Rest time between sets?

[elohelbrah]

I've heard a lot of different opinions on this:

- You should wait as long as you need to
- You should only be resting 60-90 seconds
etc

what's the truth? Does it really matter how much time you rest in between sets?

[bunkrd you]

yes, and no. If you want to overload the muscle, you will need proper rest inbetween sets to be able to preform a particular weight that will be large enough to overload your muscles. If you do drop sets or super sets(both have their own place in a routine)then you wont overload the muscle as much as say 3 heavy sets with 2-3 minutes in between. For the average lifter, I'd say it doesn't make a huge difference but its those little tweaks that add that extra pound to the bar.

[Rowbro]

i usually rest 2 minutes or more between working sets, and about 90 seconds on warmup sets (but sometimes if i do ramped sets i still wait the full 2 minutes). And if im doing isolation stuff for size rather than strength i might wait as little as 30-60 seconds, but only on stuff like curls and dumbell side raises

[bunkrd you]

everyone will have different thoughts. I swear up and down by max-ot and that preaches 2-3 minutes. I dont watch the clock by any means, but I know when I am ready to another heavy set. Listen to your body and you should be alright.

[gymcandykid]

It depends on what your training for...
When I was doing strength really heavy I would rest around 3 minutes..
If your doing normal moderate weights usually 1minute-1 1/2.
Obviously if ur supersetting then 0-15seconds (just enough to get to next exercise)

[TAS44]

Rest as long as you need to.

[orochikid]

When i did drops, i would rest for about 30 secs. But now that im bulking i go for about 30-90. I think if you rest too long the pump starts to go away which is a boner kill. I mean like heavy lifting that takes less than 10 seconds to do and than a 5 minute break. Please don't be that guy at the gym that does a freaken chest press with 2x 105 and than rests for 5 mins, checks his cell phone, tells you he has 1 set left and than checks his phone again, stands up walks around thinking he's all bad, gets back on the bench, places the weights on his knees and stairs at the mirror for 5 minutes before deciding to call his friend again and be like, "sup, watcha up too, me?? Just workin out."

[terahammer]

rest until you think you can do the next set with the amount of reps needed.

[NeoginCF]

I've heard a lot of different opinions on this:

- You should wait as long as you need to
- You should only be resting 60-90 seconds
etc

what's the truth? Does it really matter how much time you rest in between sets?

It makes a HUGE difference

During your rest your muscles recover bit by bit.

While after 60 seconds your muscle might be 80% recovered, it could be 90% after 120 seconds and so on. (numbers are fictional, concept is important)

To intensify your training you can lower the rest time but if you are looking to move more heavy weight you can lengthen it.

[elohelbrah]

It makes a HUGE difference

During your rest your muscles recover bit by bit.

While after 60 seconds your muscle might be 80% recovered, it could be 90% after 120 seconds and so on. (numbers are fictional, concept is important)

To intensify your training you can lower the rest time but if you are looking to move more heavy weight you can lengthen it.

So would what be better for hypertrophy? Because you can make amazing muscle gains on strength routines as well.. and they all rest for like 3-4+ minutes.

Thank you to everyone who replied

[NeoginCF]

So would what be better for hypertrophy? Because you can make amazing muscle gains on strength routines as well.. and they all rest for like 3-4+ minutes.

Thank you to everyone who replied

Most serious bodybuilders advice rest periods between 60 and 90 seconds for optimal training. As you said strength programs have longer rest periods but they also have less sets and heavier loads. Some even advice maximum 30 seconds rest to achieve an intensity above imagination, would not advice that without roids though.

[elohelbrah]

Most serious bodybuilders advice rest periods between 60 and 90 seconds for optimal training. As you said strength programs have longer rest periods but they also have less sets and heavier loads. Some even advice maximum 30 seconds rest to achieve an intensity above imagination, would not advice that without roids though.

All right, thanks man.

[onsidekick]

if im going light, i do 30-90 secs, if im goin heavy, anywhere from 3-5 mins

[Dgwear]

its kinda dealing with how you train. if you have a higher rep range you would prob take a little less rest time than if you are doing 1-5 reps.