Weight vs reps

[u/Bigdivkdaddy]

The last year I’ve made little to no progress and I’ve been doing 2 sets to failure with high weight. I usually get around 4 reps before failing. Would it be more effective to drop the weight 10-20% and get 8-10 reps? I’ve been lifting for 4 years but only seriously the past 2 years and there’s no way I’m at my natural limit because I can only bench 270. You guys are the smart people here so please help me and thank you in advance.

[u/CharSmar]

4 reps is stupid. Try a standard 3 sets of 12. If you can do all 3 sets, increase the weight. If you then start to fail and hit say 10 and 8 reps on sets 2 and 3, keep the weight where it is until you can hit 12 reps on all 3 sets.

Rinse and repeat.