In other words, try doing exercises that involve more than one joint, such as a squat, lunge, and dumbbell curl and press in the first part of your training session, finishing with exercises that focus on one joint movement, like a biceps curl, chest fly, and leg curls. The researchers suggested that the “best approach to a hypertrophy-based resistance training session may be toįocus on training volume by performing complex, multi-joint exercises and incorporating longer interset rest intervals in the first part of the training session, and then shift the focus to inducing a greater metabolic stress by performing isolation exercises and incorporating shorter inter-set rest intervals towards the end of the training session.” (5) None of the them had the subjects train at high intensities. The studies lasted an average of a bit more than eight weeks where the subjects trained two to three days a week with a blend of single-joint and multi-joint training.

Short-duration rest periods were between 20 to 60 seconds, and long-duration periods were 80 seconds to six minutes. (5)Īmong the six included studies, five of them involved untrained subjects while the remaining one involved experienced weightlifters with a total of 97 men and 18 women. However, resting longer than a minute can be “advantageous” because this allows you to pump more iron or complete a desired number of reps to sustain training volume. found that resting for 60 seconds or less have similar benefits at resting for more than 60 seconds. (1) But are these guidelines still up-to-date based on current research that may challenge common claims about rest periods and weight lifting? Rest interval for muscle growthĪ 2017 systematic review by Grgic et al.

For muscle growth, rest between one to two minutes. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that if you are training for maximum strength and power, you should rest between three to five minutes between sets. But are current guidelines in exercise up-to-date in exercise recovery research? How long you should rest between sets depends on various factors, like training experience, your goals, and age.

Rest time hypertrophy