Precise Training: How Long Should Rest Intervals Be During Training?
“Two sets between intervals should rest for how long”?
It’s probably not enough time to go to the water station to chat. In most workouts, the rest time between sets is a key, but often overlooked factor. To understand the reason, you need a quick course in sports science: the fewer repetitions and the greater the weight, the longer the rest time between sets; the more repetitions and the lighter the weight, the shorter the rest time. Why? When lifting weights, you need to recruit fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are the most prone to fatigue and require the longest rest periods. Therefore, giving them enough recovery time helps ensure that they are fully trained in each set. When using lighter weights and doing more repetitions, the primary goal is to train slow-twitch muscle fibers. These fibers are more resistant to fatigue and also recover faster. Therefore, even after completing a set with challenging repetitions, they can recover in a short time and be ready to repeat again.
What guidance does this give your stopwatch?
Repeat 1-3 times: rest 3-5 minutes.
Repeat 4-7 times: rest 2-3 minutes.
Repeat 8-12 times: rest 1-2 minutes.
Repeat 13 or more times: rest 1 minute.
But the real trick is here: these numbers are just guidelines for the rest time needed between training the same muscle group. That is, if you think strategically, you can train another muscle group instead of wasting time one minute at a time. My two favorite methods are alternating sets and circuit training. They can shorten your workout time without sacrificing results. Because, one muscle group rests while another is being trained. The following introduces these two methods:
Alternating sets:Do one set of exercises, rest, then do one set of the opposing muscle group (you can pair upper body exercises with lower body exercises). Rest again, then repeat the training until the prescribed number of sets is completed. For example, if you’re doing 6 reps of bench press, you might rest for 1 minute instead of 2. Then do one set of dumbbell rows, rest 1 minute. Including the time it takes to complete the dumbbell rows, you’ve now rested for more than 2 minutes before repeating the bench press. Key point: rest time can be easily reduced by half.
Circuit training: Consecutive 3 or more (can be 4, 5, or even 10) exercises, without rest between sets. The most common method is upper body and lower body alternating, for example, you can do the following exercises one after another: squats, bench press, hip bridges, dumbbell rows etc. This way, while the upper body is resting, the lower body is training. You can also add rest time between sets.
Ready to try these techniques? Refer to the guidance below.
Choose a combination
Quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings
Chest, upper back
Shoulders, latissimus dorsi
Biceps, triceps
Upper body, lower body
Upper body, core muscles
Lower body, core muscles
