How much rest do you need between sets of exercise?

Resting between sets of exercises is an aspect that is commonly ignored by fitness enthusiasts. While some of you might be extending the rest phase to chat with those around, others might be cutting it short to move on to the next session. Both practices could affect the ultimate result of your workout session for the day and your long-term fitness.

Why is the resting phase so important?

Resting phase between reps is important to allow the muscles to endure the strain and recover temporarily. If it is too short, it can cause muscle fatigue, making you tired at the end of the set of exercise. If it is too long, your muscles will get relaxed, so for the next set of exercise you would have to spend more energy in stimulating the muscles again.

So, how much rest you need?

It’s completely dependent on the type, number of repetitions and intensity of exercise you’re doing and the ultimate goal of exercising (muscle building, weight loss, strength building). But generally, rest phase should last anywhere between 0-5 minutes between two sets of exercise.

Reps: Ideally, the rest phase is inversely proportional to the intensity of the exercise. So the higher is your rep range, the lower is the intensity of the exercise so the lesser will be your rest phase. For example, if you’re doing 4 reps per set of an exercise, you’ll need lesser rest than if you were to do 10 reps per set of the same exercise

Intensity: Obviously, the more demanding the exercise, the more rest you’ll need between two sets. For example, if you’re doing squats, pull-ups and bench press you’ll need more rest than you would need between sets of biceps curls or triceps pulls.

Ultimate goal: So, if your goal is weight loss, you’ll have more of cardio exercises than muscle building ones. Circuit training, muscular endurance exercises should therefore have rest period between 40-60 seconds. If your goal is building muscle strength, then you need 2-5 minutes depending on your endurance and capacity.

---

For more articles on fitness, visit our fitness section. For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter.

1. Prev:Did you know ghee can help you lose weight?
2. Next:Planning to lose weight? Eat bananas