Take your sets to failure

Over the past couple years, a string of gurus and strength coaches have gone on record to say that training to failure is not only unnecessary, but will actually keep you from making gains due to the beating it puts on your nervous system. End your sets while you still have a couple reps left, they say. Markus doesn’t but into it for a minute. "To me, that sounds like someone who just doesn’t want to train hard. Oh, it’s starting to burn or feel heavy, I had better stop now. Who trains like that? All the great bodybuilders I have ever known pushed or pulled until they couldn’t move the weight. That’s how you shock a muscle into growing, not by babying it and being afraid to work it too hard. Can you imagine Tom Platz getting his amazing legs if he had stopped his squats with 315 at 20 reps when he knew he could get 50 if he kept digging and put out every last ounce of effort he had? I don’t end a set until I have to, and it has worked very well for me all these years."