Hello everyone! Today we are waiting for another article on the requests of workers, i.e. You, my dear readers. This has already become our tradition when I answer the most frequently asked questions (via the project feedback form) through articles. The next question on the agenda is how much rest you need between approaches. During the article, we will get acquainted with the latest scientific data and find out specific figures for respite in the hall.
Let's not put things off, let's go.
The whole truth about how much rest you need between sets
Honestly, I love this kind of article, because the question is formulated precisely - how much rest you need between approaches, it is relevant, quite ambiguous and, among other things, makes you think. Therefore, the article turns out to be appropriate. Well, I would like to start with the fact that I myself remember the moment when I first came to the gym (was an absolute oak-oak) and your very first questions. Most of all I was interested in such questions as how to quickly pump up abs, where is the dining room, and ours today - about how much rest. In general, a standard gentlemanly set of questions for a newbie.
Of course, I started asking them to more experienced guys and began to receive very varied digital answers: someone said 1 just a minute, someone 2-3 , there were cases of 5 , well, someone didn’t say anything and just looked at him with a silent reproach - they say, hello, we’ve arrived, another green dumbass has arrived :). I must say that I myself did not sit idly by, but tried in every possible way to dig out the necessary information (including on the Internet). Dig it up - I dug it up, and it was a standard number - 45-60 seconds, I calmed down and switched to other, more pressing issues. Over time, I realized that I did not do the right thing, and today you will find out why.
As I said above, the information about how much rest you need is very mixed, and it was based on rumors, guesses and unclear advice, unverified information. I could also say that everyone needs to rest when sowing corn. 1-2 minutes and finish the article here, but this would be the height of indecency towards you. Therefore, we will not rely on various heresies, but will simply connect the latest scientific research to this question and find out what numerical answer these bright minds offer us.
How long should you rest between sets: research
And we'll start by examining the data of one researcher, Jacob Wilson. (American doctor of medicine, author of scientific works on one respected bodybuilding resource on the Internet). So, he studied the dependence of muscle growth, strength and power on periods of human rest during training. Let's look at them in a little more detail.
No. 1 Duration of rest. Hypertrophy
The goal of muscle hypertrophy is to create (stimulation) anabolic environment for muscles as much as possible. Scientific evidence suggests that this process occurs with a shorter ( 30-60 seconds) as opposed to longer rest periods ( 3-5 minutes). In the study, people performed either 5 , or 10 repetitions per set, with 1 before 3 minutes of rest between sets. The majority of subjects showed 10 repetitions and 1 a minute of rest there is a significant increase in somatotropin. This indicates that this time is the optimal rest period for muscle growth.
With a shorter rest period, the human body has much less time to clear itself of lactate (the main muscle acidifier when working with weights).
No. 2. Duration of rest. Strength and Power
When a person trains with weights, they (mostly) use two systems. The first of them is creatine phosphate, the effect of which lasts from 0 before 10 seconds of the entire work and the second is the glycolytic system, which is designed for a period of 30-90 seconds, and in which we use muscle glycogen (or stored form of carbohydrates) as a source of work.
Creatine phosphate is the most powerful system for ensuring muscle function and for replenishing its reserves (after a hard set) necessary from 3 before 5 minutes. For strength and power activities, each set should be completed with the maximum number of repetitions possible. (while maintaining equipment) lifting heavy weights. Research shows that for this to happen, the body needs 3-5 minutes of rest. This will result in sufficiently reduced lactic acid levels and higher creatine phosphate stores for each set.
The study revealed that the rest period in 3 minutes leads to increased strength (in the exercise squats with a barbell), while 30 a second break increases strength by only 2% . Conclusion: strength training requires compliance with similar rest periods, because... depends on creatine phosphate storage levels and low lactic acid levels.
Summarizing all of the above, we can draw the following conclusions - you need to rest between approaches:
- for muscle growth 30-60 seconds;
- to develop strength and power 3-5 minutes.
As you know, I am not a supporter of frozen forms :) (against established patterns), so I always try to objectively approach the consideration of any training issue. We will do the same this time – i.e. We ourselves will try to logically figure out what factors the rest time depends on?
Basically there are three:
- the intensity and range of repetitions used for this exercise;
- full body coverage (percentage of muscles involved in the exercise);
- the main objective (muscle building, strength gain, fat loss, etc.).
Based on these three factors, let's try to figure out how to derive specific rest numbers between approaches and exercises. In most sources of information you can come across such time frames from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. What can I say, quite a wide range, let's try to narrow it down by applying each factor in a specific situation.
And we'll start with...
