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It depends on the exercise modality.

If you're doing cardio for VO2 max or endurance training, end-of-set effort generally counts for more (though a proper warm-up sets you up for success).

For skill activities, cumulative experience matters, but form breakdown with fatigue limits single-session gains. Going flat-out all the time isn't beneficial.

For weight training, hypertrophy (size/mass increase) seems to be based on time-under-tension and total volume (so that last set matters), while strength and power training rely on motor-unit recruitment and/or speed, both of which are maximized when you're relatively fresh.

Even for hypertrophy and endurance, there are diminishing returns to additional sets. Somewhere between 3-5 sets for a given exercise and you're not going to see much additional advantage. A training session may include other movements to stimulate muscle from different angles, at different ranges of motion, or independently of other synergist/agonist muscles.

The article is discussing one aspect of one form of exercise. The conclusions it reaches (happiness / mood influences of cardio) aren't generalizeable to either all effects or all forms of exercise.



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