# How long do you rest between sets?



## Not2quick (Feb 12, 2021)

I am curious what everyone else does. Im currently doing 3 working sets and i tend to rest 1-1.5 minutes between each set. I feel it helps me maximize my next set. Is that too long? Is it better to do sets with a very short rest 30 seconds or so? Basically is it more important to work the muscles fatigued even though you may not get a full set in?


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## Jin (Feb 12, 2021)

Not2quick said:


> I am curious what everyone else does. Im currently doing 3 working sets and i tend to rest 1-1.5 minutes between each set. I feel it helps me maximize my next set. Is that too long? Is it better to do sets with a very short rest 30 seconds or so? Basically is it more important to work the muscles fatigued even though you may not get a full set in?



1.5 minutes for arms. 3 minutes for everything else. sometimes longer if it’s intense squats. 

Resting less than what you’re currently doing would be counterproductive for hypertrophy if you did that any more than every once in a while IMO.


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## Adrenolin (Feb 12, 2021)

I correlate my rest to the intensity of my workout. If I'm lifting really heavy, my intensity usually isn't as high and I'll easily take 3-5mins between sets. 

When staying a little lighter and focusing more on tut and contracting the target muscle every rep, the intensity of my workout is a little greater with rest only being about 90secs.


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## Charger69 (Feb 12, 2021)

Not2quick said:


> I am curious what everyone else does. Im currently doing 3 working sets and i tend to rest 1-1.5 minutes between each set. I feel it helps me maximize my next set. Is that too long? Is it better to do sets with a very short rest 30 seconds or so? Basically is it more important to work the muscles fatigued even though you may not get a full set in?



It all depends on what you are going for.  
If you are going for strength and low reps, I would say up to 3 minutes.
Strength and medium reps 1.5-2 minutes
Conditioning/ higher reps- 30 seconds to 1 minute. 

This does not mean that conditioning does not build muscle, but you will be going lighter.. 
I never go really low reps- My joints are too old. LOL

Changing your rest period is a good way to change the intensity.   You can do strength and medium reps and on the last set, do drop sets. 

There is no right or wrong answer.  I will change it up though.


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## dk8594 (Feb 12, 2021)

I have always followed Dorian Yates advice on this.  Basically, rest as long as you need so that you will be able to do you next set to muscular failure.  It might be 45 seconds for biceps. It might be 5 mins for legs.


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## CJ (Feb 12, 2021)

Short rest is basically cardio with weights. You a crossfitter? Then don't do that.


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## Seeker (Feb 12, 2021)

Like DK said, as long as it takes to be ready to hit and complete your next set. I dont necessarily need to go to failure, but there are certain approaches to lifting with volume using lower rest times,  training to failure. It's a good change up on occasions


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## TheSaintHCN (Feb 12, 2021)

That's what I do. Since I don't wear a watch, I go by feel and it's worked well for years.

Genuinely curious, do you guys time your rests with a watch or are you just estimating?


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## Adrenolin (Feb 12, 2021)

TheSaintHCN said:


> That's what I do. Since I don't wear a watch, I go by feel and it's worked well for years.
> 
> Genuinely curious, do you guys time your rests with a watch or are you just estimating?


I count my fingers


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## CJ (Feb 12, 2021)

TheSaintHCN said:


> That's what I do. Since I don't wear a watch, I go by feel and it's worked well for years.
> 
> Genuinely curious, do you guys time your rests with a watch or are you just estimating?



I do, but it's more so the workouts don't take too long.


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## Charger69 (Feb 12, 2021)

TheSaintHCN said:


> That's what I do. Since I don't wear a watch, I go by feel and it's worked well for years.
> 
> Genuinely curious, do you guys time your rests with a watch or are you just estimating?



I normally go by feel unless I am preparing for a show.  I am much stricter when preparing so I will time it.


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## BrotherIron (Feb 12, 2021)

Depends...

1-3 reps (heavy) = 4 to 6 min rest
2-3 reps (speed) = 1min rest
5'ish reps (volume) = 2:30 rest
7+ reps (endurance) = 1:30 rest


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## CohibaRobusto (Feb 13, 2021)

I used to do 45 second intervals when I was concerned about staying lean and keeping my heart rate up. 

I now realize that was counterproductive to my overall goal of getting bigger, gaining mass.

Now I take about 1.5-3 mins depending on the body part being worked like some others have mentioned above.


