Weight Training
Should all sets end at failure. With some of the exercises listed in my program…
The question
Should all sets end at failure. With some of the exercises listed in my program the weight is way to low for that many reps. For example, the toe press is listed at 35lbs for 12 reps, but i can do 12 reps with 140lbs. I was just curious
Dan's answer
Dan Wirth, MA, CSCS
Hi, Very simply, you should be able to get all your reps. If you do a set and you could have easily done 2 or 3 more repetitions than you should increase the weight. Don't actually do more reps or add another set. However, if you can not perform all the repetitions then you should decrease the weight on that particular exercise. As you progress through your program your body will be changing and this is exactly why we let our members change the weight but not add sets or reps! If you change the sets and reps you would be changing the volume parameters of your program. This can dramatically effect the overall focus of the program. For example, if a program calls for doing 10 reps and the member decides to do 15 reps this would change the focus of the program from hypertrophy to muscular endurance!
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