Is training to failure a safe and effective method for improving athletic performance?
While training to failure will create the greatest possible stimulus for improving the system worked, it also creates an atmosphere where injury risk is also at it’s maximum. The key is to always make sure that recovery is being achieved and that monitoring of the athletes is being adhered to at all times. The complete answer for this question is one that exercise physiology classes often cover over the course of a year or more.
I use training to failure on occasions (depending on the goal for that particular training session), however I don’t think that this is a training method to use more than occasionally – it can definitely lead to ‘over-training’ and the attendant problems related to that.
LaRue, CSCS
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