How Long Should You Rest Between Sets?
A typical strength or muscle building workout consists of sets. You lift the weight a certain number of times (“reps”), then lower it for a quick rest before repeating. But how long should this rest last? The answer will depend on several factors, including the purpose of the workout.
There are legitimate reasons for powerlifters to wait five minutes between sets of squats, and for calisthenics to set a 30-second timer before jumping back up for the next set of pull-ups. There’s also a good argument to be made that for many of us, rest time isn’t a big deal. With all that in mind, here are the optimal rest times for different types of workouts.
Optimal rest time for strength training
If you want to learn how to lift heavy weights, you need to practice lifting weights. Strength is a specific metric: if two people can bench press the same weight 20 times, but one does heavy singles (sets of just one rep) and the other doesn’t, guess who will win if they decide to watch Who can bench press the heaviest? It is not surprising that a person with experience in lifting weights will be able to lift heavier.
So if you’re working out to gain strength, you need to do everything you can to allow yourself to handle heavier weights. Which of the most important factors influences the weight on the barbell? Your rest time.
The longer you rest (within reason), the better you will recover for the next set. If you give yourself just one minute, you’ll still be tired when you gain the weight back. But if you wait longer—maybe two to three minutes for lighter or lighter exercises, or five minutes or more for a heavy lift that involves your whole body—you’ll be able to handle more weight.
How long to rest between strength sets : Three to five minutes for most exercises. You can make the exercise a little shorter for exercises that work fewer or smaller muscles, such as bicep curls. You may want to rest even longer when performing heavy exercises that involve more of your body, such as max-effort deadlifts.
Optimal Rest Time for Muscle Building Workouts
When it comes to muscle growth, also called hypertrophy, the answer is not so clear cut. Traditionally, trainers say that 90 seconds or less is a good rule of thumb. (The National Academy of Sports Medicine recommends 0 to 60 seconds; personal training textbooks from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the American Council on Exercise recommend 30 to 90 seconds.)
But research has shown that short rest periods are actually no better for muscle growth than longer ones. A 2016 study found that three-minute rest periods actually resulted in more muscle growth than one-minute rest periods. The authors believe this is because the men in their three-minute group (yes, the study was only done on men) were able to use heavier weights than the men in the one-minute group. Since the number of sets was the same in both groups, this means that the three-minute group lifted more weight.
But the authors also note that there are real reasons why you might choose to take longer or shorter rest periods. Here are a few things to consider:
- With shorter rest periods, you can complete more sets in a given amount of time (thus doing more work overall, which will promote more muscle growth).
- With shorter rest periods, you will begin each set partially fatigued and thus train closer to failure. Training near failure helps you recruit more motor units and increases “metabolic stress” in your muscles (that burning sensation), which can help you build muscle better.
- With longer rest periods, you can lift heavier in your sets, which promotes both strength and muscle growth.
- With longer rest periods, your workouts may take longer. Unless you have a lot of time to spend in the gym, taking a long rest for each exercise may not be practical.
Although these factors may seem to contradict each other, they can all be true at the same time. To further complicate matters, the researchers in this study also note that results vary from person to person. There doesn’t seem to be a good universal answer here.
Ultimately, you may be better off using a combination of long and short rest periods, which is how many programs are designed. For example, you can use a longer rest time for a few big compound exercises early in your workout (like squats or bench presses) and a shorter rest time for isolation exercises afterwards (like curls or glute bridges).
How long to rest between sets when training for muscle growth : The traditional recommendation is about one minute (or 30 to 90 seconds), but it’s probably best to include at least a few exercises where you rest for two minutes or more.
How long to rest between sets of specific exercises
Okay, but what if you want to get stronger and build muscle? What if you want to stop overthinking the details and do everything that makes you look like a normal person at the gym who knows what they’re doing when you’re on vacation? Here’s a cheat sheet:
- For push-ups and pull-ups : If you’re doing low to moderate reps (less than 12), treat them like a strength exercise and wait three to five minutes between sets. If you’re one of those people who does 20 or 50 reps at a time, you’ll probably want to rest for about a minute so that fatigue can make your next set a little shorter and you can finish the workout for the life of you.
- For barbell squats and deadlifts : These are compound exercises that work many muscles in your body. They are almost always done (relatively) hard, and these movements are useful for building strength. Treat them like a strength exercise and wait three to five minutes.
- Bench press, overhead press, chest press, and shoulder press: These use smaller muscles and less weight than squats and deadlifts, but they still qualify as compound strength exercises. In most cases, two to three minutes will be enough, but for heavy sets, increase to five if necessary.
- For rows and lat pulldowns : Same as for presses, for the same reasons. Two to three minutes may be enough, but up to five is reasonable.
- For isolation exercises : If you’re trying to feel a burn or a pump, short pauses will help a lot here. Pause 30 seconds between sets.
These are just guidelines, so feel free to experiment. If you want to work on your cardiovascular system, rest a little less between sets. If you’ve already completed a large set of bench presses today, perform the rest of your arm and chest exercises with shorter rest periods.
And yes, it can be awkward to stand in a squat rack doing nothing or even scrolling through your phone while others wait. But remember: everyone rests between sets! Or at least they should.