Rest times during between sets

montane

Hi all,

What is your thinking on rest times during training? Do you stick to exact times?

Im a relative beginner, but from what I understand the goal should always be to lift heavier weights as time progresses. How this is achieved seems to be through varying lots of things, including rest times.

Are shorter rest period times (say around 30 seconds) really just for producing lactic acid when looking to reduce fat. And are these shorter rest periods effectively turning the weight training session in a HIIT session.

Would you tend to usually take a longer rest period (say 2-3 minutes) between sets to get all the reps in, especially when lifting more challenging weights?

Thanks.

AntiVirus

I've always taken a 1 minute rest between sets. I would normaly not complete the last set but once I do I up the weights and repeat untill I can complete all the sets, then up the weight again, repeat, etc...

Some people take longer, some take less.

Edit: Keep a log of how you perform in each session for each exercise so you can see how you're doing.

Inspector Coptoor

if you're doing low reps with high weight, like heavy triples in the Deadlift, squat or bench, take as much rest as you need. Rest until you feel you can and will nail the next set.
Give your CNS time to recover.

If it's speed work you;re doing, like repping with less than 50% of your max, then rest times of 60 seconds between sets should be sufficient.

mrpink6789

Just pretty much going to repeat what was said above, just really depends on the individual. I find myself taking up to 4 minutes between my last couple of squat sets where as at the start I only took 30 seconds.

Hanley

Tbh if you'e just doing regular lifting in the gym, go when you're ready. Don't sit around on your arse for ages yapping, don't run around trying to do each set 5 seconds after the next. Somewhere around 1-2 minutes should suffice.

Liam Henners257 wrote: »

If it's speed work you;re doing, like repping with less than 50% of your max, then rest times of 60 seconds between sets should be sufficient.

With the caveat that as you're trying to train maximum RFD with each set, if you don't feel ready, don't go.

Inspector Coptoor

Hanley wrote: »

With the caveat that as you're trying to train maximum RFD with each set, if you don't feel ready, don't go.

yeah, I agree with that.