08/09/2025
This recent paper in Sports Medicine used meta‑regression to map how training effort—measured as distance from failure—relates to muscle growth and strength. Instead of grouping training into “failure” vs. “non-failure,” the study treated effort as a continuous variable—meaning researchers estimated precisely how many reps people had left before they hit failure.
Here’s what they found:
• Muscle size increases more the closer you train to failure. The closer you get, the stronger the growth response.
• Strength gains don’t depend on getting that close to failure. You can stop several reps before full failure and still build strength just as well.
What this means for you:
• Want to prioritize bigger muscles? Pushing sets until you’re virtually done—leaving maybe just one or two reps possible—seems most efficient.
• Interested in getting stronger without grinding to absolute exhaustion? Stopping a bit earlier still gives great strength benefit and reduces fatigue.
Keep in mind: these findings are based on exploratory modeling and rely on estimated effort levels—not exact data per person. Future research may refine the numbers, but the practical message is clear: adjust how close you push each set depending on whether muscle growth or strength is your goal.
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