I was wondering what people who work out alone when it came to working out until failure. Would you just do a set of reps or maybe lighten the weight for more reps?

i workout alone all the time.

what i do is i just risk it. for example... on my bench press... what gets me thru on that failur part... that last rep... is knowing that if i cant do it... that that bar and wieght is going to end up being rolled down my stomach and my legs to get out from under it. that alone is enough for me to give it all i got and not give up on that failure part. it works for me... but i wouldnt suggest anyone else to do it. its a psych game for me. its very mental.
i guess what i would suggest is be easy... try to find your threshold.

if you are having trouble on rep 7... then either dont do rep 8 or be very careful.
its not going to be a full failure deal... but its close and its doing the best with what you got and thats better then nothing.

I work out to failure, alone, quite often. In fact, I've done this most of my life.

The exercise selection becomes a concern and you may have to adjust things to accomodate the fact that you do not have a spotter. Obviously bench presses will be a tough one. Kross and I have similar mindsets, but I too would probably not suggest this scheme ("just do it, and you know you have to get that weight up or the bar is going to have to be rolled off your gut!").

Squats will be a concern but you can do them in a cage/power rack with the poles in place so that you can just "sit down" and have the weight off your traps if need be.

Many, many exercises can be performed alone and to failure. What specifically do you want to know? I am not sure if I understand your post.

No, I would not lighten the weight to accomodate for the lack of a spotter though. There's really no need to.

I do run a lighter weight / higher rep scheme on squats, but it's really because of a bad back and other aspects aside from lack of spotter.

Also when you work out in a gym, you will find many very effctive machines that give you safety on squats, standing calf raises and bench presses, three exercises that could cause a problem. Machines like hammer strength (http://us.commercial.lifefitness.com/content.cfm/plateloaded), tru-line (http://www.southernxercise.com/trusquat.htm) or Body solid (http://www.bodysolid.com/BSStrength/SpecializedStations/LowerBody/WSCL360.html).

I added the following to my bench....sort of had to retrofit it, but it worked out well.

In essence it allows me the piece of mind to go as hard as I can past my designated reps and try for "one more" with the confidence that I ain't going to be pinned by the weight. I highly suggest looking into something similar. Before this I backed off the weight and it was mostly mental. This attachment works great for bench and squats.

As an idea of something you can do. Definitely don't back off the weight as that would be counter-productive unless you are trying to chisel up the muscle you have and not add any more.

Thanks for all the responses, The exercises I was curious about were shoulders and lateral raises for example. Just couldn't figure out how to get those last few up without a little help.

Thanks for all the responses, The exercises I was curious about were shoulders and lateral raises for example. Just couldn't figure out how to get those last few up without a little help.

you could always ask someone at the gym to spot you... or someone that works there, it's their job to help if you ask (unless they're jerks :p ) If I REALLY want to push past what I know I can do alone I just look around for someone to spot me... sometimes you find someone, sometimes you can't... when you can't find someone to help, just follow the guidelines already mentioned in this thread, pay attention to what you know you can do and make a judgement on whether to try for 'one more' or just stop ;)

you could always ask someone at the gym to spot you... or someone that works there, it's their job to help if you ask (unless they're jerks :p )

Thanks for the advice, but I'll be working out at home, so it's not an option

Thanks for all the responses, The exercises I was curious about were shoulders and lateral raises for example. Just couldn't figure out how to get those last few up without a little help.

What do you mean? If you can't lift the weight, then you've failed. And there's certainly no danger to working to failure on lateral raises wihtout a spotter.

What do you mean? If you can't lift the weight, then you've failed. And there's certainly no danger to working to failure on lateral raises wihtout a spotter.


I guess I knew the answer to my question but somehow I was looking for some magical solution to push out a couple of cheater reps. :confused:

I'm something of a NooB, but must of the research I've done says that "cheat" reps aren't much of a benefit, and in fact, are a good way to get injured. Better to be sure you are using proper form and working at full intensity without cheat reps.

