Resting Between Sets To Maximize Muscle Growth

By Author: Sean Nalewanyj
Total Articles: 53
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Bobby re-racks the weights after finishing a difficult, focused set of barbell squats. His heart is racing, his legs are shaking and he feels light headed as he takes a big gulp from his water bottle.

Hitting the "start" button on his watch, he begins a 2 minute countdown. Bobby read that 2 minutes is the ideal rest time between sets in the gym, and he wants to get it exact.

Once that watch beeps at the 2 minute mark, he'll be back in the squat rack to perform another set. He stands up tall and paces around trying to catch his breath in preparation for his next battle with the weights.

His watch beeps.

It's been 2 minutes.

He doesn't feel 100% yet-his legs are shaking, his heart pounding-but the alarm went off so his time is up and he needs to get to the next set. He must perform his next set regardless of how he feels.

He unracks the weight and squats down. His effort is mediocre, he puts the bar back, and begins to set his watch for another 2 minutes.

Bobby, just like so many other aspiring bodybuilders, is making a huge mistake. By having a set rest interval between sets, ...
... he is forcing his body to train at an effort level that is far less than his maximum potential and is severely sacrificing his ability to maximize muscle growth because of this.

Muscles grow as they adapt to stress. When you are putting yourself in a position to lift a certain amount of weights for a set number of reps, your body adapts to this level of stress.

In order to maximize muscle growth, you must continually force X and Y to higher and higher levels. For those who really want to maximize muscle growth, it's critical to progress in both reps and weight.

Because of this, you must always go into every single set of every single workout at your maximum strength potential. If you want to maximize muscle growth, stop counting the seconds between sets.

Only begin your next set when you can do it with 100% strength potential. Your body will tell you when it's time to start again; a stopwatch shouldn't.

Having a set rest period really doesn't make sense, especially when you consider that there are certain exercises that work the body so much more than others and simply need more rest between sets. It's pretty clear that a tricep press down and a dead lift aren't exactly in the same boat here.

When I work a set of dead lifts to failure, I'll typically take at least 5 minutes to rest; often even more. If I'm working on a set of tricep press downs, I might only need a rest period of 2.5 minutes to feel fully recovered because they are obviously not as taxing.

Use your instincts to determine when you can perform your next set with 100% of your strength.
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