No pain, no gain is a myth—if you know this one simple strength training technique

Smiling woman exercising with a barbell in a garage.

Training to failure features prominently in the resistance exercise playbook. The theory goes that by stressing your muscles to near breaking point when lifting weights, you'll cause micro-tears in the tissue that, once repaired, grow back bigger.

This process, called muscular hypertrophy, underpins strength training and muscle building, and it's essential if you want to keep your body strong, fit and impervious to injury as you age.