I personally enjoy doing a set of 8. When I say I reach a new PR(bench or squat or DL) I usually just mean that I can finally do 8 reps of it. I could probably do pretty damn heavy weights if I did 1 rep max but I wonder: is it just a vanity thing like “look how much I can lift for 1 single rep” or is it actually something to help me increase my mass? Or would a 5 rep increase mass more?
I never will try them because I don’t want to hurt myself doing a vanity rep. Imo, not worth the potential injury. I have a friend who all through HS and college years worked out and was super fit. Most fit human being I’ve ever met irl. Well several years ago he slipped a disk and hasn’t been able to work out since. So that’s always in the back of my mind. The difference between being able to continue working out and spending half a decade trying to recover, if able to recover at all, is one rep that fucks a disk.
If you want MASS do what you can do 5-10 of for several sets. I have been working with sets of 10. 1 warm of set of a lower weight, then 3 sets of my current weight and then see how a 4th set feels. If I can do 4 sets at a weight I move up the next week. I will never be some power lifter but I’ll take “stronger than most but also still functional.”