Rest Times on 5x5

[Legion Kreinak2]

I was just wondering, how long of a rest time is recommended for doing 5x5? As of now I rest for 2 minutes between the heavy 5x5 sets, and 1 minute between 2x8 accessory work sets.

 

[Tim_Bass]

From what I have gathered, it depends on which bodypart. You should also consider what works for you. Try different approaches, and use whatever gives you best results.

 

[danielson]

i believe its a long rest time as you wanna make sure your muscles have fully recovered so u can tax your neuronal system to its fullest (if you didnt wait so long, your muscles would still be tired and u couldnt do as much)

 

[Zyglamail]

Im with danielson, long rest will allow you to maximally tax CNS and work on muscle recruitment. If you take shorter rests you will intoduce fatigue into the equation which will cause more hypertrophy. I personally incorporate both in the same workout. I choose a weight that I can just do 5 reps with(usually about 905 1rm) and do 2 sets with lots of rest between to stimulate CNS. After that I drop weight to about 80% 1rm and shoot for sets of five, I stop at 5 even if I can do more, however I only rest 30 seconds between sets and I do as many sets as I can until I cant get 5 reps which is usually between 2-5 sets.

 

[coolcolj]

Here what research says -

rest periods > 3 mins promote large testosterone release, people gain more strength

Rest periods < 3mins - promotes greater GH release, which tends to lean you up, but strength increases are way lower


pick your poison.

My experience with the Smolov squat program I'm on says - 4-4.5mins is a good rest period, you can pretty much retain most of your strength from set to set.

Testosterone is very good for size

 

[Sebass67]

Looks like i may be in the gym a lot this Christmas break...
Going for strength...
Thanks for the info CoolcolJ

 

[Bullit]

CoolColJ -
I have seen many people on here mix up the < and > so I just wanted to confirm what you are saying.

You are saying:
rest periods greater than 3 mins promote large testosterone release while less than 3 min promotes GH.... right?

 

[coolcolj]

CoolColJ -
I have seen many people on here mix up the < and > so I just wanted to confirm what you are saying.

You are saying:
rest periods greater than 3 mins promote large testosterone release while less than 3 min promotes GH.... right?

correct

 

[Bullit]

damn, workouts would be pretty long with 3 min rests!

Oh, and that avatar chick =

 

[Sebass67]

What about with regards do doing something like sprinting?

 

[needsize]

I'm with Zyg on this one, for the 5x5 I rest as long as I need to hit my next set, anywhere between 3-5 minutes depending on the bodypart. but as the workout progresses I keep cutting the rest periods shorter