Energy balance
Reducing the number of repetitions per set by 50% (from 10 to 5) while maintaining the same load and rest intervals prevents the depletion of muscle phosphocreatine (PCr) and ATP, thereby maintaining power output and avoiding the metabolic disruption associated with training to failure.
If your goal is to maintain power output across multiple sets, stop each set before you fail. In this study, doing 5 reps per set (instead of 10) with the same weight preserved energy stores (PCr and ATP) and kept power output stable, whereas going to failure depleted energy and dropped power by 33%. You can likely achieve similar strength benefits with less metabolic waste by stopping 1-2 reps short of failure.
Reducing the number of repetitions per set by 50% causes a lower disruption to the energy balance in the muscle.
Why this rating
Small sample size (n=6) limits generalizability, but the within-subject crossover design and clear metabolic markers strengthen internal validity.
Source
Energy Metabolism during Repeated Sets of Leg Press Exercise Leading to Failure or Not
Esteban M. Gorostiaga et al. · PLoS ONE · 2012
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0040621
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