How Intensity and Rep Range Affect Rest Time
It is necessary to remember the following postulate - the fewer repetitions you can do per set, the higher the intensity of the training should be; accordingly, the more repetitions, the lower the intensity. All this has a direct impact on the amount of rest between sets, and the relationship here is as follows:
- the higher ( 10-15 ) rep range/lower intensity, the less rest you need between sets;
- the lower ( 5-7 ) rep range/higher the intensity, the more rest the body needs.
So, for example, if you do 6 repetitions per set, then you should rest more between sets than if you were doing 12 repetitions in a set of the same exercise.
How exercise itself affects rest time
Along with the number of repetitions in a set, the exercises performed also influence the time of non-canting. Everything is very simple here:
- The more effort an exercise requires, the more rest you need (for example, it requires a colossal cumulative load of many muscle layers);
- The less effort an exercise requires, the less rest you need.
If we look at muscle groups, here's how to distribute rest time.
Multi-joint exercises such as various, push-ups, presses (military, kicking in the simulator, etc.), – require more rest time. Isolation exercises – biceps curls, triceps extensions, calf raises, etc. – require less rest.
Note:
Also, if the exercise is for a large muscle group, but it is isolating (let’s say on your back, bent over row), then rest, in comparison with complex exercises, is still required less.
How does your main goal affect your rest time?
Rest time between sets can be classified 2 in various ways, complete and incomplete. Both of them have their pros and cons, depending on your goal.
Note:
For those who still don’t know how to set fitness/bodybuilding goals correctly, the following note will come in handy.
Full rest time
This type of rest is longer in duration and promotes better recovery of the central nervous system. This means you'll be able to maintain your performance capacity longer, improve your maximum strength output, be prepared for heavy, high-rep sets, and lift heavier weights for higher reps.
Fatigue and accumulation of metabolites (play an important role in fat loss, muscle building and improving muscle endurance) in this case it is usually lower.
Partial rest time
This type of rest is shorter in duration and allows more fatigue to accumulate. It is associated with higher levels of growth hormone and also carries various metabolic benefits. The number of neurons restored will be lower (compared to the first method), which means that strength and performance in high-repetition sets will also be lower.
I'm sure many of you have a question on your lips...
What type of holiday is best for me?
And here it all depends on the goal. Full or partial rest time may be suitable for you, or perhaps a combination of one or another type. Here's what I mean:
As you can see, there is no strict division by type of holiday (only the first, or only the second). You may be somewhere in the middle, getting the benefits of both.
So now it's time to answer the most important question...
How long should you rest between sets?
Putting all three factors together (and taking into account your goal), we get the following picture:
- To increase muscular endurance and/or reap the benefits of metabolic/circuit training, rest is essential 20-60 seconds between sets. If the exercise is more demanding on the body, the rest amount shifts to the upper limit of this range. If less – to the lower limit;
- To increase strength and maximum power you need to rest 2-5 minutes between sets. The higher the intensity of the exercise and/or the more demanding it is on your body, the more you need to shift towards higher limits of this range. Otherwise, you should stay at the lower end of this range;
- To build muscle mass and improve body composition, you need to rest 1-3 minutes between sets. The higher the intensity of the workout, the exercise and/or the more demanding it is on your body, the closer you should stay to the range 2-3 minutes. Otherwise, you need to stay within the range 1-2 minutes.
So, it seems that we have sorted this out, all that remains is to answer the question...
How long should you rest between exercises?
In the training process, everything is interconnected, i.e. rest between exercises usually depends on how long you rested between sets of the previous exercise. This means that if you were on vacation 3 minutes between sets of exercise No. 1, then you should rest for about 3 minutes before performing the first set of exercise No. 2.
You shouldn’t be too categorical about the rest time between exercises; often those minutes are enough (+- 1 ) which are used to prepare the apparatus for the next exercise or hike to the corresponding simulator.
Conclusion: when answering the question of how much rest you need between sets, you need to be more strict and consistent in observing the norms of rest between sets and not be too scrupulous about the rest time between exercises.
Well, in fact, all temporary issues have been considered.
To somehow summarize all this chatter, I will give general recommendations regarding setting the rest time for yourself. I would formulate them like this:
- listen to smart advice and try everything in practice, recording the changes;
- Your own body will tell you how much rest it needs, listen to it more often;
- remember and always keep in mind the general time intervals for rest;
- periodically (depending on changing conditions) adjust your rest time;
- If you don’t know where to start, then try out all kinds of rest time intervals and read the feedback from the body, choose the best one.
Now that’s it, all that’s left is to wave to each other and say goodbye.
