Hardstyle Theory - My take on "never train to failure"

All Hardstylers know that the Chief says "When you train to failure you train to fail".

If you know real-life lifters you know that plenty of big dudes takes their sets to failure and do very well.  My younger brother is the one of the biggest guys I know with 15+ years lifting experience and he takes at least a few sets to failure every session and prospers.

It's my opinion that the concept of "never train to failure"  falls on something of a spectrum.  There are certain lifts you almost never want to go to failure and others where I believe it is fine.  I also believe the higher the rep range the safer it is to take a set to failure.

Which lifts are bad/dangerous to failure?

It's a tie between the barbell squat and deadlift in my opinion.  When you watch the best powerlifters in the world train they hit 99%+ of their training lifts even as they reach the higher percentages of their max.  If one of my clients misses a rep at these exercises I know I made a mistake in programming and need to re-asses their baseline numbers.

Bench presses, standing strict presses fall somewhere in the middle.   We should probably avoid going to failure in these lifts in the lower rep range but it may be slightly safer to fail at higher reps.  I personally try to never miss a bench press but still somehow manage to miss some overhead presses.  Failing at an overhead kettlebell press is relatively safe because you simply re-rack it and get it to the floor safely.  

All ballistic moves!  Snatches, swings, cleans, jerks.  In this case when you watch the worlds best Olympic lifters move weight they almost never miss a rep.   They do a good deal of heavy singles but they almost never miss unless they are attempting a PR.    This applies to the kettlebell variations as well because if you "miss"  a kettlebell swing or snatch you are well on your way to hurting yourself.

What lifts are safe to take to failure?

Almost all of the isolation/bodybuilding type exercises are IMO totally safe to take to failure and this level of safety increases as the rep-range goes higher.  This all assumes good form as certain forms of cheating reps can be dangerous.  Doing a set of 5 reps in dumbell curls is probably more dangerous than a set of 12 or higher reps.  I feel that the isolation movements do best at at least 8 reps+ and most bodybuilders agree.    Most bodybuilding style trainees take at least their last set or 2 of  curls, tricep extensions, cable laterals, pec dec, etc to failure and grow very big muscle!

Loaded carries are also good to take to failure but there is a tremendous amount of suck in carrying a pair of heavy kettlebells to failure.   I usually put the bells down just before it feels like I am going to lose my grip.

There's my take on "never train to failure"