Strength training rest intervals

The target for muscle gain is 1.5-3 minutes, the target for maximum strength improvement is 3-5 minutes, and the target for muscle endurance improvement is 30-90 seconds - all numbers are just anchor points. Ultimately, they need to be adjusted flexibly based on your training status, type of movements, and even your sleep and diet that day. Don't stick to the stopwatch and compete with yourself.

Last week I was doing squats in the gym. I just threw the bar and held on to the rack and was gasping for breath. A young man next to me who had just practiced for two months came over and asked, "Brother, I read on the Internet that to build muscle, you have to rest for 30 seconds. Every extra second is useless. I just rested for 40 seconds when I was doing bench press. Did the first two sets be in vain?"

In fact, this is not completely nonsense. In the early years, the logic of short rest was indeed popular in the traditional bodybuilding circle. The core is to have the pumping feeling that the muscles are so swollen that they are about to burst. It is believed that the efficiency of muscle building is high when the metabolic pressure is full. I also encountered this pitfall when I first started training. I got stuck and rested for 45 seconds. In the first group of bench press training, I could press 80kg for 8 times. In the third group, I couldn't even press 60kg for 3 times. The total capacity dropped by almost half. After practicing for three months, my bust size did not increase at all. Later, the coach I found directly asked me to rest for 2 minutes. I could press 80kg steadily for 8 times in a group, and I gained 2cm in two months. Current exercise physiology research also supports this idea: among the three core elements of muscle growth, mechanical tension ranks first. Only by resting enough can you ensure that the weight and movement standards of the next set are not compromised. Only when the total capacity increases can the muscles have a basis for growth.

But that doesn’t mean short rests are completely useless. Different training styles have very different preferences. For example, many athletes who compete in natural bodybuilding will deliberately limit the rest of isolated movements to less than 45 seconds during the preparation period. They rely on high-density training to pile up metabolic stress, burn fat while preserving muscles, and the effect is not bad. The CrossFit system is even more extreme. Many compound movement combinations require less than 20 seconds of rest, and the priority is cardiopulmonary and muscle endurance training. Their training goal is not to hit heavy weights, of course there is no problem. However, I have to remind you that natural trainers should not blindly follow the short-rest program of professional athletes. Their recovery ability is either developed over more than ten years or is supported by technology. It is not on the same level as ordinary people. Learning hard will only make you lose all your capacity and make you prone to injury.

You can't apply the same rest standard to all movements. For example, if you have just done a set of 10 reps of 180kg deadlifts, your nervous system and hamstrings are about to explode. If you rest for 1 minute and then want to do it, then you will most likely lose your waist, so you need to rest for 3 minutes to cool down. But when you practice biceps curls, they are a small muscle group and the weight used is also small. Resting for 1 minute is enough to restore blood. However, after a long rest, the pumping feeling will disappear, but it will have no effect.

Not to mention individual differences. The 20-year-old boy stayed up all night to practice the next day, and after just one minute of rest, he could jump and lift the weight. ； The 40-year-old man worked overtime the day before and even after 3 minutes of bench press rest, his hands felt weak. So what happened if he rested for half a minute? The most stupid thing to do in the gym is to rest for as long as you want to watch the people next to you. People who practice powerlifting squat 200kg and rest for 5 minutes. If you squat 60kg and rest for 5 minutes, you won't be able to finish the exercise in two hours.

Oh, by the way, there is another pitfall that 80% of people have stepped on: watching short videos during a break, and forgetting the time as soon as you refresh. Ten minutes have passed by the time you realize it. Your muscles are completely cold, and you will be particularly vulnerable to injury next time you put on weights. I also had this problem before. Later when I was practicing, I just put my phone in the locker. At most, I put a timer next to it. I was ready to start when it was almost time, and I didn't stop counting. When I felt that I was breathing better, the soreness of the target muscles had reduced, and I could stabilize the movements without using any force, I started practicing directly.

Really, you will understand it after practicing for half a year or a year, and there is no need to worry about the rest time of tens of seconds. In the final analysis, fitness is a process of dialogue with your own body. Those numbers are reference anchors for novices. Your body will always be more reliable than the standard answers online. There is no perfect rest interval. Whatever suits you is right.