They donвЂ™t see it as you having longer rest times to them, it just looks like you are wasting time and getting in their way. The reality is that you only have a certain amount of time to spend working out, and taking shorter rest periods will allow you to finish any given number of sets faster.ДЄlso, unless you have your own private gym setup, you are going to be faced with other people needing to use the piece of equipment that youвЂ™re on.Д®specially during busy periods, your fellow gym goers arenвЂ™t going to appreciate you hogging the machine for 2-3 minutes between sets. In addition to this, there are also some practical benefits to taking shorter rest times. This is because you are taking what is typically an anaerobic activity and turning it into an aerobic activity, which has considerably higher oxygen demands.ДЄs a result, youвЂ™ll be more out of breath, and in many ways youвЂ™ll feel like youвЂ™ve had a better workout. There are several reasons why this can be beneficial.ДЇirst of all, you are going to get more of a cardiovascular workout from resting for shorter amounts of time. Now letвЂ™s look at the other side of the coin.ДЄs I mentioned before, the vast majority of guys gravitate more towards shorter rest times вЂ“ often taking no more than 30-60 seconds to rest between sets. The Argument For Taking Shorter Rest Periods Between Sets In fact, for heavy compound exercises ( bench press, squat, and deadlift), I would recommend resting for up to 5 minutes between sets вЂ“ especially if you are working in a lower rep range. I would go even further and say that there is no real upper limit to the amount of time you should rest between sets if youвЂ™re a natural weight lifter who is focusing on strength and muscle growth. If that sounds like a lot, it is probably because most guys you see working out donвЂ™t rest for nearly this long.Д«ut I would also bet that those guys arenвЂ™t consistently progressing, month after month ( unless theyвЂ™re on steroids, in which case different rules apply). In terms of specifics, I would recommend taking at least 2-3 minutes between all of your sets.

So, in short, if you want to build a bigger, stronger body, you are cutting yourself short by limiting your rest between sets. This allows you to lift more weight than you would if you rested for a shorter amount of time.ДЄnd, as IвЂ™ve covered before, consistently pushing yourself to lift heavier and heavier weights will help to induce progressive overload вЂ“ which is one of the more effective methods to maximize muscle growth. You see, when you rest for longer periods, you maximize your strength for the next set. If your main goal is to increase your strength and build more muscle, you will need to give your muscles an adequate amount of rest between sets. When you rest between sets, you are generally trying to either rest the muscles you just worked out, catch your breath, or give yourself a mental break from the absolute focus you exerted on your set. The Argument For Taking Longer Rest Periods Between Sets Yes, there is вЂ“ but it depends on what youвЂ™re going for and what your specific circumstances. So, is there actually a correct answer to this question? Other guys will try to take the minimum amount of rest time possible вЂ“ and many even try to limit rest time further by doing supersets, dropsets, or other such things during the time where they would otherwise be resting.

Like many things when it comes to working out, there are a lot of conflicting opinions hereвЂ¦ This of course begs the question: how much time should you actually take to rest between your sets? However, taking a significant amount of rest time is unavoidable вЂ“ you simply wouldnвЂ™t be able to lift any reasonable amount of weight without recovering between sets. If you typically work out for an hour, you might only be lifting weights for 10 minutes, when you discount all of the time that you rest between sets.

When youвЂ™re lifting weights, the reality is that you are only actually lifting something for a small fraction of the total time that youвЂ™re in the gym. What Is The Correct Amount Of Time To Rest Between Sets?

Average rest time between sets