i don't see how you can progressively overload your body with lbs or reps the FASTEST if you are stopping short of your index to tell you where you are failing...
if my max effort bench was 365x10, my goal next session is either 365x11 or 370x10... i am going to PUSH to be progressive where i FAILED before... how in the world am i going to be able to progress the FASTEST if i simply stop a rep or 2 short on every exercise when i "think" I'm going to fail.... I've had so many times where i thought it was my last rep, then BOOM, something like snaps in my head then 2...3...4 more..... of course not failing over time your body will adapt and that extra rep will come, there isn't one way... but I'm talking about building muscle the FASTEST way....
You guys are talking about getting burned out w failure.... your telling me 3 sets to failure 1x a week you are going to burn you out more so than 16-20 sets 1 short 2x a week? that is not a failure issue IMO but a volume and recovery issue....... now, if your doing 16 sets ALL to failure and trying to workout 2x a week, sure, i could see getting burnt out very very quickly...
Im not saying that failure is the only way, but i do believe constantly PUSHING mentally and physically to make PRs happen for reps with good form on each exercise, each training session will be the fastest way to gain tissue if your sups and food are right...
Also, don't get me wrong, i do believe your body needs DELOAD periods where you aren't progressively pushing PRs and start using more "pump" techniques.... your joints and tendons don't like constantly doing something they aren't use to...
For me, it's simply not the fastest way to build muscle. Instead, it's the fastest way to plateau and not gain at all.
It's great that you can train like that, it means that you likely have a better recovery ability than do I and the others like me.
An example of why it works for me: using curls, for instance, I was stuck on 110lbs EZ curls 1 x 10 when training to failure. I'd get up to 115lbs and then regress down to maybe 105lbs, I'd then build back up to 110lbs and the cycle repeats. However, by NOT training to failure, I've gone from 110lbs 1 x 10 to failure to 135lbs 4 x 8 about 1-2 reps shy of failure and my arms are up 0.5." They hadn't grown for a bloody long time (years) before this.
I also have a greater sense of well-being, and a much increased appetite since not training to failure.
Physiologically, I have very small joints, a classic ectomorph, at a height of 6'1." I've read that classic ectomorphs don't do so well training to failure. Of course, this is purely anecdotal but at least in my case it's true.
For what it's worth, I don't do 16-20 sets per bodypart in one session, I train with only one exercise per bodypart and only between 3-5 sets, albeit 3 x a week for each muscle.
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