The Study
The effects of resistance training to near volitional failure on motor unit recruitment during neuromuscular fatigue
This study compared two ways of lifting weights — one where people push until they're almost exhausted, and another where they stop earlier. It found that both ways helped people last longer during a tiring exercise, but neither was clearly better. So we can say both might work similarly, but we can't say one definitely causes better results.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Two groups trained with weights: one pushed until they couldn't do another rep, the other stopped 4–6 reps before failure. After 5 weeks, both got equally better at holding a weight without tiring.
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 568 / 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 — you don’t need to train to failure to improve endurance; stopping short works just as well if you train consistently.
- 2Both groups improved how long they could hold a light weight by about 24% (43 seconds longer).
- 3Muscle activity during fatigue increased the same amount in both groups.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
PeerJ
Year
2024
Authors
J. P. Beausejour, K. Knowles, Jason I. Pagan, J. P. Rodríguez, Daniel Sheldon, Bradley A Ruple, Daniel L. Plotkin, Morgan A Smith, Joshua S Godwin, C. Sexton, Mason C McIntosh, Nicholas J. Kontos, C. Libardi, Kaelin C. Young, Michael D Roberts, M. Stock
Related Content
Claims (10)
To stimulate muscle growth, resistance exercises must be performed with adequate duration and precision to activate most of the motor units within the muscle.
After five weeks of strength training using either light or heavy effort levels, people show less stability in their muscle force during sustained, moderate-intensity contractions as they become fatigued, and the level of effort used during training does not affect this decline.
In resistance-trained adults, performing resistance training with either very high effort (0–1 reps left in reserve) or moderate effort (4–6 reps left in reserve) for five weeks, three times per week, increases the time until muscle fatigue by about 24%, and both methods produce the same improvement.
Long-term strength training increases the electrical activity in muscles during fatiguing exercises, showing that more powerful muscle fibers are activated as fatigue sets in, and this effect is the same whether training is done close to or far from muscle failure.
People who perform resistance training with either low or high effort levels show improved stability in muscle force during sustained, submaximal contractions, and muscle force becomes more variable as fatigue increases, but the rate of this decline is the same regardless of effort level.
During muscle fatigue, the pattern of motor unit activation depends on how fatigued the muscle is at that moment, not on how close the previous workout was to failure, because no measurable differences in electrical activity patterns were found between groups trained with different levels of effort.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.