If you're a guy who lifts weights, going all the way to failure or stopping just short gives your muscles about the same kind of growth changes over 10 weeks.

No matter if you use a pyramid, go to failure, or stick to a normal routine, your muscle fibers don’t change their angle or how they’re packed together any more with one method than another—when you do the same total work.

When men who don't usually exercise start lifting weights, the angle of their muscle fibers changes by about 9% in 12 weeks. It doesn't matter if they lift heavy or light weights, or if they push until they can't do any more reps or not.

Lifting weights twice a week for six weeks — whether using heavier or lighter weights — helps young, healthy guys build leg muscle just about the same amount, compared to not training at all.

If you're lifting heavy weights and stop just before your muscles give out, you'll still gain about as much muscle as if you pushed to the very last rep you can possibly do.

Your muscle fibers don’t get longer with one training method over another—whether you go to failure, use pyramids, or stick to the basics—as long as you do the same total amount of work.