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## Tiny (Feb 13, 2021)

It must be exhausting thinking about all this sht while working out


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## Jin (Feb 13, 2021)

Tiny said:


> It must be exhausting thinking about all this sht while working out



I think your signature quote should be attributed to Satan, not Al. It’s a great quote though. Really good flick. I’m going to watch it again now. 

-“260 pounds of self serving greed on wheels”


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## Adrenolin (Feb 13, 2021)

Tiny said:


> It must be exhausting thinking about all this sht while working out



Right.. my rest period is usually the length of whatever the song is. 3-5mins


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## Blacktail (Feb 13, 2021)

I rest until I feel ready.


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## Blusoul24 (Feb 13, 2021)

I typically do exactly 2 minutes from when I put the weight down to when I pick it up again. I'm


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## Skullcrusher (Feb 13, 2021)

How ever long it takes to catch my breath

Big heavy lifts = about 2 min
Med accessory lifts = about 90 sec
Lighter isolated lifts = about 60 sec


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## andy (Feb 13, 2021)

60sec - 2min depends what muscle group. am I in mid of my sesh or at the start etc.


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## Jin (Feb 13, 2021)

andy said:


> 60sec - 2min depends what muscle group. am I in mid of my sesh or at the start etc.



Sesh!?!?!

NO NO NO NO!!!! That’s going on Ziegler’s list. Don’t talk like a California doofus. You’re European for ****s sake!


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## Boogieman (Feb 13, 2021)

Jin said:


> Sesh!?!?!
> California doofus



Jin, you may have offeded some of our UG crew :32 (20):


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## Jin (Feb 13, 2021)

Boogieman said:


> Jin, you may have offeded some of our UG crew :32 (20):



Oh, I can live with myself. Don’t worry about me thanks


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## andy (Feb 13, 2021)

Jin is right.
but i can't help myself I lived in UK 7 years and i grabbed and kept all kind of strange lexicon to my self. U know the crazy mix of different people and races down there - UK is one strange place to be in guys. lol happy Im out of there - nothing personal to anyone. Love u guys))


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## Spongy (Feb 13, 2021)

"I don't know a single person who has maximized the muscle on their frame that does set rest periods between sets.  You will not be able to achieve maximal output with increased oxygen debt."

- Matt Jansen

He then goes on to say that hes not saying you should take 10 minutes either, but that too often people focus on the wrong things.  Essentially who cares about any of this if you're not focusing on maximal effort and output during your set.

He is also careful to specify that this does not apply to rest-pause sets as the true "resting period" begins after the completion of the entire set, since the goal is failure followed by more failure, followed by further failure.  

The lifts you choose and the order in which you do them are far more important than watching the clock.


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## Sicwun88 (Feb 13, 2021)

Usually till I catch my breath!


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## BRICKS (Feb 13, 2021)

As long as it takes.  If you're actually timing your rest periods you are wasting your time on stuff that just doesn't matter.  Listen to your body, put the phone down.  You'll know when its go time if you're training consistently as you should.


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## Charger69 (Feb 13, 2021)

BRICKS said:


> As long as it takes.  If you're actually timing your rest periods you are wasting your time on stuff that just doesn't matter.  Listen to your body, put the phone down.  You'll know when its go time if you're training consistently as you should.



When you’re coming up to a competition, it does make a difference.  
I use a watch or the clock on the wall.  There is a reason that gym clocks have a second hand.


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## MuscleMedicineMD (Feb 14, 2021)

Adrenolin said:


> I correlate my rest to the intensity of my workout. If I'm lifting really heavy, my intensity usually isn't as high and I'll easily take 3-5mins between sets.
> 
> *When staying a little lighter and focusing more on tut and contracting the target muscle every rep, the intensity of my workout is a little greater with rest only being about 90secs*.


I liked this..

I used to think rest longer, lift heavier/more reps = more Growth!   BUTTT... then a few very informed bros said, the extra rest is counterproductive to fatiguing and recruiting the remaining, undamaged muscle fibers!

so Ive begun trying to keep it under 60-70seconds (though i usually go by feel and certainly dont watch a clock..a minute is enough time to catch your breath and be ready to lift again..I do feel more soreness.

