“Should Be Hard Not Impossible”: Unlike Mike Mentzer, Arnold Schwarzenegger Disagrees With Training Till Failure Under Certain Circumstances

At the turning point in bodybuilding’s history, the sport witnessed the uprising of Mike Mentzer’s signature training techniques: high-intensity training and training till failure. The late bodybuilding legend created his legacy after many newcomers began swearing by these methods for muscle growth. Yet, there was a separate school of thought that didn’t believe in training till failure. And Arnold Schwarzenegger recently recommended something along similar lines.

The ‘Terminator’ star often conducts Q&A sessions in his newsletter and across various social media platforms, with Reddit being a popular choice. One such question by a fan sought answers to Schwarzenegger’s thoughts on training till failure for muscle growth. The star didn’t go down Mentzer’s way of thinking for this.

“Going to failure in all sets may seem to increase the risk of overtraining. How did you manage your intensity of training throughout the year?”

While Schwarzenegger admittedly had a very separate routine charted during his bodybuilding prime, he voted for a separate solution in this case. The star firmly believed that training till failure shouldn’t apply to his village members. Rather, he offered a close alternative.

“I want you going just short of failure. You should struggle the last couple reps, but not fail. They should be hard not impossible.”

According to his claims, Schwarzenegger preferred training exactly like that. Going just short of failure helped challenge his muscles but prevented him from collapsing towards the end of the set. Even in his training videos, he preferred not to melt away on the gym floor at his last rep. Instead, he got to decide if he felt good or not for another round.

In fact, Schwarzenegger and his best friend-turned-training partner, Franco Columbu, followed this method to the T. The duo only went the extra mile if absolutely necessary. Otherwise, if they felt that a goal was attainable, they would not push till failure.

As pointed out earlier, this method follows an ideology different from that of Mike Mentzer. With his immense scientific context to fitness, Mentzer believed that to grow muscles, one must train till failure in his unique way.

Arnold Schwarzenegger vs. Mike Mentzer’s solution for an intense gym session

While Schwarzenegger pressed for not going till failure, Mentzer pioneered his ways. The late bodybuilding icon was responsible for popularizing the high-intensity training method, where one focused on an intense set of reps to reduce training time. The way Mentzer practiced training till failure was his foolproof method, called ‘1 set to failure.’

In this technique, the bodybuilder performs just one set of an exercise but goes till failure in the same set. Repetitions would include a lot of hold and slow movements to exert force. Mentzer firmly believed that this technique provided more benefits than multiple sets. Whether one chooses to walk his route or pick Schwarzenegger’s tip, an intense session at the gym is guaranteed.