What is the effect of going to failure during a set of pushups or any other exercise?

Question

I mostly do calisthenics but I lift weights occasionally.I'm talking about reaching the point of failure on any exercise after one rep or two reps or even 50 reps depending on the weight used. Is it detrimental to go to failure on an exercise? Should I stop shortly before going to temporary muscular failure? What's the difference in reaching failure on one set versus cumulative exhaustion after several sets? Is going to failure a bad thing? Some people seem to think that going to failure is absolutely necessary on every set while others think that going to failure is like poison to your nervous system. Is it really that bad for you to continue a set until you temporarily can't do any more? Does it lead to burn out(overtraining) more quickly than never going to failure? Is it necessary to feel a burn or feel fatigued after a set? Or could I just split up a set of ten repetitions into ten sets of one rep in order to prevent fatigue? I'm really confused.

Answer 1

it's very hard to overload the CNS from bodyweight only exercising. training to either eccentric or concentric failure in a controlled training program can help to increase the endurance levels.

feeling a burn or pump is meaningless in terms of evaluating a training program. gains should be measured by increases of strength and/or endurance over a period of time.

Answer 2

Going to failure is bad. Yes it is bad for the nervous system. Live by this rule when working out....SAID Principle is what every fitness practitioner should know. SAID stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. What this means is, our body gets better at what it does regularly. For example, if you're a desk worker, you sit all day...that means your body is getting good at sitting and it will always want to sit. So if you apply the SAID principle to your question of training your body to failure. Guess what? your body is getting better at failure. Is that what you want? Just remember this, your body is hard wired and it will remember what you do to it because of the nerves you have all over your body. Your nerves sends all these messages to your brain and back to the muscles and organs. Your whole body is one unit working together and communicating at all times. Perfect Rep Principle is another thing to remember because this is the path to movement efficiency: 1) Perfect Form 2)Dynamic Postural Alignment -meaning the ability to maintain your posture while in motion. 3) Synchronized Respiration - proper breathing technique 4) Balanced tension and relaxation. And no it is not necessary to feel fatigued or burned that immediately....and this is again going back to SAID principle.

Answer 3

LV_consultant is right...finally someone gives some right advise on here. Going to failure on a muscle is called "Overload". Overload is essential to keep progressing in a workout regimne. If you dont push your body than it cannot adapt to the new stress put upon it, therefore little progress will be made. So, go to failure on most exercises