Lifting and not hitting failure
This is a genuine question, not a “bro what are you even doing” question and it’s not intended to be sassy or sarcastic. When you’re lifting weights and not hitting failure, what is happening in the muscles?
A few examples of context:
You’re traveling and working out at a hotel gym and all they have is a set of 10 lb dumbbells. You do lunges and shoulder presses using these, knowing they’re nowhere near your typical working or failure weight.
You can’t make it to the gym because your kid is sick, so you knock out a quick at-home circuit using only body weight even though you typically lift very heavy.
Any orange theory/weighted exercise class where you are keeping your heart rate up but definitely not achieving muscular failure.
Gardening. Moving. Carrying your 40 lb kid up 4 flights of stairs because they fell asleep. Pilates. ETC.
Hypertrophy and gymbro internet has led me to believe that if you’re not hitting failure these workouts are wasted, but I don’t really believe that. You may not be growing muscle, but you’re doing something, and I am interested to know what is happening in the muscles.