“In my experience, Mark doesn’t advocate pushing yourself to the point where you need painkillers or multiple days off. In fact, he has spoken at length about avoiding “crushing” yourself in the gym as it doesn’t make evolutionary sense to be non-functional for a period after a workout. . I think the point is to challenge yourself in a way that produces a compensatory response in the body. “Failure” doesn’t have to mean struggling to get every last ugly rep, it can be failure of form, grace, etc. It is a relative term. In other words, don’t leave 10 reps in the tank and expect to make strength or fitness gains. This is different than the approach to microworkouts, which is about increasing movement rather than a particular fitness goal. In any case, it sounds like you’ve found a way that works for you. Cheers!”
Mark Sisson is the founder of Mark’s Daily Apple, godfather to the Primal food and lifestyle movement, and the New York Times bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet. His latest book is Keto for Life, where he discusses how he combines the keto diet with a Primal lifestyle for optimal health and longevity. Mark is the author of numerous other books as well, including The Primal Blueprint, which was credited with turbocharging the growth of the primal/paleo movement back in 2009. After spending three decades researching and educating folks on why food is the key component to achieving and maintaining optimal wellness, Mark launched Primal Kitchen, a real-food company that creates Primal/paleo, keto, and Whole30-friendly kitchen staples.