determine the best stopping point for an individual on a particular day.

The practical takeaway

Train hard enough to create the intended adaptation, but do not treat exhaustion as proof of quality. Most clients can build strength and muscle without taking every set to failure. Reserve failure for occasions where the exercise is safe to terminate, the goal justifies it and the additional fatigue will not compromise the rest of the programme.

Explore EFWA’s Personal Trainer Courses, meet the Academic Team, or browse more evidence-informed resources in the EFWA Knowledge Hub.

References

1. Currier, B. S., D’Souza, A. C., Fiatarone Singh, M. A., Lowisz, C. V., Rawson, E. S., Schoenfeld, B. J., Smith-Ryan, A. E., Steen, J. P., Thomas, G. A., Triplett, N. T., Washington, T. A., Werner, T. J., & Phillips, S. M. (2026). American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Resistance training prescription for muscle function, hypertrophy, and physical performance in healthy adults: An overview of reviews. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 58(4), 851–872. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003897
2. Grgic, J., Schoenfeld, B. J., Orazem, J., & Sabol, F. (2022). Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 11(2), 202–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2021.01.007
3. Refalo, M. C., Helms, E. R., Trexler, E. T., Hamilton, D. L., & Fyfe, J. J. (2023). Influence of resistance training proximity-to-failure on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 53, 649–665. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01784-y
4. Refalo, M. C., Helms, E. R., Robinson, Z. P., Hamilton, D. L., & Fyfe, J. J. (2024). Similar muscle hypertrophy following eight weeks of resistance training to momentary muscular failure or with repetitions-in-reserve in resistance-trained individuals. Journal of Sports Sciences, 42(1), 85–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2024.2321021
5. Vieira, A. F., Umpierre, D., Teodoro, J. L., Lisboa, S. C., Baroni, B. M., Izquierdo, M., & Cadore, E. L. (2021). Effects of resistance training performed to failure or not to failure on muscle strength, hypertrophy, and power output: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 35(4), 1165–1175. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003936

This article is an educational overview and does not replace individual medical or professional advice.

Author disclosure: Dr Onen is EFWA’s Founder and Academic Director. EFWA provides professional education in this subject area.