When Do YOU Terminate your sets?

In the past, I used to work “to failure” including cheating however possible to finish the full set. I’m wiser now.
I do my wieght work at home, so I am alone without a spotter, thus I have to be careful.
Of course, part of it is knowing how much weight I can push, but I set up to “fail” on the last rep of the last set. If I can’t make it that far, I don’t cheat, but rather take a 10 second rest and then try to complete one more rep.
Generally, my workout routine runs three exercises cycles back-to-back for each muscle group (not all on the same day, obviously) with the last set being the “heavy” one:
Example: Deadlifts – 10 reps (about 15 seconds rest moving to next exercise)
Matrix Squats – 10 reps w/ stretch at bottom (about 15 seconds rest moving to next exercise)
Lockout Squats – 5 reps (full minute to minute and 1/2 rest before starting cycle again

If I start to break down on the last set, I will stop, count 10 seconds, then do one last rep and stop the cycle.

I try not to overdo the sets, but sometimes I like to challenge myself. When I start shaking though, that’s usually about it for me.

Joel,

You are right!! most of the people like to do bench press on Monday. Matter of fact, Bench press is one of the work out that i do on Monday in addition to Squat (of course!!).

About when to stop your rep: i would stop when i complete my reps. If i cannot complete my reps, i break them up in to as many sets until i complete my desired reps. It may be a faulty thing to do, but that gives satisfaction that you completed the reps.

Failure is the last rep that I can do without assistance. if im doing 3 set of 10 I hope that I acheive at least 9-10 reps for the first 2 sets then 6-8 for the last set. once I acheive the full 3×10 I increase the weight for my next work out. this is same when I change my program every 3-4 weeks with different amount of sets and reps(4×8 or 5×5)adjusting weight based on what I an handle to acheive the same outcome. First week of a new set and rep is always hard as I’m trying to find the intial max weight I can deal with.

The reason everyone seems to be working the chest on Monday I would say is because of the way most muscle-building programs are set up. The regular 3 days a week, Monday-Wednesday-Friday, or even a 4 day split, almost always puts chest workouts first, that is, on Mondays. Atleast that is my experience from trying out different programs like Turbulence training, Body for Life, Chad Waterburys 10×3 etc.

For maximum strenght I stop 1 maybe 2 reps before failure, avoiding neural exaustion, so that I can do more total work. Quality reps, plenty of rest, shorter but a larger number of sets. For hypertrophy I do the same, but the last or two last sets I go to failure to really inflict some muscular damage.

@chris – Terminateing your sets has a lot to do with the goals you have and are working towards at that time. I love strength training when i leave a rep or two in the tank, but i also love rest pause training where you end up going way beyond failure. If i cant get a weight up at all like mentioned in the experience i will stop the set immediately and either lower the ammount of weight or take a few seconds rest before attempting again. unless im training with negetives. and Monday is national bench press day because thats the exercise everyone is familiar with even though most people suck at it form and weight wise.

Hey Joel, very insightful! I personally believe that going past failure should make you bulk up fast, but I’m not sure why he doesn’t! Bodybuilders often preach that you should squeeze out every last rep. However, I beleve in offing for high sets and low reps to build functional, athletic strength. I hardly ever bench, but do pushups instead! And I never go to failure, though my workouts take me fairly close. In my opinion, training should mean mastering the weight and getting stronger. If you keep forcing yourself on heavier weights without first gaining that ability to master the previous one, it’s not strength!

I terminate my set when my speed significantly slows down or I lose form, using a “ramping” sceme with a certain (RM) in mind.

I do my chest workout on Tuesday and Friday. I personally stop my set when I’ve done at least one more rep than i did on my previous workout day. This assures me that I have pushed my muscles enough to stimulate growth.

Hey Joel I’m gonna comment on the mon chest day. It’s so ridiculous, I’m in California and your on the other country and no mater where you go anywhere in the country its chest day on mon. I’ve tried to change peoples thought process on it but they were taught by someone who probably didn’t know anything but to lift heavy all the time to do chest on mon. I agree with you mondays are perfect to squat on. I just got a laugh when you started talking about “universal chest day” ! Have a good day

I generally never use a spotter (unless I’m doing barbell bench press) and I train to failure every set. Failure in my terms is when you can’t reach the full length of motion or when your reach muscular failure. if I didn’t achieve my desired reps I write down how many I did do so I can try and beat it next week (progressive overload).

Travis

I just started weight training this week. I have been to the club 3 times, Mon, Tues, and Wed. I did one set of reps per machine tht i used and did the heaviest weight that I could tolerate until I couldn’t do another, whatever that number turned out to be. It was usually 8-10 reps, sometimes 15. That’s what I did, was that right?

