Think You’re Training Hard Enough? Most People Actually Have a Few More Reps in Them

5 min readMy name is Cori Ritchey, and I am an exercise physiology nerd turned fitness journalist, and the fitness editor at Women’s Health. When I’m not writing, editing, and researching fitness, I’m teaching it to my personal training and group fitness clients. In my new column, Between Sets, I’m pulling back the curtain on the same advice, tips, and ‘aha!’ moments I share with my clients while they’re catching their breath. Stick around for the strategic, science-backed nuggets that’ll help you move better, train smarter, and actually enjoy the process.Long gone are the days of rigidly sticking to three sets of eight or loading as much weight on the bar as possible because only heavy reps “count”. Recent research tells us it’s not about how heavy or how much you lift: Effort is the true driver of muscle and strength gains.To grow stronger, your muscles need a reason to adapt. That means challenging them enough in the gym. How hard should you push exactly? Aim to finish each set feeling as though you could only do two or so reps before reaching failure, or the point at which you can’t complete another rep with good form. That’s the sweet spot for muscle growth, Stuart Phillips, PhD, kinesiology professor and hypertrophy researcher at McMaster University previously told WH.And if I’ve learned one thing in my time as a coach, it’s that people often underestimate how strong they are. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve handed a client a heavier weight, much to their dismay, only to watch them handle it with ease—to which I often hand them an even heavier one.It’s not because we’re lazy or aren’t willing to work hard, but because we don’t know what we’re capable of. Discovering those limits can be a bit intimidating without the proper support or guidance. After all, there’s nothing comfortable or natural about coming only a few reps short of failure.Fortunately, there are factors you can evaluate on your own to determine just how hard you’re working and how close you are to failure. Here’s how to use them.Your Form When we talk about hitting failure, we’re really referring to technical failure—the point at which you can no longer perform a rep without proper form. You might be able to grind out a few more sloppy reps, but doing so could cause injuries, especially if you’re working with heavier weights.Towards the end of a set, you might start to feel your knees cave on a squat, your elbow flare on a bench press, or your lower body assist in a strict overhead press. These changes signal your form is breaking down and it’s time to stop.Want to gain serious strength? Try our Build + Burn challenge hereMark how many reps it took with your chosen weight to reach that point. Next time you train, stop one or two reps shy of it until you get stronger (and once you do, you can add more reps or more weight to continue progressing!). That way, you’ll provide substantial stimulus to your muscles without setting yourself up for injury.If you find it difficult to evaluate your form while you’re lifting, use your resources. Watch yourself in a mirror, record video of yourself, or ask a trainer at the gym to watch you and tell you when they see your form shift. Pay attention to what that final, wonky rep feels like so you can recognize the warning signs next time. It may take some practice, but your body awareness (or mind-muscle connection, if we’re getting technical) will improve the more you lift.Your Range of MotionExercising with maximal range of motion is important for muscle development. It helps build strength throughout the entire movement so you’re not strong in some positions but weak in others. It also helps your joints function properly, keeping them flexible and resilient.But when your muscles fatigue, your brain tends to get scared of full range. Makes sense—if your legs are starting to feel heavy, you might not want to drop into a full squat because you’re not sure you’ll be able to come back out of it. That’s a good indication you’re approaching failure.Complete as many reps as you can at full range of motion. Once you notice yourself cutting reps a bit short, stop. Unless partial reps are an intentional part of your program, there’s little reason to sacrifice range to keep the set going.Your Rep SpeedYour rep speed might be the clearest indicator you’re close to failure. When reps feel easy, you can flow through them quickly. When they feel difficult, you naturally slow down as you struggle through.Of course, a slow rep doesn’t inherently mean you’re one rep away from failure, but it’s a sign you’re approaching it. Generally, the slower the rep, the closer you probably are to your limit. If it takes you three to four seconds to come out of a rep, you’re likely close enough to failure to stimulate muscle growth.See how many reps it takes for your pace to noticeably slow—and don’t stop until they do. If your set calls for eight reps, and you move through those eight with ease, it’s probably time to up the weights or the reps until you reach a point where the final few become a struggle. That slowdown is a sure sign your muscles are fatiguing.Your Past Workout Data Once you have a clear sense of how many reps you can complete with a given weight, you can use those numbers as a benchmark to gauge your effort in future workouts. That’s where keeping a training diary can come in handy.If you know you bench pressed with the 30-lb dumbbells for eight challenging reps last week, you can go into your set knowing that’s about where you start to fail out. If the set only felt moderately difficult, you might aim for 9 or 10 reps this week to see if you can get closer to your limit.Of course, your previous performance won’t always be a perfect indicator of how a workout will feel. Stress, energy, hormonal changes, and other factors can all affect your strength and energy from one session to the next. Still, your training history provides a useful starting point. From there, pay attention to your changing in form, range of motion, and rep speed to determine when you’re close enough to your limit.Remember that your rep counts don’t need to be rigid. If your workout program recommends doing three sets of eight reps, think of eight as your target, not your absolute requirement. If by rep number six you feel like you’re about to fail out, there’s no need to push yourself to potential injury to hit eight. On the other hand, if you’ve done your eight reps and feel like you have plenty left in the tank, you don’t need to stop until you get close to failure (and it might be time to grab a heavier weight next time!).Find the Perfect Women’s Health Training Program for YouJustin SteeleRona Ahdout//Hearst OwnedCori Ritchey, C.S.C.S., is the fitness editor at Women's Health, as well as a certified strength and condition coach and group fitness instructor. She’s reported on topics regarding health, nutrition, mental health, fitness, sex, and relationships for several years. You can find more of her work in Men’s Health, HealthCentral, Livestrong, Self, and others.