Strength Conditioning And Health: How Much Rest Between Sets

How Long To Rest Between Sets



[ Editor's Note: Fitness author Jon Benson shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it with you. ]

A lot of my readers ask me how long to rest between sets while exercising.

The answer is: It depends on your goals.

If you are training to increase strength, I recommend resting a bit longer - up to two minutes for exercises like squats and heavy dumbbell work. But if you want to burn the most amount of bodyfat and gain lean muscle, I recommend resting for very short periods of time.

"The Iron Guru" Vince Gironda used to recommend leaving your hands on the bar between sets -- now THAT is short rest intervals! He would frequently rest only 15-20 seconds between sets.

This is similar to the strategy I use in 7 Minute Muscle -- very short rest intervals and very intense training. Smart, short, efficient. That's the way to go.

A good place to start is simply reducing your rest intervals by 10 seconds. No matter what workout you're using, decrease your rest by 10 seconds between sets. You may not be as strong on the last few sets (if you are training traditionally... if you use 7 Minute Muscle your rest is "built-in" and not an issue.) Over time you will work your way back up to the same amount of sets and reps but done in far less time.

This means more work output, which means more muscle if your nutrition is good.

This is the best way to train most of the time: Limited rest, intense sets, and short workouts.

They are the ones that produce results.

Go here for more information --

7 minute muscle <--- Short, effective workouts