Kathy

Without a spotter, I terminate a set when I risk injury (i.e. break form & using wrong muscles) and then rest before attempting another set. Learning from experience is a great teacher. :) Overall, I train just to the point of failure and not past that point.

With a spotter, I push myself a little more. My trainer will often have me do 1-2 reps past when I hit my failure point, but honestly, I’m not sure the point if he is doing most of the work. If I have prolonged muscle soreness, that affects my other workouts the rest of the week.

I terminate a set, usually when the secondary muscles get fatigued before my target muscles do. It isn’t always the case though, sometimes the target muscle is just exhausted to the point where it’s just simply had enough.

This is like watering a plant … too much water, too little water, too much sun, not enough sun …

I think an individual needs to have an awareness of self and what works best for him/her. We are all different and we all respond differently to different stimuli. The key here is to take the time to figure this out for yourself, so the post is a good one … gets people thinking and reflecting.

For me, I have predetermined numbers of sets and an idea of weights based on past history for each work out. I go forthe plan and adjust each set and each exercise as my body responds that day. That said, it is easy to get complacent and do the same thing all the time because we are creatures of habit and liekthe comfortably well know side of life, so remembering to struggle a bit is a good thing.

A little wobble at the end is my notice to quit. Like the young kid in your example, bad form and too much struggle will result in injury and for what … no better results. At age 56 recovery is longer, so i cannot afford an injury. Tat doesn’t mean I don’t push it to the limit, I just know where the limit is and I test the limit all the time.

Re Mondays – most people go through workouts with no plan and no focus. They read it in a magazine somewhere and they never went beyond it. Sometimes I do chest on Monday, but it all depends on when the exercises fall into my rotation, as the rotation changes all the time.

I go 10 reps per set, unless I can’t get all 10 up, then I do as many as I can. If I can do more than 10, I know it’s time to move up a little in weight.
My one exception is calf raises. The machine I use only goes up to 400 pounds, so I do one legged calf raises on that with sets of somewhere between 30-50 reps.

I terminate my sets when my form starts to struggle. The muscle works best with proper form. My goal is to work the muscle. When you can no longer lift the weight with proper form, inevitably, you will be using different muscles to lift that weight and the targeted muscle will no longer be the main focus or do the work. The goal here is to work the muscle not a lifting contest.
As for chest every Monday type of people, I don’t do that. Every week I start my work out with a different major muscle group ( legs, chest, back ) I train on major muscle group twice a week. If I start with chest on Monday, I’ll do chest again on Thursday. However, I always train shoulders on Wednesday but I do alternate between A & B workout for shoulders so as for the other major groups. I always say, look at someone’s legs and you will see whether he/she takes training seriously. The ones who don’t rarely train legs and they go to the beach with jogging pants but topless ( sorry guys ).

As you get older, forced reps become a way to injury. I like to do my full sets for the lift and then if I feel I haven’t worked hard enough I raise the weight and do less reps till I feel a good muscle fatigue. I’m a long time lifter and if not carefull will over do it. You need to work out till you feel strong not weak. Listen to your body. If you’re not into it, then back off but when your body and mind give you the green light…GO FOT IT! It’s the best feeling ever when lifting.

Sorry if I train chest on Monday, I will train chest back again on Friday. Legs or back on Tuesday.

It really depends on the day, how I’m feeling, and my goals for that particular day. In general, I lift for failure BUT I ensure that my form is perfect. If I am beginning to lose form, I have failed. So failure = no longer able to complete a rep USING PERFECT FORM. Also, if I’m still lifting with relative ease past about 12 reps, I know I need to bump up the weight.

As for what’s up with Monday as universal chest day, I know! And I take advantage of it. I work out a different body part Monday and do chest a different day so I’m not waiting around (wasting my time) and let everyone else compete for the benches. ;D

I terminate my reps just before I know I wont be able to finish another without help. I train on my own so it’s the best way to stay safe.

Controlled failure…so keeping good form without a spotter, I will stop once I get to a rep where the next one would mean poor form. I workout at home so I have to think very carefully about my failure reps, so sometines I would do a couple of 3/4 reps just to get in those reps with good form, otherwise I just stop on the last good rep.

hey joel,
i train on my own so when form starts to suck i tend not to continue on.. but from time to time i would ‘cheat’ a rep or two if im up to it

That depends. If I’m working on a max set, say a max triple, my last work set will be a true max where the last rep is literally all I’ve got. But if I’m doing a 4×8 on something, obviously the first set will end a few reps short of 100%. If I go all out on every set, I’ll never make it to the full reps with the same weight on the last set.

I quit my reps when I can no longer am able to do a proper rep. it is usually on the 8th rep, but i’m using just under my max weight for each exercise.