Q: hi mike, how long should i rest between sets of an exercise?

A: The amount of rest between sets typically varies between 30 seconds and 3 minutes. Some programs want you to keep up cardio-like pace and will prescribe very short rests and others, especially ones aimed at developing maximum strength, will prescribe long rests, sometimes up to 5 minutes, to make sure you are fresh for every set.

If you are still in doubt, rest 1 minute if you don't go to failure on each set or if each set consists of 15 reps or more, rest 2 minutes if each set consists of 8 to 15 to-failure reps, and 3 minutes if you do less than 8 to-failure reps.