What Failure Really Looks Like
If you can do one continuous set of reps without stopping or getting tired, it's too light.
A set of reps should get progressively harder as the reps count on.
Starting out relatively doable, not easy, and getting progressively harder until everything falls apart at the end.
The first 1/4 has you believing you’ll nail the target. Everything is working perfectly. Your breathing is in rhythm with each rep. Everything feels strong, powerful, and explosive.
Then, somewhere around halfway that all changes.
The lactic acid, which has been slowly building in the background, starts to make itself known.
The muscles get heavy. Slow.
You start missing breaths and you lose the rhythm you had only a few seconds earlier.
The moment your breathing goes, your set is all but over.
A sense of confusion and fear creep into your head as you start questioning if you’ll be able to achieve the desired target.
Your attempted mental arithmetic only makes it worse.
There isn’t enough oxygen going to your brain for you to do the reps correctly. Let alone do math sums for how many more reps you need to do.
Assuming you didn’t quit at halfway, 3/4 of the way through feels like you’ve been doing this for an eternity.
You want to quit, but you’ve come so far, yet the end seems impossible to reach.
The burn in the muscle is so great that it doesn’t matter at what point of the range you’re at, it just hurts.
Your breathing has turned into hyperventilating.
You’re so out of breath you’re unable to breathe.
The burn in your lungs is rivaling the burn in your muscles.
The final 1/4 has you questioning life and what the hell you’re even doing this for?
You’ve lost all feeling in the desired muscle, and you’re not breathing at all.
All your surroundings and whatever sounds you could hear at the start of the set are blanked out, and you’re alone with your attempted gasps for air and wild attempts at moving the weight.
You’re completely unaware of the people staring at you thinking, “What the fuck is he doing?”
It’s just you and the weight.
You’re on complete autopilot at this point.
You have no feeling of what you’re doing. It’s just happening out of instinct and repetition.
Then, a light at the end of the tunnel. A sudden realisation that only a few reps remain.
Out of nowhere, one final burst of internal energy kicks you into gear.
Quickly replaced by the deflating reality that there is nothing left in the muscle, and it doesn’t matter how hard you push, nothing is going to happen.
Only stubborn willpower and determination are getting those final reps.
They won't be pretty, but this isn’t a beauty contest.
The final rep comes like a marathon runner collapsing at the finish line.
Brain failure. Lung failure. Muscle failure.
Everything has failed.
Because it is the end of the set.
If your last rep looks like your first rep, it is too light!
You didn’t do a work set.
You did a warm-up.
Why aren't you changing?
Because you train like you're warming up.