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Ooops. Sent an unformatted message back as a reply. Sorry folks.

>I received an e-mail today telling me I shouldn't 'train to failure', so I
>shot back a reply which I have also posted on www.evfit.com

Most of the arguments I've read against training to failure usually
mentioned something about "teaching yourself to fail" or some other absurd
garbage. As if, when reading or studying or doing any other form of intense
activity, you are expected to stop way short of actually finishing whatever
it is you are doing. Silly.

>In a nutshell: exertion to failure is the essence of Evolutionary Fitness.

I like to imagine what it *might* be like to be in a natural ev-fit
situation.

For instance, let's suppose you are moving logs around to build a house.
You would likely move as many logs as possible (until you could not move
another one), rest until you felt recovered enough to continue, then move
the next bunch (set) of logs, rest, etc. It's unlikely anyone would stop
anywhere short of "failure" before starting the rest period - doing so
would be a complete waste of time and would extend the total working time
indefinitely. (By the way, this particular activity would be a great
workout - if only I could keep a pile of logs laying around in my yard :)

I like (love?) the farmer's walk and other load carrying activities. That
kind of exercise is really geared for failure -- but it can be really hard
to achieve. I have found many times I've carried something as far as I
thought possible, only to convince myself I could do "10 more steps... 10
more steps...." Not only can failure be physically taxing (obviously), but
it is also a mental training device and a confidence builder.

In other words, Keith, I agree with you.

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