Do you think before attempting the set that I was worried about failing? I'll be honest I didn't feel my best before that set, but I focused on trying my best. I was aiming for 5 reps but I got 4, not bad for not feeling too good. If I was worried about failing I'd be lucky to get 2 reps out of that set. Your willpower gives you strength. Training isn't easy, if it was, everyone would be strong. You gotta bust your ass to reap the rewards.
Here's how to fail safely on the main compound lifts:
Squat
As in the video above, simply lower yourself until the bar lands on the safety pins. Before squatting you will need to make sure the safety pins don't touch the bar when you are in the bottom position of the squat, yet aren't too low so you can lower the bar onto the pins safely if you need to. Note that I said lower the bar, not drop it. What this means is even if you have failed, keep your body tight and keep gripping the bar hard and ease onto the safety pins, don't drop down suddenly.
Bench Press
Before I talk about how to fail on the bench press, I should say something about spotters. The only time their hands touch the bar is when helping you to rack the bar when you were unable to complete a rep on your own. From that point on the set is finished. Countless of times I have seen people benching whilst the spotter had their hands on the bar during the entire set. This is an incredibly stupid way to bench because you have no idea how strong you really are unless you perform the reps unassisted. This goes for the squat also. Don't be those guys who go bragging to their mates about how much they're benching despite the spotter helping with the rep.
Anyway back on topic. The role of the spotter is to help you safely rack the bar when you fail to complete a rep. Its best to have a spotter for the bench press during your work sets (i.e the weight you are benching 5x5 or 3x5 with). During a successful bench press set, the spotter shouldn't have had to touch the bar at all. If you're benching real heavy weights that are hard to unrack by yourself, you can ask for a hand-off (or lift-off) where the spotter helps you unrack the bar, then allows you to perform the set on your own. Be sure to establish a signal that you will use when you cannot complete the rep, it could be saying 'help' or shaking your head. Once the spotter helps you lockout the bar, rack it. The set is over. Try the weight again for the next bench session. If you still don't get all the reps (on your own) on your third attempt at that weight, deload by 10% and work your way back up.
Be honest with yourself. To be successful with a strength program, you need to know if you are getting stronger. If you keep increasing the weight but the spotter is helping you with all the reps, you do not know if you are getting stronger. Hell, the spotter could be pulling the bar harder. I've seen many spotters do what resemble upright rows when spotting the bench press whilst exclaiming "its all you man!" Train for results, not your ego.
Overhead Press
Failing on the overhead press is simple. Lower the bar back onto your shoulders then rack the weight. Easy as pie.
Deadlift
Failing on the deadlift is even simpler. Lower the bar back on the ground gently without compromising your back.
----------
A few words need to be said about training to failure. For a beginner, training to failure is plain stupid. A beginner is still developing a feel for correct technique. As you near failure, the technique will breakdown. A beginner who has not properly developed their technique will have terrible form when near failure and run the risk of getting injured.
As I mentioned earlier, how do you really know if you're getting better if you are always training to failure? So what if you benched 70kg for 3 reps then the spotter helped you get out an extra two reps? Wouldn't it have been better if you were able to get all 5 reps on your own?
One thing a lot of people don't understand is that you get stronger when you can recover from the stress that was placed upon your body. That is why proper diet and sleep is crucial to success on a training program. But if you keep pushing your body past its capabilities with endless assisted reps and drop sets, your body may not be able to recover in time for your next session. That's why you see a lot of people who always train to failure not making much progress. I find it sad when I see people who haven't improved at all in a year. You should make it an obligation to yourself to be better than how you were the same time last year.
As I mentioned earlier, how do you really know if you're getting better if you are always training to failure? So what if you benched 70kg for 3 reps then the spotter helped you get out an extra two reps? Wouldn't it have been better if you were able to get all 5 reps on your own?
One thing a lot of people don't understand is that you get stronger when you can recover from the stress that was placed upon your body. That is why proper diet and sleep is crucial to success on a training program. But if you keep pushing your body past its capabilities with endless assisted reps and drop sets, your body may not be able to recover in time for your next session. That's why you see a lot of people who always train to failure not making much progress. I find it sad when I see people who haven't improved at all in a year. You should make it an obligation to yourself to be better than how you were the same time last year.
Training to failure is however different to grinding out reps. When you grind a rep (hopefully this is the last rep of your set), it means you got close to failure, but you didn't fail. Grinding out reps will become a normal part of your training when dealing with heavy weights. Correct technique and willpower are a must to power through these tough reps.
No comments:
Post a Comment