Is rest time between sets important? Short rest, long rest? How many minutes of rest to take? How many days of rest? Lots of questions around this.
The classic image of a person working out usually involves sweating profusely and pushing themselves to the limit. It seems that going all the way and never giving your body a break leads to better results.
When doing interval training, taking adequate rest between sets is essential. This prevents injuries and improves workout efficiency. Plus, at the end of your workout, you want to make every set count.
In this article, we’ll look at why rest time matters. How your muscle energy systems react to the length of your sets. And how your training goals determine how much rest you should take. Plus, you can check out Polar’s latest feature: Work-Rest Guidance.
Why plan for rest time between sets?
While your focus is on what you do during each set, it’s also important to make rest time a goal. You’ll have several training variables to balance. These variables include the number of sets, their intensity, and the rest time between sets. When you’re doing these types of workouts, you need to find a balance between these variables.
The benefit of adequate rest between sets is that it allows your muscles to clear waste faster , preventing it from building up and slowing you down. It also allows your muscles to increase their energy reserves for the next set, meaning you can train for longer before feeling fatigued. This thoughtful approach also helps reduce your risk of injury.
Rest time and muscle energy systems
When you exercise, your body uses three different systems, which take turns to provide energy to your muscle cells by synthesizing adenosine triphosphate (ATP). So, depending on what you’re doing and for how long, you’ll be using a different energy system to do it. If you’re really in tune with your body, you can even notice when your body is switching between these systems.
Muscle energy systems: intensity, duration and energy sources
Knowing how and when these systems are activated also helps you understand why rest time between sets is important. So your three muscle energy systems work as follows:
- The phosphagen system: high intensity for a sudden burst. It is responsible for all short, explosive movements lasting about 6 to 10 seconds, such as one or two repetitions or a vertical jump. For this brief burst of energy, this system relies on ATP stored in the muscles. This system is also known as anaerobic alactic (ATP-CP).
- The anaerobic (glycolytic) system: high to medium intensity for a short duration. Activated after 10 seconds when the phosphagen system becomes exhausted. It then relies on the energy it converts from carbohydrates. It lasts about a minute or two, so it is the energy system responsible for sprints or 30-40 second intervals. This system is also known as lactic anaerobic.
- The aerobic (oxidative) system: low intensity for a long duration. It is important for endurance events, but it is responsible for all exercises that last more than two minutes. This system produces energy mainly from fats and carbohydrates converted in the presence of oxygen.
These different energy systems also result in a variation in force production, that is, the ability to load and discharge tension at speed, such as lifting weights, jumping, and throwing. With interval training and resistance training, you will be using the first two systems because they provide the bursts necessary to produce high force for short periods of time.
After a few reps, it is important to rest sufficiently. Otherwise, if you continue, you will naturally switch to using your third energy system, which can only provide a lower force output for the exercise. Therefore, if you force yourself to continue without resting, you will get less benefit from your workout.
How long should you rest between sets?
When it comes to calculating how long your rest time should be between sets, it’s important to first consider how demanding each interval is. Are you doing sit-ups or lifting heavy weights? Squats or sprints? Your rest time will depend on how hard you’re working.
Shorter rest periods are suitable for intervals that are not too demanding. They increase the intensity of your workout because your recovery is incomplete and therefore your heart rate remains elevated. Longer rest periods are suitable for intervals that are demanding in terms of effort or duration. Full recovery is essential so that you can perform at your best on every lap.
It is also essential to determine your training goals, as different rest periods will emphasize particular outcomes:
- Muscular endurance training: Involves a high volume of repetitions with lighter weights, focusing on a key area (e.g., arms if you’re a swimmer). For this goal, a shorter rest period of 20 to 60 seconds between sets is appropriate.
- Training for muscle growth: Bodybuilding or muscular hypertrophy involves a high volume of repetitions with less rest time with lighter weights to metabolically stress the muscle and increase its size. For this goal, a moderate rest period of 30 to 90 seconds between sets is appropriate.
- Power training: Involves a low volume of repetitions with light to moderately heavy weights, with an emphasis on speed of execution. For this goal, a longer rest period of 2 to 5 minutes between sets is appropriate.
- Strength training: involves a low volume of repetitions with heavier weights in order to increase your ability to lift heavier loads. For this goal, a longer rest period, 2 to 5 minutes, between sets is appropriate.
It is important to note that when you are new to strength training, it is recommended to take a little extra time to rest while ensuring that your heart rate and body temperature do not return to their normal levels. If you overexert yourself, you may feel nauseous at first, whereas getting more rest will help you maintain confidence that you have the ability to continue, which is important when you are just starting out. So listen to your body.
Presentation: Work-Rest Guide
At Polar, we understand the importance of finding the rhythm of your workouts and resting. That’s why we’ve introduced a new feature in our latest sports watches .
The Work-Rest Guide analyzes your heart rate while you work out to provide personalized guidance on how to maximize your rest. It does this by alerting you when you’re ready to start your next set, so you don’t start until you’ve recovered enough.
We specifically designed this feature for moderate-intensity strength training with heavy resistance. During these workouts, the Work-Rest guide helps you get the best possible impact from your workout.
Conclusion
One of the key elements of interval training is understanding how your body responds to your workouts. By identifying which muscle energy system is being used, you can predict how long it will take before fatigue occurs.
Identifying your training goals helps determine the optimal rest time between sets. See in real time how much rest you need during your workout with our Work-Rest Guide feature.
Rest is crucial to interval training sessions for effectiveness and injury prevention. So give yourself a break. You deserve it.