rest time between sets?

[LeilaM]

Hi all

I have a question -- if anyone might know something about this, I'd appreciate any responses

Rest time between sets- what would be considered the most optimal time range (1 minute, 2-3min, 30 seconds, etc) between doing sets of the same exercise?

Also, does rest period affect results? I've noticed circuit trainers have pretty brief rests between sets- is this to achieve a different result?

Does the number of sets or particular goal (strength or hypertrophy or endurance) also make a difference on how much time you should take between each set?


Thanks ahead of time for anyone who knows a bit about this

[Random Guy]

Take as much time as you need; you'll need much more for compound movements, naturally. The cardiovascular conditioning from short rest sessions is very minimal; if you want cardio hope on the bike. If anything, decreased rest sessions may hurt your work load in the gym (as long as your break isn't obnoxiously long and you begin to cool down). Just take as much time as you need.

[Uriel_da_man]

Idealy you'd keep it anywhere between 90 seconds and three minutes (the more demanding the exercise the longer). Any more than that and you're training for strength.

[Random Guy]

Originally Posted by Uriel_da_man

Any more than that and you're training for strength.

Yuck! Who would want that?

[John Prophet]

as always..it depends

depends on the goal


powerlifters and strength athletes take 3-5 minutes

bb'ers getting ready for a show take like almost no break at all




for squats/bench/dead/military press/bent rows etc Id say take 2-2:30 minutes when training heavy. If you are training more for a pump then shorten it to 1:30ish

for arms, delt iso etc you dont need as much time




you can get a clue by looking at different body types....the really lean peopel train really fast, almost nonstop jumping around like rabbits, they stay lean year round but never really get big

on the opposite end of the spectrum would be some powerlifters who train slow and heavy all year long....you can do the math on what type of physique that builds

so if one wants to be big and muscular then they need to be somewhere in between those 2 extremes. Also you might train slower in the "off season" and then pick it up some when its time to trim down for the beach etc

[Febs]

It depends aon what type of training you are doing! A poserlifter would rest about 3 mins between sets when doing heavy work where as a bodybuilder would rest about 1-2 mins. I personally rest 1 min when doing small muscle groups such as bis/tris etc and 1.30 to 2 mins when doing heavy movements such as deads, bench and squat.


Edit: What the Proph said^^^

[Uriel_da_man]

Originally Posted by Random Guy

Yuck! Who would want that?

Well it sounds great in theory but in practice you gain more strength...but not in the sense you're understanding it - you gain more strength in a strength/mass ratio, meaning that a short rest might give you results leaning more twards the mass side and longer rest is the opposite.

[John Prophet]

yes....IMO shorter rest periods tend to push the mass equation up compared to the really long rest periods

that may seem like I contradicted myself.....but what I mean is that by training heavy, low reps, long rest periods you are basically building strength......by going with slightly higher reps, shorter rest periods, you are now working more for pure mass

I am not talking about running around like a rabbit either, lol....that is just if you are training for a movie role as a concentration camp victim

[FortifiedIron]

Depends on the exercise, training goals, and the load being used.

You cant beat short rest periods for conditioning and hypertrophy. However you need to understand how to apply them correctly so you dont ruin your training.

Kc

[Random Guy]

Originally Posted by John Prophet

yes....IMO shorter rest periods tend to push the mass equation up compared to the really long rest periods

So does eating

[TXScout2]

The main things happening within the muscle that effect rest periods are ATP/CP replenishment, and the repayment of an oxygen deficit.
During most resistence training, your body is going to use ATP/CP as an energy source. This source is quickly exhausted however, and when it runs out motor units will lose their ability to fire and your force production will go down.

Secondly, when using the anaerobic glycolytic system, once the muscle has run out of pyruvic acid to accept hydrogen ions, the cell will begin to lose function. This is what people incorrectly say is "lactic acid" burn. In fact lactic is simply pyruvic acid plus a hyrogen ion. It is when you run out of pyruvic acid, so no more can be converted to lactic acid, when the problem begins. Hydrogen ions will having no place to go float around the cell, which becomes acidic and loses it's ability to function.

So for everyone here, lactic acid does not cause "the burn" nor does it cause soreness. It is simply pyruvic acid plus a hydrogen ion, which later gets removed and becomes pyruvic acid again.

Regarding ATP/CP phosphate recovery,
20-30 seconds will provide about 50% of ATP/CP recovery
40 seconds - 75%
60 seconds - 85-90%
3 minutes - close to 100%

Regarding lactic acid removal, depending on the athlete, lactic acid builds up at different rates for different people. In trained athletes the lactic acid is usually reconverted to pyruvic acid prettty quickly after a set, within one minute. For untrained people, this may not be the case. However, lactic acid will be removed from the muscle cell to allow it to function more efficiently within a short period of time. Once lactic acid is in the blood stream it has to go to the liver to be turned back into pyruvic acid. Depending on how much lactic acid has built up in the blood stream this can take up to an hour.

Athletes training for strength want maximum motor recruitment on every set so as to continue to train the muscle and nervous systems as they will be utilized in whichever event is being trained for.

Some parties suggest that in training for hypertrophy incomplete recovery is optimal so that the muscle will begin to recruit fibers other than the original fast twitch fibers that are already exhausted from the first set. That way a larger percentage of overall muscle fibers are activated. Other parties argue complete recovery should be as complete as possible. Usually 60-90 seconds is recommended for hypertrophy.

Some people suggest that the ATP/CP phosphate should be exhausted AND the lactate threshold should be reached during a set. So, according to that logic, when choosing your sets you should choose a weight that will cause you to fail when approaching 1 minute under load. So you can see rest periods are also going to be relative to how long the muscle was worked in the first place.

Of you are an athlete like an elite cyclist or runner you may be training for a higher lactate threshold. In that case you would want to flood the muscles with hydrogen ions by using maximal effort for close to a minute, followed by a complete recovery, then repeating several more times. You could also train at a heart rate close to your max, but not quite there for an extended period of time.

Hopefully that sheds some light on rest periods for you.