I hate lifting less than full intensity. I don’t have a coach so I always feel like I’m cheating myself. But that doesn’t mean I’m overtaining or going to failure on every set every day either. I go to failure on one exercise on one set twice per week. On flat bench and squat.
My squat has improved tremendously… over 100 pounds in 13 working weeks. Bench press has been relatively stagnant since week 7.