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Rest Periods Influence Growth
by Chris Aceto
If you are a regular reader, I am sure you are aware that I continue to be a big believer in heavy training. Not Heavy Duty-one-set-to-failure. But, heavy training using multiple sets for each body part. Nothing influences muscle growth more so than being able to push lots of weight. Just ask Ronnie Coleman and Kevin Levrone. Crazy amounts of muscle mass right? They built their bodies on the foundation of strength. When you’re strong and can work in the growth rep range, no fewer than 6 reps with no more than 12 reps, muscle growth comes easy.
Besides lifting heavy – of course with good form and training within the 6 to 12 rep range – the rest periods you take influence and affect how much muscle you can add. That’s’ the topic I want to tackle this month. Rest. Specifically, how much to take in between sets.
Principle #1 Your body is a Unit
This principle has everything to do with taking your time. One of the myths in training for growth is to speed up your training. The idea is that taking shorter rest periods between sets leads to greater growth. In fact, the opposite is true. When you rest a bit longer, that extra rest and immediate recovery allows you to be able to use the heavy weight you just lifted for another productive set. For example, if you bench press 120 kgs for 10 reps and rest for only 40 seconds, do you really believe you’ll be able to handle another set for the same number of reps. The answer is clearly no. You might be able to move the 120 kgs but will likely fall far short of 10 reps. On the other hand, if you rest for twice as long, say just over a minute and a half, you would be able to handle the second set for 10 reps. The lesson: training too quickly, moving too fast from set to set compromises your ability to re-use a heavy weight and muscular growth is highlydependent on the amount of weight you can use in the 6 to 12 rep range.
Having said that, let’s discuss how the body integrates itself as a unit. When you train with weights, it’s an anaerobic training system. That is, unlike with cardiocacular training, weight training works the body without the need for large amounts of oxygen. However, in training larger body parts to failure – such as legs, back, chest and quads – the bodybuilder not only causes his muscles to fail, but puts an intense stress on the heart and lungs. While the activity – training to momentary muscle failure – put the greatest stress on the muscles, you can’t help but notice the heart and lungs comes into play in a very big way. In squatting or bent over rowing, for example, you often “run out of breath” at the point where you can barely get that final rep. Immediately after that final rep to failure, you stop and that’s where both the muscle your training has to regroup and recover, and it’s also the exact time where the heart has to recover. Specifically, training to failure can radically increase the heart rate and when the heart rate dramatically rises, you can’t truly train to failure again – to take a second successive set to muscular failure – until the heart rate has returned closer to its resting level. Imagine taking a set of leg presses to failure. When your legs say “no” your heart rate is racing like you just performed an all-out sprint. If you don’t rest long enough between sets, the heart rate will interfere with taking the muscles to failure and you wont be able to use a heavy weight. At least you wont be able to use a really heavy weight, one that’s required to stimulate big growth. On a simple level, imagine Ronnie Coleman squatting 350 kgs for 8 reps. At rep 8, his body as an entire unit is maxed out. His quads are fried and his heart rate is running through the roof. Do you think he waits only 1 minute before hitting set number two? Of course not. He rests as long as it takes to get the heart rate closer to normal. And that could be 4 minutes. Don’t forget, this is his mass training, so training with 30-60 seconds rest in between sets is definitely not the best idea for radical growth.
Principle #2 Short Rest Periods Short Circuit Contraction
When you train to failure, the muscles produce a lot of acid called lactic acid. Lactic acid is actually a by-product of the metabolism of sugar. When you call on glucose in huge amounts to power those big sets, the by-product is lactic acid. When you rest – between sets - the acid is sent to the liver and used as fuel. During the actual set, it (lactic acid) can’t be used as fuel. The problem with lactic acid is that it inhibits muscle contraction. When you take a set to failure, one factor causing you to no longer be able to continue with the set is a surge in lactic acid. Lactic acid irritates the endings of nerves that connect to muscles and prevent the nerve signal from firing. In short, lactic acid exerts an unfavorable effect on muscle contraction. Lactic acid clearance – how fast it gets out of the area – is related to rest periods.
If you wait a very brief time between sets, the acid remains within the muscle you are targeting which prevents you from taking your second set to failure in the same rep range as the first set. For example, in bench presses, you might do a set of 10 with 130 kgs. At the point of failure, you rack the weight and rest for a minute. Picking up the weight to perform the second set, you fail at rep number 8, two short of the first set. A reason you may not have been able to perform 10 reps as you did on the first set: a lack of sufficient rest between sets which prevent maximal clearance of lactic acid out of the muscle. To allow maximal clearance, you have to – in addition to following principle #1 – rest long enough to clear lactic acid. Rest periods for growth can be up to 4 minutes on major movements like squats, leg presses, bent rows, or dead lifts, with 2-3 minutes on shoulder exercises and most other back, shoulder and chest exercises. Because the arms don’t drive the heart rate up as much as large body parts, you can get away with waiting 1-2 minutes between sets. For growth, the 30-60 seconds rest between sets is, in my opinion, poor training advice.
