I've been doing resistance training for years, but one thing I’ve struggled with is intensity.

I've nailed the consistency part by having dumbbells at home, so even when I skip the gym, I still work out. But pushing myself to train until failure? That was my struggle—until now.

I've figured out a couple of mind hacks to help me hit muscle failure consistently.

What is Training to Failure?

Muscle failure is when you literally can’t do another rep. If you don’t push your muscles to this point, you're missing out on growth.

Let’s say you’re doing 3 sets of 12 bicep curls. If you’re able to hit 12 reps in each set, you’re probably not hitting failure, because real failure means you won’t have the strength to hit 12 reps in the next set.

So why do we stop short of failure?

Simple. The mind quits before the body does. When you have a set number in mind—like 8, 10, or 12 reps—your brain tells you that’s the limit, even if it’s not true.

Hack 1: Count to 4 instead of 8, 10 or 12

When you have the predetermined number of reps that you follow, you will notice that once you reach that number, you don’t have the strength to push further. Beware, that’s your mind playing tricks on you.

If the predetermined number of reps is 10, you will feel you have reached the limit at the 10th rep. If the predetermined number is set at 12, you will reach the limit at 12.

Sounds familiar, right? So why does that happen?

Because that predetermined number is not the limit!

By predetermining the number of reps, you are giving a limit to your mind, which is different from your physical limit. Besides, the higher the number of reps that the mind counts, the more pushed it will make you feel.

One way to solve this is to stop counting reps and keep pushing till your physical limit is reached.

But the mind needs some anchor too.

So the better solution—the mind hack—is to count only to 4, and keep repeating. It’s way easier mentally to count to 4 three times than to count to 12 straight. You’ll notice that you’ll push past your usual limit. Because your mind is used to feeling like its limit is reached around reps 8-10-12. Four reps feel so easy that it’s not overwhelming.

Hack 2: Ask yourself these two questions

Ok, so now you’ve got the hack to push beyond your mind’s limit and closer to your physical limit. The first hurdle is out of the way.

After you have completed the number of reps beyond your mind’s limit, ask yourself: ask yourself: “Did I really push to failure?” Be brutally honest. If the answer is ‘yes,’ you’re set for a great day. If the answer is ‘no,’ that’s okay—no one is judging you. Just ask yourself one more question in that case: “Am I okay with that?”

Again answer honestly.

When I applied this to myself today, I couldn’t say ‘yes’ to that second question. So, I grabbed the weights again and pushed for one more set.

Afterward, I asked myself again, “Did I push to failure?” This time, I could say ‘yes,’ and that’s what made it a great day.