failure on every set?

[epzin]

should i be hitting failure on every set? assuming ive warmed up adequately (2-3 sets warmup), failure to me is repping till you cant go any more, then forcing yourself to push out a few extra reps, with the help of a spotter if needed. so generally the last rep should be the most intense, puking/passing out rep, with the help of a spotter if needed. my goals are to add as much lbm to my frame. my cardio and diet will take care of the excess fat, and im keeping in the rep range of about 3 - 8, if i can do 8, add more weight. diet, sleep, cardio set aside, can i run the risk of overtraining if i train to failure on every work set, all the time? how often should i vary intensity (weekly, monthly, or when i start to remain stagnant)?

intensity to me is going to failure with heavier reps, the straining to complete the reps, not necessarily light weight with more reps. but i guess you could have intense workouts using any rep range.
someone correct me on all of this, im still a bit confused.
thanks in advance.

 

[michael_69er@hotmail.com]

IMO if i have a rep range of lets say 8 i want to be really struggling to get the last rep out. If i find that about halfway through i can kill the reps in i take the finally reps extremely slow.....that really rips into my muscles

 

[rjx]

Make every set count like it was your last.
Sometimes I only go to failure on the last set if I am taking it easy.

Maybe you could pile on more weight, and NOT go to failure. And on the last set of each movement you could do a something with high intensity.

 

[Laguna]

For epzin, first, how long have you been training?, how old are you?, How often? You don't have to answer me, but I'm just letting you know that you should take these factors into consideration. Also, if your on gear.

 

[Prana]

usually I go to the failure you're talking about on all my compound excersises, then on the others, do as much weight as possibe within a 8-10 rep range (but I'm a chick)!

 

[epzin]

laguna: male, 3 yrs, 21, 3-4-5 days a week depending on external factors, and never been poked. im slowly beginning to understand how my body reacts to different stimuli, and i have learned from many of my mistakes in the past. with regards to training to failure, and intensity, ive heard many different takes on the two, and have seen most people view them as one. but, i want to try to avoid the overtraining rut, and all the effects it has, by learning from the people who've been there. i usually like to go hard on every set, ive noticed more results this way lately. thanks for all the insight so far!!

 

[pullinbig]

one or two work sets to failure will yield tremendous results if a body part is only trained once per week, unless you have freaky genetics

 

[dude]

My last two sets are usually to failure with my last rep in the last set being forced.

 

[pullinbig]

i only do 1 or 2 worksets per exercise.