The other day I heard a guy say, “If you’re not training to failure you’re a chump because you’re not benefiting in any way. All you’re doing is working out.”

What a bunch of drivel.

It’s the same crap you hear about bodyweight exercises. They guh-roos claim that “once you can do 25 reps all you’re building is endurance.” Really?

This idea implies that you’re not building endurance when you go from 5-10 repetitions? Or from 10 to 20?

Naaah. You’re only building strength until you get to 24 reps. Then, as soon as you pass the 25-rep threshold, it’s 100 percent endurance. Uh huh!

The guh-roos think that once you can do 25 reps of an exercise with your own bodyweight, then what’s the point? Might as well hit the weights to develop that so-called true he-man strength because you cannot change a pushup or a squat or a pull-up to make it more challenging, can you?

Of course you can – but it’s easier to hit the weight room and begin destroying your body with bench presses and deadlifts.

Meanwhile, the truth is that you can work on one-arm pushups, one-legged squats, one-arm handstands, one-arm pull-ups, one-finger this, that and the other – and you’ll be hard-pressed to ever go beyond 25 repetitions, no matter how hard or long you train. You can train to failure or in a smarter way. Take your pick. It’s no easy task.

This idea of not training for strength after 25 reps is poppycock because you can always change a movement to keep you well below 25 reps.

In my book and DVDs, Combat Conditioning, you are given a preliminary goal to work up to 500 consecutive Hindu squats, 100 Hindu pushups and a 3-minute back bridge, and believe me, when you meet all three of these standards, you have a lot more going for you than endurance. You have strength, flexibility AND endurance.

But even so, I have one-limb exercises in the program as well, and these will keep you working your ass off for an eternity – even if you’re already a stud to begin with.

Next time you hear someone spouting the 25-rep nonsense, ask him to show you 25 repetitions of hand-stand pushups, one-arm pushups, one-arm pull-ups, etcetera. You’ll shut him up in short order, and that’s a fact.

Latch onto Combat Conditioning NOW, my friend.  We have it in classic spiral-bound as well as digital formats.

Matt Furey