Yes, I think you are refering to 'assited reps', and these are not possible without a spotter.

Also not necessary or beneficial if used all the time IMO.

Although I feel like I go to failure without a spotter, I rarely drop a weight. I guess I can feel when I'm not going to get the next rep in with good form and I can't see how doing 1/2 or 1/4 rep and dropping the bar/weight is really that beneficial - might as well do isometrics. Occasionally I get caught out, but I'm careful with bars and mostly use dumbells. With experience you can usually feel if you've got that next rep in you. Of course I probably gained a lot of that experience while using a spotter.

Also, I would bear in ming that quite a number of trainers don't even recommend going to failure much. It certainly allows you to work muscle groups more often if you stop just short of that last all out drop-the-bar push.

I am not as much of an expert as some, but some incorporating of a cheat rep or two or three has had benefit for me. Of course you have to be careful and not throw your back out (duh) but it's providing a similar effect as a spotter would in my eyes: help me just a little bit...

I am not as much of an expert as some, but some incorporating of a cheat rep or two or three has had benefit for me. Of course you have to be careful and not throw your back out (duh) but it's providing a similar effect as a spotter would in my eyes: help me just a little bit...


:tu: Desipte the way I worded what I wrote, I agree, especially if strength is your main goal.

I try to be careful since I have a tendancy to get injured, and although I don't have that much exprience lifting, I would say from a general sports point of view that if you make this (training with 'poor' form) a habit, try to vary the positions you get into while using poor form. Consistently doing some morvement in the same poor form will, IMO, eventually lead to trouble. Actually always using the same exercises with exactly the same 'good' form might also not be too good!

:tu: Desipte the way I worded what I wrote, I agree, especially if strength is your main goal.

I try to be careful since I have a tendancy to get injured, and although I don't have that much exprience lifting, I would say from a general sports point of view that if you make this (training with 'poor' form) a habit, try to vary the positions you get into while using poor form. Consistently doing some morvement in the same poor form will, IMO, eventually lead to trouble. Actually always using the same exercises with exactly the same 'good' form might also not be too good!
By the looks of your avatar I would think you had a heck of a lot of lifting experience!!!! :tucool:

By the looks of your avatar I would think you had a heck of a lot of lifting experience!!!! :tucool:

By the looks of yours, I'd say you had 20 years on me (apart from you are probably not old enough). Well maybe if you started at birth?

Seriously, I'm small - but I enjoy climbing as my main sport, so I can't afford to get too bulky. I even played rugby as a kid and which I'd started liftin at 13 or 14, but I was relatively weak and found the school gym very intimidating.

When I started ~ 8-9 years ago I was 190lb (6ft) with NO muscle. I did not even have a bicep when flexing - none whatsoever. And 190 isn't even that heavy for 6ft. I started seriously when I hit 205lb of nearly pure flab about 5-6 years ago. I once cut down quickly to about 14% BF, with no muscle. I was so skinny-fat it was untrue. Still I got a glimpse of what might be.

I actually want to bulk a bit, but so far this year I've either got injured, or put on too much fat too quickly when I've tried. I need more muscle to help maintain the low BF, its getting tough to stay below 10%.

Actually since I'm writing, some may find this little story interesting:

When I started getting serious, and found out more about nutrition and PWO shakes, I increased my muscle size and strengh so quickly that my Bench and DB bench weights increased way faster than my tendons could handle. I ended up messing up my thumbs of all things. Tryed to work though it and ended up out for about 12 months with serious thumb tendonitis from the way I was gipping. I had also at the time changed from using mostly gym equipment to my cheap home DB - that definitely contibuted, since they didn't fit my hands very well. I now use tape on the home DB to make the grips bigger.

Sorry if I bored everyone and hijaked the thread on my own personal stuff. It's friday, end of work day.

Must go and eat ....