The Study
Effect of resistance training to muscle failure vs non-failure on strength, hypertrophy and muscle architecture in trained individuals
This study is like a fair test where each person used one leg to train to failure and the other leg to stop just before failure. Because the same person did both, it’s a good way to compare which method works better. The results show both ways worked about the same for building muscle and strength in trained guys.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
One leg trained to failure, the other stopped just before failure. After 10 weeks, both legs grew and got stronger just the same.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 562 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes, the result is meaningful: you can get the same gains without pushing to absolute failure, saving energy and time.
- 2Muscle grew about 13–18%, strength increased 22–34%, and muscle shape changed similarly in both legs, even though the non-failure leg did fewer reps.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Biology of Sport
Year
2020
Authors
Natália Santanielo, S. Nóbrega, Maíra C. Scarpelli, I. Alvarez, Gabriele B. Otoboni, Lucas Pintanel, C. Libardi
Related Content
Claims (10)
Going all the way to failure on every set doesn’t really make you stronger than stopping a few reps short.
In people who already train regularly, 8 weeks of weight training causes a small increase in muscle size that is often too small to measure reliably, making it hard to tell which training methods are better.
Doing more reps until you're almost too tired to finish makes your muscles grow just as much with less overall work.
If you're a guy who lifts weights, going all the way to failure or stopping just short gives your muscles about the same kind of growth changes over 10 weeks.
If you're a guy who lifts weights and stops just before your muscles give out, you'll do fewer reps and lift less total weight than if you go all the way to failure — but you'll still gain just as much muscle and strength. That means pushing close to failure might be a smarter, more efficient way to train.
For trained individuals doing heavy weightlifting, the electrical activity in the quadriceps muscle during the pushing phase of the final three reps is the same whether they stop one or two reps before failure or go to complete failure.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.