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26.06.2016

Taking 2-min rest between strength training sets works better than 1-min rest

If strength athletes want to get stronger they'll do better taking 2 minutes' rest between sets or even longer. If they want to build muscle mass, the books say take short, 1-minute rests. This advice may need adjusting, according to American sports scientists Brad Schoenfeld. He published the results of a study in which experienced strength athletes not only build up more strength but also more muscle mass when they rested for 2 minutes between sets.

Study
Schoenfeld divided 21 male students, all of whom had been doing free-weight training for at least six months, into two groups. Both groups trained for eight weeks, doing the same programme – with one difference: the rest times. One group rested for 1 minute between sets [SHORT], the other for 4 minutes [LONG].

Results
Scans showed that the subjects gained more muscle mass in their arms and legs when they rested for two minutes between sets.


If strength athletes want to get stronger they'll do better taking 2 minutes' rest between sets or even longer. If they want to build muscle mass, the books say take short, 1-minute rests. This advice may need adjusting, according to American sports scientists Brad Schoenfeld. He published the results of a study in which experienced strength athletes not only build up more strength but also more muscle mass when they rested for 2 minutes between sets.


If strength athletes want to get stronger they'll do better taking 2 minutes' rest between sets or even longer. If they want to build muscle mass, the books say take short, 1-minute rests. This advice may need adjusting, according to American sports scientists Brad Schoenfeld. He published the results of a study in which experienced strength athletes not only build up more strength but also more muscle mass when they rested for 2 minutes between sets.


If strength athletes want to get stronger they'll do better taking 2 minutes' rest between sets or even longer. If they want to build muscle mass, the books say take short, 1-minute rests. This advice may need adjusting, according to American sports scientists Brad Schoenfeld. He published the results of a study in which experienced strength athletes not only build up more strength but also more muscle mass when they rested for 2 minutes between sets.


The weight with which the students could manage maximal 1 rep [1RM] for bench presses and squats increased more in the group that rested for 2 minutes than in the other group.


If strength athletes want to get stronger they'll do better taking 2 minutes' rest between sets or even longer. If they want to build muscle mass, the books say take short, 1-minute rests. This advice may need adjusting, according to American sports scientists Brad Schoenfeld. He published the results of a study in which experienced strength athletes not only build up more strength but also more muscle mass when they rested for 2 minutes between sets.


If strength athletes want to get stronger they'll do better taking 2 minutes' rest between sets or even longer. If they want to build muscle mass, the books say take short, 1-minute rests. This advice may need adjusting, according to American sports scientists Brad Schoenfeld. He published the results of a study in which experienced strength athletes not only build up more strength but also more muscle mass when they rested for 2 minutes between sets.


Conclusion
"While our results suggest that longer rest periods be employed for enhancing muscular adaptations, we cannot infer that these findings will necessarily hold true when other training variables are manipulated", wrote Schoenfeld.

"It is also noteworthy that there was considerable variability within groups and even between muscle groups in the same participants. This may imply that, when manipulating training variables, susceptibility for adaptations may be specific to the individual and/or muscle group."

"Moreover, integrating phases of short rest in combination with longer rest periods may evoke responses that could translate into greater muscular gains over time. This possibility warrants further study."

"Finally, time constraints must also be considered with respect to rest interval duration. Sessions for the LONG group lasted more than twice long as that for the SHORT group. The cost-benefit tradeoff must therefore be taken into account if training time is an important factor."

Source:
J Strength Cond Res. 2016 Jul;30(7):1805-12.

More:
Short rest between strength-training sets results in more muscle 24.11.2014
Five minutes rest between sets = maximal strength gain 03.08.2010
Rest periods of 2 or 5 minutes between sets? It makes no difference to muscle growth 20.07.2010

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