breaks in between

[swaptrex]

i am curious how long of breaks you guys take in between sets, do you take a long break(2-4 minutes) or a somewhat shorter break(30secs-1.5min) i ask because i see different people taking different length breaks in between sets whether it is benchpressing or doing curls.

 

[musketeer]

As short a time as possible, so long as I can get a good set next time around. For explplosive singles/doubles thats about a minute, for 20rep squats to failure, that's up to 5-8 mins!
I normally don't stop moving, so I'm setting the bar down (after a set) pulling off a plate, putting another on, sipping some water strec=tching the working muscles and breathing deeply, looking at my reflection and focusing in the next set...

 

[swaptrex]

cool, anyone else?

 

[Tedster]

For squats and bench, I take about three minutes or so between sets. For everything else, I try to jump back in as soon as I've caught my breath. However, I also always try to do two excercises at a time (working a different muscle) to give the other muscle a chance to rest up for the next set.

 

[vin01]

I know there is an atricle floating around somewhere that states the following:
30 second rest equates to like 67% muscle recovery
1 min rest equates to like 85% recovery
and 3 minutes equates to like ~92% recovery

Usually I like to keep my rests between sets to about a minute, unless I am pushing weight that is 80%+ of my max. Often times to, I go on feel rather then a set time.

One annoying this is though, when you see these skinny ass twerps who bench and curl all day who take like 5 minute rests between sets. It's irritating. You need to get on the bench and this guys has 5 more sets, and 45 min. later, he's finally done..

 

[musketeer]

There's none of that shit at my new ghetto gym!

The bench is always shared and I'll happily side a 45 over whatever those kids are pressing so I can alternate sets with them.

 

[tay1506]

i start the next set as soon as i feel like most of the strength is back in my muscles and when im going above 80% like u said my rest are somewhere between 3-4 min. If not my rests are about 20 sec. to 1 min long.

 

[swaptrex]

so i assume it's better to let your muscles recover almost fully before the next set?

 

[tay1506]

it depends on what u are trying to do and everyone says something different. However according to most people longer rest is used for gaining more strength and shorter rest periods are used for gaining size. Also it depends on how much of ur max u are doing.

 

[anotherbutters]

However according to most people longer rest is used for gaining more strength and shorter rest periods are used for gaining size.

Count me out of your definition of 'most people'. This is just plain wrong.

Just rest until you're ready for the next set, no more, no less. Don't make such a big deal out of it.

 

[kiosk]

rest as long as you need to give the next set justice...but dont wonder away from the routine, I see some people start chit-chatting or on the cell phone...makes no sense.

 

[blut wump]

It varies between 1 and 10 minutes, the main factor being intensity. I have the luxury of being able to go to the gym when it's mostly empty and we have a spare rack, too, so, on those days when I'm taking an age and applying knee wraps and getting my belt just right etc, no-one's inconvenienced.

 

[nelmsjer]

It depends on both your goals (doesn't everything?), training age, and your general fiber type. tay1506 is right in that the longer rest periods help facilitate strength and shorter rest periods (although not ridiculously short) help to create size gains. Also, hormonal factors play a role. With hypertrophy work (assuming appropriate loads), shorter rest periods (45-60 sec.) tend to lead to a marked increase in growth hormone. On the other end of the spectrum, long rest periods (3-4 minutes) with strength and power-based loads tend to create increases in free testosterone.

Consider this, though. If you're to the point that you're truly this concerned with rest periods, be wise enough to have everything else (nutrition, sleep, exercise selection, total volume, etc.) dialed in, as well.

 

[anotherbutters]

I know what you're saying and I'm not saying you're wrong, but if you kept all other variables the same - diet, sleep, intensity, volume, overall load, etc - and only changed the time in between sets, I don't think you would see a measurable difference. If I tried resting for 45 seconds between sets for 2 months, then tried 4 minutes between sets for the next 2 months, I don't think I'd see the difference. There are much bigger levers that you can use to control whether you're training for strength or size, such as working in a different rep range and changing how much you eat. I think looking at rest periods is looking at the 1% of the things you can control.

 

[nelmsjer]

Hmmm...thanks for the post. Before I discuss this, I'll freely state that I'm not in the category of having everything else down perfectly. So, I have to honestly say that I can't give you personal experience to back it up. However, I've still got to believe that IF - and it's a BIG IF - everything else was constant, that you would see a difference after 2 months.

The big factor, as blut_wump said, is the intensity. If you used the appropriate weight for strength and/or power loading, your nervous and muscular system would surely create a different response over 2 months. Again, I haven't experimented enough personally to know 100%, but I can almost guarantee you are going to be stronger after 2 months with 4 minutes of rest vs. 45 seconds. As a matter of fact, after 2 months, you MAY run the risk of actually becoming weaker with only 45 second rests, depending on your nervous system's ability to recover at those intensities.

Make sense, or am I missing something?

 

[anotherbutters]

My point was simply that some things have a more significant effect than others. I don't think the rest period is that significant. If your goal is strength, changing to the 1-3 rep range is going to help you far more than increasing the rest period. To measure the effect of changing the rest period, you'd have to keep everything else the same, which would mean not changing the rep range (and still getting in all your reps).

 

[tay1506]

If u normally rest for 60 seconds between reps and bust ur ass everytime u will come out of the gym feeling very fatigued. However the next day i don't think u will be as greatly fatigued as if u would have been if u made ur workout say 30 min longer with 3 - 4 min rests. Try it, I did and I also did not see as much strength gains i kept it relatively the same for 1 month with low length rest periods and i hardly went anywhere with the weights.

 

[fortunatesun]

One of the articles I read on the Westside site (don't ask me to figure out which) gave this benchmark:

1min. = speed training

1.5 min = hypertrophy

2 min. = strength

Of course, as anotherbutters suggested, I think it's best to also use the intuitive approach- what your energy levels are, what seems to work for you, and so forth.

I think what's most important, however long you take, is to maintain intensity. Once you've interupted your workout by slacking off and turning it into 2 different workouts, you've given yourself a major setback.

 

[Illuminati]

depends on the day. if i am doing speed work, i take 30 seconds between sets. if it is a max effort day, i take anywhere up to 5 minutes.

 

[Assertive Guy]

depends on the day. if i am doing speed work, i take 30 seconds between sets. if it is a max effort day, i take anywhere up to 5 minutes.

Changing my rest periods from 1 min to 2 min made a HUGE difference in the amount I could lift in terms of weight (lower reps). After about 3 months, I could life for 9 reps (I changed the system a bit), what I could only manage for 1 and 1/2 before (no juice or supplements included). I'd definitely try it out!