Resting Between Sets and Exercises
A question we get asked a lot is, “How long should I rest between sets?”
Usually, the answer is 30 to 60 seconds.
There are a couple of things that are important to know about this though.
One is that the answer to the question actually depends on what you are trying to accomplish with your workouts. 30 to 60 seconds is pretty standard for most people looking to build strength and also not have your workouts take too long. But if you are really short on time you can do a circuit where you don’t actually rest between sets at all. You just complete a set of an exercise and move directly to the next exercise with little to no rest in between. This accomplishes a couple of things. It cuts your workout time down and it keeps your heart rate elevated increasing the cardiovascular component and intensity. This works great for those of you who are short on time at the gym or don’t like doing cardio all that much.
People doing maximal lifts in their gym routine may even rest up to 5 minutes between sets before they are ready to perform another heavy lift.
Again, for most of us, the 30 to 60 seconds between sets will apply but you have to understand that the reason you are resting for 30 to 60 seconds is because you need to!
A common follow up question to the how long should I rest between sets is “do I have to rest that long if I don’t feel like I need to?”. Our response to this is always, if you are using the right amount of resistance, you will need the rest. If you feel like you don’t need the rest then you are not challenging yourself enough!
Using the proper amount of resistance to make the exercise challenging is one of the biggest keys to getting the most out of your workouts, building strength, increasing your metabolism and getting results.
The purpose of the rest time between sets is to give your muscles a bit of time to replenish some energy in preparation for the next set.
If you are doing it right, the 30 to 60 second rest between sets should be welcomed and needed!
