To maximize muscle gain, training very close to failure is more crucial for beginners than for advanced practitioners.

noli's read

Greg Nuckols' analysis aligns with current research in sports science. Meta-analyses, such as those published by Davies et al. (2016) or more recently by other researchers on proximity to failure, indicate that a dose-response relationship exists, but that the threshold of tolerance changes with experience. For beginners, the stimulus required to trigger adaptation is lower, but since motor efficiency is lower, approaching failure ensures sufficient recruitment of muscle fibers. In trained athletes, evidence suggests that a margin of maneuver (RPE or repetitions in reserve) allows for equally effective progress while better managing systemic fatigue. It is therefore accurate to say that the requirement to 'destroy oneself' on every set decreases with expertise, although the notion of intensity remains central. The idea is not that one must train 'less hard,' but that advanced practitioners have a larger window of tolerance for achieving results without systematically reaching absolute failure.

the sources

1. 1Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW 2017
2. 2Refalo MC, Helms ER, Trexler ET, Hamilton DL, Fyfe JJ 2022