Why leave two reps in reserve?
Abstracts
Abstracts
A productive strength-training set does not have to end at failure. In “Two reps in reserve: Why stop before failure?” I look at stopping when roughly two more reps are possible. The research discussed there suggests that going to momentary failure does not consistently improve outcomes, but can increase fatigue and recovery time.
For anyone fitting training around demanding work, that makes recovery part of the training decision—not something to consider only after a hard session. The goal is to leave room to keep progressing.