Know Your Rest Periods

I think one of the most underrated variables when it comes to a successful strength program is the amount of rest taken between sets of an exercise. People will understand which exercise is the best for each scenario and how many sets and reps to do based on their goals but they have no understanding of what their rest periods should be. It comes as no surprise to me when people complain about not getting stronger when they are flying around the gym from one exercise to another with hardly any rest. On the other end of the spectrum you have people complain about how they are not dropping any body fat when they are taking 3-5 minutes of rest between each set. And then the other scenario you have is the rest period changing from one minute for the first two sets to three minutes for the next set to 30 seconds for the last set. With rest periods being all over the place it's tough to judge where you stand with each set.

The rest period between sets should depend upon a couple factors. One is the goal of the your training program. If strength is your primary goal rest periods of at least two minutes should be taken. In fact if you are training for maximal strength 3-5 minutes of rest between sets is suggested in order to allow the central nervous system to fully recover. If muscle mass is the primary goal rest periods should be in the 60-90 second range. If muscular endurance or fat loss is a primary goal you may want to take your periods down to 30-60 seconds between each set.

The second factor that should determine your rest periods is the selected exercise. For instance, a set of weighted chin ups is more physically demanding than a set of concentration curls. You know that funny looking exercise where you sit on the end of a bench and stare at your biceps hoping that it's getting bigger? So you would probably want to take more rest between sets of chin ups than sets of biceps curls. The more physically demanding the exercise is, the longer the rest period you may want to take.

Nice gloves

The third factor that should determine the amount of rest is the repetition range in which you are working. Pretty simply, the lower on the rep range you are working the longer of a rest period is suggested. Doing sets of 1-3 reps may warrant a 3-5 minute rest period. The higher on the rep range your are working the shorter the period is suggested. Doing sets of 12-15 reps may warrant a 30-60 second rest between sets.

Now that you have an understanding of the importance of your rest period and how long they should be, are you going to track them? It's not that hard. Just pick up a cheap digital wristwatch or stop watch. You do not need anything fancy. Something that just tells time. Personally, if I do not work out with a watch on I feel out of place. I hate staring across the room at the clock on the wall, if there is a clock on the wall. In the case there is not one available I'm left guessing about my rest periods. And any time it comes to guessing in regards to your training I think you are headed down the wrong road. Every part of your training should have some reasoning.