How much rest between sets do you need? Should you take a 30 min power nap between sets or just not rest at all, because resting is for the weak. Resting between sets, although not the most important factor, plays an important role in maximizing results. The fact that most humans sleep for 1/3rd of their lives emphasizes the importance of rest. Just like too little sleep can be detrimental, too much is not good either. Similarly, too little rest will affect performance in the forthcoming sets, and too much has no benefit either. So what is the perfect amount of time one should rest to maximize results?
What does the research say?
In 2009, a review in the sports medicine journal looked at 35 studies. The results showed that longer rest intervals of 3-5 minutes allowed for more repetitions over multiple sets. They also caused greater increases in absolute strength and muscular power. Shorter rest periods of less than 1 minute were found to be more beneficial for muscular endurance.
In 2016, in a randomized controlled trial by Brad Schoenfeld, 21 young men had to undergo an 8-week resistance training program. They were randomly divided into two groups of 1 min and 3 min rest intervals. The results clearly showed significantly more improvements in strength and hypertrophy in the long rest interval group.
James McKendry and colleagues found out that shorter rest periods of 1 min attenuated increases in myofibrillar protein synthesis and intracellular signaling. 5 min rest period was found superior for hypertrophy.
A study by Senna and colleagues compared effect 1, 3, and 5 min rest-intervals on a single joint exercise, the chest fly, vs a multi-joint exercise, the bench press. The results showed that a longer rest period of 3-5 mins was required to maintain repetitions in the forthcoming sets on the bench press as compared to 2 mins on the chest fly. The number of repetitions dropped as quickly as the second set for the 1-min rest protocol.
A systemic review by Jozo Grgic in 2017 looked at 6 studies that compared rest periods of less than 1 minute to more than 1 minute. Although both short and long rest periods were useful for hypertrophy, longer rest periods were found to be more advantageous.
A recent study in 2021 by Filipe Matos showed that a longer rest interval of 2 minutes allowed more repetitions to be performed in multiple sets as compared to 90 secs and 1 minute.
Looking at all the studies, it is safe to derive that longer rest periods of 3-5 minutes are better for strength and hypertrophy.
However, if you look at bodybuilders, they rest for just 30 secs to a minute between sets which is the stark opposite of what most research is claiming. So, whom should you believe? The bodybuilders or the research. When it comes to bodybuilders who are on steroids, their training is very different compared to natural bodybuilders. Enhanced bodybuilders focus on getting the pump as it allows them to drive more and more steroid-loaded blood into those muscles. Short rest intervals and high reps work very well for getting the pump. For a natural bodybuilder, the pump is meaningless as it serves no benefit apart from a temporary size increase. The quality of reps is more important than the pump for a natural bodybuilder. Short rest periods of 30-60 secs compromise the quality of reps in forthcoming sets. This is why most of the research says that longer rest periods of 3 to 5 mins are much better for hypertrophy. But, the answer is still not that simple. There are many more factors that need to be considered to know how much you should rest between sets.
1: Muscles Activated
The first factor is the exercise you are doing. How many muscles is the exercise recruiting? Is it a compound movement or an isolation exercise? How demanding is it? Compound movements like the barbell squat, bench press, push-ups, pull-ups, and deadlift will recruit most of the muscles in the body thus using up a lot of energy. On the other hand, isolation exercises like the bicep curl will use only the bicep and forearm. As compound movements recruit a lot of muscles, they deserve more rest intervals. The more muscles an exercise is recruiting, the longer rest it requires. But, that is just a part of the equation. Here is an example: The bench press activates the chest, triceps, and front delts while the leg press activates the quadriceps and also the glutes to some extent. So, the bench press is using more muscle groups compared to the leg press. But, why is the leg press more demanding than the bench press?
2: Size of muscles activated
It is not just the number of muscles being used but also how big the muscle is. The quadriceps and glutes are much bigger than the chest and triceps which is why the leg press causes more fatigue than the bench press. The bigger a muscle is, the more energy it will consume thus, demanding more rest intervals. Exercises like the bicep curls or forearm exercises can be done with as little as 30 secs of rest. On the other hand, the deadlift may require as much as 6 to 7 minutes.
3: How heavy the weight is
This changes a lot of things. On paper, the deadlift activates more muscles than a bicep curl. But what if the bicep curl is with 100 pounds and the deadlift is with an empty barbell? In this case, the bicep curl would become more demanding than the deadlift. Heavy weight lifting will require longer rest periods because it recruits more muscle fibers. This is why the bicep curl can become more demanding than the squat or deadlift if it is heavy enough. Lifting a 45-pound dumbbell is a lot harder than lifting a phone, even though it is the same muscles being used. The mind recruits more muscle fibers from the same muscle while lifting heavier weights. The heavier the weight is, the longer rest it requires. With calisthenics as well, harder exercises will require more rest intervals. Eg: The pistol squats will require more rest than calf raises. One rep maxes may need as much as 5 mins of rest between attempts. What if a person does just 2 repetitions with the 100-pound bicep curl, even when he could do more, but he goes to failure on the empty barbell deadlift. Now which one would be more demanding?
4: RPE
The closer the set is to failure, the more fatigue it will create. This is why even the empty barbell deadlift if taken to failure can generate more fatigue than the 100-pound bicep curl that is far from failure. Going to failure will require more rest time than giving up 5 reps from failure. Even with light weights, when going close to failure, the mind recruits more muscle fibers in those last few reps and that makes the set more fatiguing. The rate of perceived exertion also known as RPE is how much effort is being put into the set. RPE 10 is going all out till failure and RPE 1 is a walk in the park. Even with an easy exercise, going RPE 10 will require longer rest time.
5: Goals
Generally, there are 3 major goals people have: strength, muscle, or endurance. When it comes to getting stronger without building muscle, longer rest intervals of 3-5 minutes are incorporated. This is how most sportsmen train. They lift heavy weights without going to failure and rest longer. They get stronger by improving their mind-muscle connection instead of causing hypertrophy.
For building muscle and getting stronger, resting for 2-3 minutes is enough. Some heavy compounds will require more than 3 minutes of rest as explained earlier. The general advice on the internet claims that shorter rest intervals of 45-90 secs are ideal for hypertrophy. However, this is not correct and is derived from the workouts of enhanced bodybuilders who are chasing the pump. Short rest intervals will create a nice pump but at the cost of rep quality. Resting longer will lead to more quality repetitions that will cause hypertrophy.
For endurance as well it is better to rest for 2-3 mins and get in more reps the next set. Shorter rest periods will lead to a decrease in repetitions in the forthcoming sets and allow respiratory fatigue to take over.
To summarize, one needs to consider the muscles being recruited, the size of the muscles, how hard the exercise is or how heavy it is, the rate of perceived exertion, and the goals. But, all of this is not practical. One cannot keep calculating the amount of rest required after every set.
So, what is the final answer to how long to rest between sets? As long as the body demands. There is no perfect rest interval for everyone. One does not have to stick with perfect rest time, no one does. Use the timings mentioned in this article for reference, but do not try to be perfect. When in doubt it is always better to rest more. Resting less can lead to injuries.
The final answer is “Listen to your body.”
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