Afterword
How long should you rest between sets? This is the question we tried to answer today. I am sure that now you have formed a clear picture regarding “relaxation” during training, and you will no longer have to return to this issue.
That's it, in that spirit, that way, until we meet again, my dears!
PS. I passed by the comments and didn’t unsubscribe - I delayed the new article!
P.P.S. Did the project help? Then leave a link to it in your social network status - plus 100 points towards karma, guaranteed.
With respect and gratitude, Dmitry Protasov.
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Today we will talk about how much rest you need between sets during training. Pausing between strength sets is important for a bodybuilder. Rest equal to one minute, two or three between approaches will have different effects on physical condition and, as a result, lead to different training effects.
About the length of rest between approaches
Different pauses - different tasks!
One of the really necessary training accessories is a stopwatch. It doesn’t matter whether you have it on your wristwatch, phone, gadget or anywhere else, the main thing is that you can measure the duration of the pause between approaches.
The pause itself is necessary to restore the body's energy resources. First of all, creatine phosphate, which is the first to be consumed for the work of contracting your muscles. You've probably noticed that powerlifters, weightlifters and other strength athletes rest for a very long time between sets, 4-5 minutes. It is important for them to lift maximum weight and approach the approach with a high energy reserve. Complete restoration of creatine phosphate occurs within 5-10 minutes.
The graph shows that creatine phosphate is the first to go to work on contraction. It only lasts for 10-15 seconds. Next, the process of anaerobic glycolysis is activated - muscle glycogen is consumed. And only after 2 minutes of work, oxidation joins glycolysis.
Thus, if your goal is strength work, it makes sense to rest between sets for 3-5 minutes. Find the optimal rest time experimentally.
From the article about we remember that one of the factors of muscle growth is metabolic stress. It is characterized by the accumulation of glycolysis products in the muscles, causing acidification. Short rest breaks of 30 seconds to 1 minute are ideal for this.
Moreover, you do not have to use super-heavy weights. The cumulative effect of this stimulus gives a good impetus to growth when performing several approaches in a row with short rest breaks. The overall intensity of such a workout will be very high.
Higher intensity (less rest) - more incentive to grow
The golden mean for all bodybuilders is the classic pause of 2 minutes between approaches. For 8-12 repetitions per set, this scheme is traditional in bodybuilding.
You should choose long or short rest periods between approaches based on your goals and body capabilities. Combining principles and introducing creative aspects is encouraged. As an example, some athletes use the following scenario: one workout is heavy, strength, low intensity and with long rest breaks between approaches, the second is light, short, but high intensity for acidification with minimal rest breaks.
Recovery is the time between workouts for the same muscle group. If you have not fully recovered, then most likely you will not see results from your workout - this applies to both those who are trying to build muscle mass and those who want to lose excess weight.
Insufficient recovery can eventually lead to the effect overtraining. This effect manifests itself in the fact that a person begins to feel chronic fatigue, muscle pain and depression. Also, recovery is very important in order to establish the right balance between home, work and the gym.
1 // Recovery for muscle building
To build muscle mass, you need a recovery period of 5-7 days between workouts per muscle group. This time is enough for the body to fully restore its strength, and the muscles to increase in size. If you train the same muscles more than once every 5-7 days, it will do more harm than good. However, with a properly structured training plan, you can train your muscles more often and still see results, but this is more likely to apply to experienced athletes rather than beginners.
For proper recovery, you should wait up to 48 hours after the muscle pain has gone away. For example, you train your pecs on Mondays, on Tuesday and Wednesday you feel pain in the triceps area, Thursday and Friday are the days when the pain subsides and muscle growth begins. Next time you can train your pecs no earlier than Saturday.
Of course, it is important to clarify that on those days when one muscle group is recovering, you can train another, but at least 5 days must pass between training the same muscle group.
If you feel the effect of overtraining, we advise you to take a two-week break from strength training, during which time the body should fully recover and you can start training again without making the same mistakes.
2 // Recovery for Strength Gain
If your goal is to increase strength, then you need 2-3 days to recover. The growth of strength directly depends on the nerve endings of your body. If you want to increase the weight of your bench press, then you need to perform this exercise as often as possible in order to strengthen the nerve endings responsible for maximum muscle contraction. 2-3 days is enough to completely restore the body’s nervous system.
On recovery days, you can try performing partial ranges of motion in the exercises.
3 // Recovery during endurance training
When performing endurance exercises, phosphocreatine and glycogen stores in the muscles are consumed. For their complete recovery, rest for 24-48 hours is necessary. If after 24 hours you feel muscle pain, then engage in active recovery (low-intensity cardio training, swimming, etc.). Make sure that after a seven-day training cycle, you have at least 2 days off from any form of training.
