Weekly Infographics #8: Training to Failure & Bench Press Incline Angle

A newsletter dedicated to summarizing interesting strength/hypertrophy related research.

1) Is Training to Failure Necessary for Maximizing Muscle Growth?

Based on this nice study by Nobrega et al., it seems regardless of whether you train with a light load (30%1RM) or heavy load (80%1RM), stopping 1 to 3 reps away from failure was sufficient for muscle growth.

Indeed, other research supports this. Other studies, even conducted on trained individuals, support the notion that stopping 1 to 3 reps away from failure per set can produce similar muscle growth to training to failure.

Now, it’s worth noting this study was conducted on young individuals (young men). Interestingly, in individuals above 50, training farther away from failure than 3 to 1 reps away likely can be as effective as training to failure. Specifically, it seems performing 50% of the maximum repetitions you can with a load can produce similar muscle growth outcomes to training to failure.

2) The Effect of Different Bench Press Incline Angles on Muscle Activation

The key *potential* takeaways from this study:

• Upper chest activation peaked at an incline of 30 degrees and subsequently decreased when using 45–60 degrees of incline
• Anterior deltoid activation continued to increase up to using 60 degrees of incline
• Lower chest activation continually decreased up to using 60 degrees of incline
• Medial triceps activation remained fairly constant at all incline angles

Now, it’s very important I mention that electromyography (which measures muscle activation) is limited, meaning that the results of such studies do not necessarily translate into long-term adaptations (muscle hypertrophy) (2). In addition to this consideration, there are a couple of other electromyography papers that somewhat conflict with this study on what incline angle may be best for upper chest activation. However, I think the design and methodology of this particular study were pretty well done.

Nevertheless, we still should view these results with caution. Also, it’s quite possible, due to anatomical differences, different individuals may experience different activation levels of their muscles at the same incline.