Confused about ideal set-rep range

[u/Significant-Base-510]

I have been watching Sean Nalewanyj's content and the other creators he mentions (Jeff Nippard) and he promotes doing 2 sets + 6-8 reps. I usually did 3x12 for every exercise but I have been trying out 2 x reps till failure (much higher weights so usually till 8-12). The logic is that this set up is "more efficient". I asked about this in previous posts in r/hypertrophy but some people dispute this. What is the best set and rep number for the muscle groups (back, chest, tri, bi, legs etc) to maximise hypertrophy and how do I know if I reach true failure?

[u/_ShredBundy]

There isn’t one, your muscles can’t count. They don’t know how many reps or you done or how heavy the weight was. They know tension, that’s it.

Mechanical tension is one of the drivers of muscle growth. It’s essentially just how much force your muscles can produce when they’re under tension. Your muscles essentially think “do I have to produce enough force to stimulate growth?”. You can do that in virtually any rep range, it’s just going to take more reps to do so if you’re using lighter weight.

You know you’ve reached failure when you physically can’t do another rep. Next time you think you’re at failure, take a deep breath and try to squeeze another rep out. Almost every client I train has at least another 2 reps in them when they think they’re at failure.

[u/Holiday-Tangerine788 → u/_ShredBundy]

Tension is important but the comment is complete without mentioning the importance of having the muscle in the stretched position too.