4 // Recovery while burning fat
It takes 48 hours to recover from a workout designed to burn fat. During recovery, you can do interval training or low-impact cardio.
There are many different eccentrics in the room. For example, a girl wants to pump up the center of the universe like Usmanova, and in the locker room a guy is choking on a banana to close it.
Hmm, what is this? A guy with a stopwatch measures the minutes of rest between sets. Um, wait, seriously? Guy, come to us, Broad Bone will tell you all about the ideal rest interval between sets for muscle growth!
Strength training manuals indicate that for maximum strength gains you need long rest intervals (3 minutes) between sets, and for maximum muscle growth it is recommended to rest about 1 minute between sets and not a second more, lazybones! But at the same time, the opinions of different fitness experts differ on this issue. For example, Terrence Christian Luoma believes that rest between approaches should be from 60 to 90 seconds, those who like to develop endurance try not to rest at all, and lifters (emphasis on the e) rest for 5, 10, and 15 minutes!
They can be understood; after all, the security forces work with critical scales and simply cannot “recover” faster after such a shake-up. This can be explained extremely simply (especially for those who have read our article): it takes an average of 3 to 5 minutes to reboot the anaerobic energy system, which is the main one for short-term and maximally powerful muscle contraction.
So who to believe? Luckily for us, there is an incomplete answer to this question in a study by famous fitness scientist Brad Schonefeld.
Rest time between sets
Why do people even care about rest time between sets? It is believed that the higher metabolic stress associated with limited rest time between sets actively stimulates muscle growth. Some experts particularly focus on the sharp post-workout surge of anabolic hormones as the main driving factor in the process of muscle growth. However, until 2014, there were no studies in experienced trainees that supported the generally accepted recommendation of resting 3 minutes between sets for strength gains and 1 minute for hypertrophy.
In 2014, Brad Schonefeld and Menno Hanselmans presented a review that was published in the journal Sport Medicine. found: there is little evidence to suggest, Conclusion: shorter rest intervals between sets have a positive effect on hypertrophy. At the same time, you can choose your own rest intervals without compromising the growth of muscle mass, if in the next approach you are able to reproduce the necessary efforts.
A group of 21 young men were randomly divided into 2 subgroups: one rested 1 minute between sets, and the other 3 minutes. All other components of the training program remained unchanged. The subjects trained in a standard bodybuilding-oriented style, performing 7 exercises and working all the major muscle groups of the upper and lower body. For each exercise, 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions were performed, while the training itself took place 3 times a week for 8 weeks.
Participants were tested before the study and immediately after completion. The barbell press on a horizontal bench and squats were used as test exercises to determine the growth of strength indicators (indicators were determined based on the growth of 1RM - 1 maximum maximum). Specific hypertrophy parameters of the elbow flexors, triceps brachii, and quadriceps femoris were assessed using two-dimensional ultrasound (US).
Experiment results:
When analyzing changes based on the 1RM test, in the group that rested longer, and in the bench press, and in squats Maximum strength growth rates were significantly higher. However, somewhat unexpectedly: in the same group, muscle volume also increased more.
What generally determines fatigue during training?
It depends on how quickly your energy runs out. that we have as many as 4 factories that produce “fuel”. Energy supply for muscle contractions (meaning during strength training) occurs due to two sources - adenosine triphosphate-creatine phosphate and. Moreover, their inclusion in the process occurs in exactly this sequence: in the first 15 seconds, the mechanical work of the muscles is supported by creatine, and then the glycolytic mechanisms of “feeding” are activated.
First, we have a factory that uses its raw materials creatine phosphate. This factory is the most powerful, it is capable of producing ATP very quickly. However, the reserves of CrF located directly in the muscles are negligible. During high-intensity work, already at the 5th second the reserves are reduced by 1/3, at the 15th – by half, and after about 45 seconds they run out completely. After completing the load, the reserves of ATP and CrP in the muscles are restored by 70% - after 30 seconds and by 100% - after 3-5 minutes. This must be kept in mind when performing speed and strength exercises.
If the effort lasts longer than 10 seconds or the breaks between efforts are too short, the glycolytic system is activated. The glycolytic system works on glycogen and reaches a maximum at 10-20 seconds.
You see that energy resources are exhaustible, so it is clear what the role of pauses between sets is - we need them to restore energy, which makes it possible to perform each subsequent approach.
Why is it better to over-rest than under-rest?
There is a well-established dose-response relationship between training load and hypertrophy, in which higher volume correlates with greater muscle growth. Very short rest periods between sets can negatively impact hypertrophy by reducing the amount of weight you can use on subsequent sets.
