If you're an experienced lifter trying to get stronger, building more muscle—like by sometimes pushing your sets to the max—can help boost your strength over time.

If you're someone who already lifts weights regularly, pushing your muscles until they can't do another rep might help you grow slightly bigger muscles than if you stop before reaching failure.

Lifting weights helps people build bigger, stronger muscles, probably because it makes their muscles produce more protein and release helpful signaling molecules that help them grow and work better.

Getting stronger from lifting weights doesn’t always mean your muscles are getting bigger—and vice versa. Strength and size don’t go hand in hand.

If you're already experienced with weightlifting, pushing your muscles to failure might help them grow bigger—but if you're new to lifting, doing the same thing doesn't seem to give you the same benefit. Your experience level changes how effective this technique is.

If you lift weights until you're almost too tired to do another rep, you'll likely build bigger muscles—but your strength gains won't be any better than if you stopped earlier, as long as you're doing the same total amount of work and lifting the same weight.