The topic of today’s discussion comes from a question an individual wanted to hear an answer to on the show.
And I am SO thankful they asked this question.
As a trainer, you tend to notice things in the gym that others don’t. There are many things that I notice that don’t seem quite right, but improper rest between sets is the common offender.
Believe it or not, the rest you take in between sets carries a lot of weight (pun intended) in the results you see from your workouts. Changing your rest times can completely change the outcome. If you want to speed up your metabolism, but you love the sweat, you may be doing yourself a disservice. If you’re wanting to increase the pump in your muscles but chatty Kathy got the best of your rest period, you won’t get that pump.
Since the amount of time you rest in between your sets carries just as much weight as the weight, sets, and reps you are lifting, it’s crucial we take a detailed look at rest periods.
WHY REST?
As you know, your body absolutely needs rest. It needs all sorts of rest. Sleep, rest when you’re sick, and rest in between sets, too.
The reason we rest in between sets is to allow our body to recover from the exercise it just performed. If we don’t rest, we don’t recover, and we can’t continue progressing.
But why does it matter how long we rest? As long as we feel ready to go again, right?
Well, yes. And no.
Most people that exercise are cardio junkies. They love to sweat, and if their heart rate monitor doesn’t get into the red zone, all hell is breaking loose. Most people believe that when they have finally caught their breath, they are recovered and ready to go into the next set. The problem here is that this hypothetical cardio junkie is only training one system of the body. Their cardiovascular system. They may want to get stronger and build leaner muscles, but if they are training to get their heart rate up, work up a sweat, and go balls to the wall for an hour straight, they won’t see those results. Not after a short while, at least.
When we exercise, we are telling our body to adapt to the environment we put it in. If that involves lifting heavy weights, you will likely become stronger and have a faster metabolism as a result. If that involves doing a circuit, your endurance will improve.
Whatever we “tell” our body to do, it becomes.
So if we aren’t supposed to go again when we catch our breath, how long should we really be resting? It depends on the goal.
RESTING FOR STRENGTH
Merriam-Webster defines strength as “the quality or state of being physically strong.”
Well, duh.
Basically, your physical strength is your ability to move some heavy ass weight. The more weight you can move, the stronger you are.
Our ability to produce strength comes from our central nervous system (CNS). Think of your CNS as your amplifier to your muscles (the speakers). The better the amplifier is, better sound will come from the speakers. The better your central nervous system is, the better it can communicate to the muscle fibers to produce more force. So we must tell that amplifier to improve through strength training.
There are two “unfortunately”s when it comes to rest and strength training. The first one is this: the central nervous system takes a long time to recover. The second is this: we can’t really feel when our central nervous system is recovered and ready to go.
A minimum rest period of 2 minutes is recommended when trying to improve sheer strength. If you are working in low rep ranges (2-6) to get stronger, make sure your rest time gives your CNS time to recover. I have found 2-3 minutes between sets to be the sweet spot.
RESTING FOR MUSCLE GROWTH
Hypertrophy (muscle growth) rest periods are different from strength rest periods.
When we go into higher rep ranges with shorter amounts of rest, we train the muscles more so than the CNS, and your muscles don’t need 3 minutes to recover between sets.
Fortunately, feeling out your rest period when training for muscle growth is much easier. You can get a sense of when your muscles are ready to go at it again.
Resting for 30 seconds to 90 seconds has been shown to be the sweet spot for muscle growth, preferably 60-90 seconds.
You may be sitting there thinking that 90 seconds is way too long for you to rest in between sets. If that is your thought process, you’re likely not lifting enough weight and pushing yourself hard enough. Your muscles should feel like they need every second in that rest period to recoup and recover before lifting those weights again.
RESTING FOR ENDURANCE
When we rest for endurance, the goal is to endure the stimulus (exercise) for an extended period of time. Think of the difference between an olympic sprinter, and an olympic long-distance runner. They are capable of extremes but those extremes are two very different things. One can sprint faster than most humans in the world but if you asked them to run a marathon, they’d suffer. The other can run a marathon like it’s a breeze, but don’t have the muscular capacity to move explosively in short windows.
But we’re not olympians. Maybe you are, I don’t know.
We are the general population that isn’t training to be the best of the best in a very specific sport. Which is why resting for endurance is very subjective.
It all depends on where the individual is at.
If you’re used to resting for 3 minutes in between sets, resting 1 minute may really test your endurance. If you’re used to resting 30 seconds in between sets, 15 seconds may feel like no time.
Generally, resting 15-45 seconds in between sets has been shown to help people improve their endurance. But again, it all depends on where you’re at.
THE TAKEAWAYS
You may have noticed that some of these rest period ranges overlap. As I mentioned, it’s because it all depends on what your body is used to.
As long as you stick within the ranges, your body will likely see the changes you’re demanding it to make.
Strength: 2+ minutes in between sets. Be sure you’re lifting heavy weight for 2-6 reps.
Hypertrophy: 60-90 seconds in between sets. Your weight should be heavy enough that a 6-12 rep range is difficult, but not impossible.
Endurance: 15-45 seconds in between sets. Usually paired with lighter weight that can be lifted for 12+ reps.
Now I do want to note one more thing before closing. These rest periods and energy systems don’t work solo. They are all intertwined, which is why it is super important to work in and out of training programs that improve all three - strength, hypertrophy, and endurance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam is a fitness professional, baseball fan, and cookie fanatic based in Fort Collins, Colorado. After hanging up the cleats, he found a strong interest in the human body and how it performs. Since then, Adam has been transforming lives through fitness in a fun and encouraging atmosphere. As an ACE CPT and Fitness Nutrition Specialist, he is constantly moved to help people improve in all walks of life.
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