This means that if, in pursuit of reducing rest time, you begin to slack in training, then you should rest exactly as much as you need in order to complete the next approach with a pre-planned weight, technically correct and at the proper pace, but not half bent over, twitching as if under electricity. In addition, you may simply vomit from excessive stress ()!
By the way, pay attention: we were talking about heavy, basic exercises!
It is quite logical to structure your training as follows:
1) rest enough time when performing multi-joint exercises for large muscle groups - bench presses, etc. These exercises cause very high metabolic stress even when performed (8-15). In this case, to restore energy before the next approach, it is necessary longer rest periods. This way you will have strength, enthusiasm and sparkle in your eyes for the rest of the workout.
2) But (isolation) are not as heavy as the basic ones, and therefore you can recover faster from set to set. So you shouldn’t rest too much between and, for example, in the simulator; short rest intervals between approaches will be enough for you.
In this scenario, it is best to leave short rest exercises until the end of the workout to ensure that they do not interfere with recovery or affect physical performance during multi-joint exercises.
How to rest profitably between approaches?
Now that the theory has been clarified, a practical question has arisen: how to rest between approaches? There are several options, but none of them involve the use of gadgets. The use of mobile devices, even during a legal time-out, is taboo. “Stuck” on the phone greatly distracts from training tasks and worsens not only the work mood, but also communication. And anyway, did you come to the hall to look at pictures on the Internet or something? March to work!
Ideally, rest should take place under the motto “movement-life”, since in this case the muscles do not have time to “cool down”, and with active circulation of oxygen through the bloodstream, it is possible to “wash out” lactate and hydrogen ions from acidified muscles. It’s not worth boxing with an imaginary opponent or racing to the toilet, and it’s unlikely that you’ll succeed after a hard approach, but take a walk and catch your breath– a very good decision.
Remember that during training your main guideline should be how you feel, and not the advice of “that same guy on the Internet), since each person’s ability to recover is individual, we must not forget about this.
Unfortunately, there are still more questions than answers in bodybuilding. Numerous scientific studies sometimes show conflicting results, which only makes the situation worse. There is still no clear answer about how muscle growth occurs, let alone less important questions... Today I will tell you about how much rest do you need between sets? and exercises depending on your goal, fitness level and other individual characteristics.
Why do you need rest between sets?
During each approach and the entire workout as a whole, we use up the body's energy reserves. We will not delve into the energy processes in muscles. It is enough for us to know that during the first few seconds of the approach, the muscles use ATP reserves. Then the source of energy is creatine phosphate, the reserves of which are enough for about 30 seconds of continuous intense muscle work.
There are other sources of energy, however, after the depletion of ATP and creatine phosphate reserves, muscle strength drops so much that further execution of the approach becomes not only impossible, but also meaningless for the development of muscle strength and mass.
So, rest between sets and exercises is necessary in order to complete the required volume of training, maintaining the intensity at a sufficient level to stimulate the growth of strength and muscle mass.
How long should you rest between sets?
The rest time between approaches (sets) depends primarily on your goal, as well as on the experience used, and so on. But first of all, it depends on the purpose of the training, of which three can be distinguished:
- increased muscle strength;
- increase in muscle mass;
- increasing endurance (improving definition, losing weight).
How long should you rest between sets to increase muscle strength?
The rest time between approaches to increase strength can reach 5-8 minutes. The harder the exercise, the more time you will need to restore the central nervous system (CNS), which determines the maximum strength of your muscles.
That is why, in powerlifting and other strength sports, in order to develop maximum strength indicators, athletes rest for a long time between approaches, which allows them to work with submaximal working weights throughout the entire workout.
How long should you rest between sets to increase mass?
As you know, for hypertrophy of muscle fibers it is necessary to perform a large amount of work with moderate weights (70-80% of 1RM). This is a classic bodybuilding training scheme for mass. Since here we are not interested in maximum muscle strength and we do not need to wait for complete recovery of the central nervous system and creatine phosphate depot, the rest time between approaches to weight is significantly reduced and is approximately 1-3 minutes.
Again, the harder the exercise, the more rest time between sets we will need. And vice versa. Focus on how you feel and rest just as much as you need to have enough strength for the next approach.
How long should you rest between approaches to lose weight?
Since muscular endurance involves working at low intensity for a long time, the rest time between approaches and exercises to increase endurance (loss) should be reduced to 30-90 seconds. Thus, lactic acid will not have time to be removed from the muscles by the bloodstream, which is necessary for the development of the body’s ability to work under conditions of muscle acidification.
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