I found the following on an exercise website and this guy contradicts the stuff that everyone else says will bulk you up most effectively. I'm especially skeptical about statement #4...everyone says you should lift weights until muscle failure.

I don't know if I should listen to him or not. Is he right?

Not everyone says that and not everyone agrees on just about anything related to fitness and muscle building because there are *so many variables*. Sometimes working to failure is the best way to go. Sometimes it isn't. It is not absolutely necessary to hit failure in order to gain muscle, but most "hardcore lifters" will swear it is the fastest way. Everyone really has to decide for themselves. Granted I don't know what else the aformentioned guy stated, almost any program will work to some degree for someone. You have to use what workes best for you.

the only reason you would ever NOT lift to failure is on your first sets to avoid overworking and injuries. but you can avoid those side effects by carefully adjusting the amount of weight you use when lifting to failure. do not attempt to lift an excessive amount where you would be forced to cheat and will not be able to isolate the work done by your target muscle.

ps. it helps to consult a few personal trainers before you shift your entire routine, to avoid undesirable results!

personally, i'm a big fan of muscle failure and it has worked out for me so far. i usually know when to stop (when i can't support my body weight) and more often than not the next day my targeted muscle group will be stiff and sore. then on my next workout i usually see about a 2-4 pound increase in strength. but i don't resort to muscle failure on all of my workouts because the muscle group targeted usually takes longer than i'd like to recover. so i suggest you do follow the muscle failure workout, but if you're not comfortable with that kind of workout, then you can always go through another path. as long as you exercise.

Personally I think muscle failure is just another thing to vary during a training programme. I tend to periodize my workouts on a weekly basis, something like this:

Week 1: Hypertrophy (8 - 12 reps per set, medium/heavy weight)
Week 2: Strength (4 - 6 reps per set, heavy weight)
Week 3: Endurance (14 - 20 reps per set, light/medium weight)

I do this 3 times over and then take a full week off to recover, before starting again with a modified routine. The only week I work to failure is the 2nd week as I normally guage my progress on how much my max weights are during these workouts. So far, this approach does yield good results, though it's impossible to say - for me - if there is a "better" way. I'm sure there are tons of different approaches that would all work though.

So is working to failure best for hypertrophy, strength, or endurance?