Why You Should NEVER Re-take a Set
I’m proud of this article because I think it’ll help a lot of people. It explains a very common training mistake and provides actionable takeaways. If you found it helpful, please hit the “like” button so I know to write more posts like this one!
Almost all the athletes I coach — including myself — make the mistake of re-taking a lift every once in a while. It’s an easy trap to fall into for anyone who’s passionate about training. When you want the best possible results, it’s natural to demand perfection of yourself. If you take a set and something feels a bit off, or you miss a rep, it’s tempting to re-do the set.
This is always a mistake. I’m going to write that again, because it’s so important:
Re-taking a work set is always a mistake.
It requires a lot of self-control to accept this, because for most of us, performance is tied to ego. When a set doesn’t go exactly right, we immediately look for controllable explanations as a way to protect that ego. If you’re a powerlifter and you just missed a squat rep, for example, you might tell yourself that you missed because your walkout was a bit off, or you lost focus, or you just didn’t try hard enough.
Here’s the thing, though: strength doesn’t care about your ego. Mike Tuschcherer has an excellent article on this subject, and I strongly encourage you to read that if you haven’t already.
Strength and your ability to display it is a callused [lady] and she doesn’t care about anything other than you doing the things required to make progress.
The truth is that if you miss a rep, for any reason short of an act of God, it’s always because you simply weren’t strong enough in that particular moment. Re-taking the rep isn’t going to change that. As painful as it is to admit, the set is over and you can’t get it back. Move on and use the miss as motivation for the rest of the training session.
I want to really hammer this point home, so I’m going to dive a bit deeper into the examples I gave above:
Your setup was a bit off: from a physical perspective, the setup is the easiest part of any lift. It will never be a limiting factor on appropriately-selected training weights.
You lost focus: you lost focus because you were preoccupied with the fact that the bar was loaded with more weight than you could handle.
You didn’t try hard enough: this is the “dog ate my homework” excuse. It’s not really worth addressing, because if you’re not putting in effort while you’re in the gym, you probably shouldn’t waste your time showing up in the first place.
Re-taking Sets and Weight Selection
I want to highlight this mistake because it’s so prevalent. I very often see lifters attempt to retake sets when they’re performing RPE-based work. If they under- or overshoot a prescribed RPE, they retake the set (sometimes over and over) to try to get the correct RPE. That’s a huge misapplication of autoregulation, and it’s a great way to burn out or get injured.
Instead, use my warmup calculator to make sure that you are in a good position to choose the correct weight for your top set. And if for any reason, that top set doesn’t go according to plan, accept that and move on. RPE-based work is process oriented, and if you go into it with an outcome-oriented mindset, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Exceptions to the Rule
Now, I’m no Sith lord, so I’ll also share a few times when this rule might not apply.
It doesn’t apply to warmup sets. If a warmup set doesn’t feel right, you should probably re-take it.
It doesn’t apply to raw beginners. If you’re just starting out, you’re going to have to spend some time getting comfortable in the gym, and you’ll make quite a few mistakes along the way. As a beginner, you’re simply not strong enough to hurt yourself or even to impair your recovery in any meaningful way by retaking a working set.
It doesn’t apply to lazy lifters. However, lazy lifters are unlikely to bother retaking a set anyway, so I’m not sure how relevant this one is.
I’ve been lifting for over two decades. During that time, I’ve re-taken more sets than I can count. I cannot recall a single time when re-taking a set was the correct decision, and it’s not going to be the correct one for you, either. Exercise some discipline, take the L, and move on. You’ll end up stronger for it!