Im going to see what the research says and get back to this thread
Best, M3


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## MuscleMedicineMD (Feb 14, 2021)

Charger69 said:


> When you’re coming up to a competition, it does make a difference.
> I use a watch or the clock on the wall.  There is *a reason that gym clocks have a second hand.*



yeah, so the teenager employees can count the seconds till closing and start screaming at everyone to LEAVE... ahhh its awful, commercialized gyms:// growing up..closing just meant the time for the real BBers to show up (Dave P used to drop in too) and start throwing weights around!! good times)


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## Charger69 (Feb 14, 2021)

MuscleMedicineMD said:


> yeah, so the teenager employees can count the seconds till closing and start screaming at everyone to LEAVE... ahhh its awful, commercialized gyms:// growing up..closing just meant the time for the real BBers to show up (Dave P used to drop in too) and start throwing weights around!! good times)



And here I thought they did it for the members.


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## Seeker (Feb 14, 2021)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26605807/


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## BRICKS (Feb 14, 2021)

Charger69 said:


> When you’re coming up to a competition, it does make a difference.
> I use a watch or the clock on the wall.  There is a reason that gym clocks have a second hand.



And how many guys on this board are in contest prep or ever will be?


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## Gadawg (Feb 14, 2021)

I do yates type lifting so Im usually only doing 1 or 2 sets per exercise and those sets take a looooong time to recover from. Usually five minutes or so. 

I do cardio after.


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## MuscleMedicineMD (Feb 17, 2021)

Seeker said:


> https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26605807/



interesting. its weakly suggestive with a p-value like that, correct? It does make sense if you are just training "all out" full body 3 days a week, longer rests will lead to heavier lifts and slightly more hypertrophy. I mean thats why I did it so many years, seems logical.
-How do you guys feel about Dr Mike Israetel? sport science theory is young, rapidly growing and still a lot of learning to be done. 1 study say X, another says Y.

Best, M3


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## brock8282 (Feb 17, 2021)

MuscleMedicineMD said:


> interesting. its weakly suggestive with a p-value like that, correct? It does make sense if you are just training "all out" full body 3 days a week, longer rests will lead to heavier lifts and slightly more hypertrophy. I mean thats why I did it so many years, seems logical.
> -How do you guys feel about Dr Mike Israetel? sport science theory is young, rapidly growing and still a lot of learning to be done. 1 study say X, another says Y.
> 
> Best, M3



I listen to Mike's stuff quite a bit. There's some stuff he says that i agree with and some stuff i deeply disagree with. His "full rom" stuff makes me want to puke but i wont get into that right now. He recently did a podcast on the revive channel i believe? with Matt Jansen and got a better opinion of him out of it. Like anything it's best to listen to a wide scope of people, pay attention to the science and Apply things to yourself and see what works well for you and what you can throw out. No set in stone rules in this game.


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## DF (Feb 17, 2021)

I usually catch up on my Facebook,  Instagram ect.... between sets.  Can’t be more than 15-20 minutes.  Is that good?  Oh yea and I keep the equipment occupied so it’s nice & warm for my next set... that good?


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## MuscleMedicineMD (Feb 17, 2021)

brock8282 said:


> I listen to Mike's stuff quite a bit. There's some stuff he says that i agree with and some stuff i deeply disagree with. His "full rom" stuff makes me want to puke but i wont get into that right now. He recently did a podcast on the revive channel i believe? with Matt Jansen and got a better opinion of him out of it. Like anything it's best to listen to a wide scope of people, pay attention to the science and Apply things to yourself and see what works well for you and what you can throw out. No set in stone rules in this game.



haha..i hear ya brock. I did see that one with Matt Jansen, I like to hear his ideas too. I can listen to those roundtables while I do my injections and learn a lot!
I know Dr. Mike Israetel, chad, and james wrote this book "scientific principles.." as well as a few others (RP diet 2.0..prob old now), I really need to get my hands on that stuff and break it down for myself..have you seen those for free floating around at all??
want to learn something new
-M3


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## rawdeal (Feb 17, 2021)

MuscleMedicineMD said:


> . . . I used to think rest longer, lift heavier/more reps = more Growth!   BUTTT... then a few very informed bros said, the extra rest is counterproductive to fatiguing and recruiting the remaining, undamaged muscle fibers . . .



So, would the logical conclusion be to do a breakdown set, whereby "rests" are only as long as it takes you or a partner to lower the weight 1, or 2, or 3 times before you keep going ... or is this overkill?


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## Lizard King (Feb 17, 2021)

Long enough for a shot and a Marlboro red, so 2 min?


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## Colbyachi (Feb 27, 2021)

Compounds 2-4 minutes (4 reserved for squats)
Isolation 1-2 minutes


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