Sid's blog for 7-Sep-09

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i was training today and some new trainer was telling me that i have to take rest of around 1 minute between the sets...like if i am doing 3 sets the total rest should be around a minute. at first i went like wtf coz i used to take like 1 minute rest between each set... mike, seek help :S

Comments for this blog entry.

mike on 7-Sep-09

The general rule is the heavier the weight, the longer the rests. If you are using weights that cause you to reach muscular failure in 6 reps or so, then rests as long as 3 minutes between sets are reasonable. If you are doing 8-10 reps to failure, then 2 minute rests. If you are doing 12 or more reps then 1 minute rests. There is no hard and fast rule but this is the general idea -- length of rests is proportional to the weight lifted. If you are not training to failure then normally you'd take short rests of 60-90 seconds, unless you are on a strength-specific program which usually prescribes much longer rests to allow full muscle recovery.