Today we are talking about the subject of hypertrophy, and how training to failure, trash, volume, and high loads can possibly play a role in that. And I want to be clear that trash volume does not play a role in hypertrophy. So we will define what trash volume is as well as what higher volume in general can do for hypertrophy potentially.

As I’ve explained on multiple platforms, but for any of you who might need a refresher, hypertrophy just refers to an increase in muscle cell size. When that happens collectively in multiple muscle cells, the overall size of the muscle increases. And we have hypertrophy. So muscle growth, and hypertrophy are and can be used interchangeably.

Hypertrophy is a goal for most people who lift weights in someway shape or form. People either want to put on muscle size because having muscle mass is great for metabolic health, because muscle mass is the potential for strength output if performance goals are what you were into, and, of course, from an aesthetic standpoint, if you want to have a toned appearance, then building muscle would be a goal you have. Probably the primary one.

Training to failure 

There was a point in my own training career that I followed a specific program that took the last set to failure on every exercise. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I put on a large amount of muscle mass during that time. I was also like 19 years old and very much so in a muscle building prime. I was also working out six days a week, and eating like a linebacker. So there were a lot of factors at play there. But I do think that training to failure was one of those significant factors in my muscle growth.

There’s plenty of research that supports, turning to failure and the stimulus of muscle protein synthesis, which we need in order to build muscle. But then we have a question of how often you need to be training to failure, or if you even need to be, or can we get the same effect from trading close to failure. For instance, within 1 to 2 reps of failure. that is my personal philosophy based on experience and the research that I have read. It’s the same as volume which we will get into. There is a point of diminishing returns.

It’s clear that you do need to train close to failure in order to build muscle.

If that is the approach you were taking. The reason behind this is that by training close to failure, you are recruiting as many muscle fibers within that muscle as possible. Range of motion does play a role here as well. But as a general rule of thumb for hypertrophy, one effective approach will be to train many of your working sets, until 1 to 2 reps are left in the tank. That would be an RPE of eight or nine, and an RIR of one or two. Not every set needs to be like this on every single lift. But for a good portion of your working sets, I would argue this does need to be the case.

Specifically for accessory work. Where there is less risk involved training to near failure. On the contrary, I would not suggest this approach for many of your main compound lifts, depending on your training age. Your training age refers to how many years you’ve been consistently lifting weights for. If you have a lot of experience under a heavy, barbell, or moving a heavy barbell, I would be less concerned with you trading close to failure on every set. But even then I might not advise it. I’m just not positive that it’s needed in order to build muscle if that is your goal. There’s definitely research that supports high-volume training as well as high load training for building muscle. And there may be less risk involved with training at the higher volumes with lighter weights. That’s just one perspective. Personal preference also comes into play. And like I said,