When Failure is Useful

When the weights win, we learn what needs attention. When fatigue sets in, we learn which links need strengthening. Take a few steps back in your view of training. Nearly everything you do in the gym has a standard, the training happens when we challenge this standard. Sure, your squat may look beautiful with just your bodyweight but what happens when you do dozens of reps? Or, what about when we load your squat? What about when you load it at the shoulder? From the hips? Overhead?

At some point, we come up to a threshold in the training where we lose and there is a deviation from the standard. That deviation, then, isn’t meant to be a slap on the wrist. Instead, it’s information.

When you fail in the front squat, does the bar pull your shoulders forward? Your upper back, then, is your limiting factor. Can’t lockout the last few inches of your heaviest, most fatigued deadlifts? You need glutes.

Once you’ve fixed the missing link, look again. There will always be a new adjustment needed to progress your performance, and so goes training.

Be on the prowl for useful information in your training. HINT: “I sucked today” isn’t useful.

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach