How much rest between sets?

Believe it or not, the amount of time that you rest between sets has an effect on your training results. When you are resting less than two minutes between your sets, you are using the lactic acid energy system. This is a medium duration energy source and is the primary energy source used in most body building workouts. If you rest longer than 3 minutes between sets, you are using more of the ATP-PC energy system. This is the most powerful energy system for short bursts of exercise. There is one more energy system called the Aerobic Energy System. Generally, this energy system is used for long duration, low intensity exercise, but it does assist with body building workouts. There is no switch that turns off one of these systems and turns the next one on at the two or three minute mark. In fact, they work together, overlapping in their duties, to handle the workload that we give them in our weight lifting plan.

An off-season bodybuilder trying to put on some serious muscle mass in his free weight training program may choose to lift very heavy weights for sets of 6 to 8 reps to reach his goal. By resting for 3 or 4 minutes between heavy sets, the ATP-PC energy system will be able to almost completely replenish the energy in the muscles between sets, allowing this bodybuilder to lift this heavy weight for more sets and reps before running out of gas. If he were to try this same workout with only 90 seconds rest between sets, he would have to drop the weight sooner in the workout, and would not be able to lift that same weight for anywhere near the same number of sets and reps. The Lactic Acid Energy System is not able to replenish the muscles as quickly, but there is a good reason that it is the most commonly used energy system for body building workouts. By training with shorter rest periods during the workout, there will be increased levels of growth hormone in the blood afterwards. Another reason to use this system is that you can finish your workout in less time, and it has been shown that the body’s natural testosterone levels take a noticeable dip after 45 minutes of training.

Proper rest between sets can maximize your training results, along with the proper supplementation.

How does the Aerobic Energy System fit into the big picture for body building? The body does not switch from the Lactic Acid Energy System to the ATP-PC system at exactly 2 minutes rest between sets. For some people it will be sooner and for some it will be later. Either way, it is not a sudden change, but rather a gradual changing of the guard with the Aerobic Energy System helping to bridge the gap between the two.

So what is the best way to manipulate these energy systems for maximum muscle growth? The answer depends partly on your weight lifting plan, but generally speaking, bodybuilders should spend most of their training time using the Lactic Acid Energy System. A significant amount of time should be spent doing heavy weight training with 3 or 4 minutes rest to increase your strength, and the rest of the time (maybe 70 percent of your training) should be done with rest periods of 90 to 150 seconds rest between sets.

By training like this, you can build your strength levels during the heavy training with longer rest periods, and then use that new strength to lift more weight for more reps when you train using the Lactic Acid Energy System. This will maximize the benefits of each energy system and keep your body from adapting, which will result in amazing muscle growth!