working to failure, relation to muscle endurance

On this site there have been several really good discussions about working to failure and how as long as correct form is used there are benifits.

 

I have a question about the benifits of working to or as close as possible to failure during endurance type work.

 

When trying to develop seldom used sport specific muscles for endurance type sports, I can either do interval type work spread out over a day, or do long workouts at a lower intensity and keep the soreness and recovery time down.

 

Or I can really push hard and pay the price in soreness and extended recovery times.

 

My question is do the benifits of working a muscle to failure outweigh the side effects of soreness and long recovery times?

 

Thanks

I wouldn't say going to failure is always more beneficial.  Especially if you can't train for a few days afterwards.

 

Everyone has their own opinion, but for me I like to leave a little in the tank so I can live the rest of my life without too much discomfort.

 

I'm not sure which sport you're referring to, but I know there is disagreement about training methods in most of them.