Why Short Rest
The idea that shortening rest periods between sets is advantageous for muscle growth came about with limited understanding of how a bodybuilder approaches his training. On a theoretical level, if I do 10 sets of 100 pounds of bicep curls, I could establish the idea that I am actually doing more work if I wait only 1 minute between sets rather than 2 minutes. That idea is based on the formula that work and time are related. Short-rest enthusiasts push the point that the bodybuilder can add stress to the body – therefore resulting in greater growth – by performing the sets and reps he is currently doing in a shorter period of time. For example, if you do 4 sets of bench press with 125 kgs and 4 sets of inclines bench presses with 100 kgs followed by 4 sets of flies with a pair of 30 kg dumbbells – all resting for 2-3 minutes between sets, - you can benefit by bringing the rest to just 1 minute. Yes you can, or you could but in reality, when you shorten the rest periods, you either create a massive lactic acid build up or your body as a unit begins to tire. The result: you have to use smaller or lighter weights and lighter weights always translates into less muscle growth. With drastically cutting down on rest periods, the bodybuilder who previously performed 4 sets of bench presses with 125 kgs – resting 2 and up to 2 ½ minutes between sets – will not be able to handle 125 kgs for all 4 sets. In short, cutting back on rest periods is detrimental to the total amount of load you can place on the muscles.
So what is the best rest range?
For most the answer varies though you have to consider your heart rate.
If the heart rate is not close to normal, then the body as a unit will experience fatigue which can interfere with lifting the heaviest weight possible. Therefore the time to rest between sets will vary. For biceps, the ideal time could be a minute to 90 seconds while a larger body part or exercise that gets the heart rate up- such as bent over rowing – can require 3 minutes of rest. You need the full amount – or a greater period of rest – if you hope to push the heaviest weight possible on each successive set.
Besides trying to avoid an elevated heart rate, keep in mind excess lactic acid production can interfere with your training and taking greater rest periods can allow time for the acid to dissipate which allows for a more forceful contraction.
Bottom line; with less lactic acid clogging the contractile pathways, the more likely you can continue to use a heavy weight on successive sets.
by Chris Aceto
If you are a regular reader, I am sure you are aware that I continue to be a big believer in heavy training. Not Heavy Duty-one-set-to-failure. But, heavy training using multiple sets for each body part. Nothing influences muscle growth more so than being able to push lots of weight. Just ask Ronnie Coleman and Kevin Levrone. Crazy amounts of muscle mass right? They built their bodies on the foundation of strength. When you’re strong and can work in the growth rep range, no fewer than 6 reps with no more than 12 reps, muscle growth comes easy.
Besides lifting heavy – of course with good form and training within the 6 to 12 rep range – the rest periods you take influence and affect how much muscle you can add. That’s’ the topic I want to tackle this month. Rest. Specifically, how much to take in between sets.
Principle #1 Your body is a Unit
This principle has everything to do with taking your time. One of the myths in training for growth is to speed up your training. The idea is that taking shorter rest periods between sets leads to greater growth. In fact, the opposite is true. When you rest a bit longer, that extra rest and immediate recovery allows you to be able to use the heavy weight you just lifted for another productive set. For example, if you bench press 120 kgs for 10 reps and rest for only 40 seconds, do you really believe you’ll be able to handle another set for the same number of reps. The answer is clearly no. You might be able to move the 120 kgs but will likely fall far short of 10 reps. On the other hand, if you rest for twice as long, say just over a minute and a half, you would be able to handle the second set for 10 reps. The lesson: training too quickly, moving too fast from set to set compromises your ability to re-use a heavy weight and muscular growth is highlydependent on the amount of weight you can use in the 6 to 12 rep range.
Having said that, let’s discuss how the body integrates itself as a unit. When you train with weights, it’s an anaerobic training system. That is, unlike with cardiocacular training, weight training works the body without the need for large amounts of oxygen. However, in training larger body parts to failure – such as legs, back, chest and quads – the bodybuilder not only causes his muscles to fail, but puts an intense stress on the heart and lungs. While the activity – training to momentary muscle failure – put the greatest stress on the muscles, you can’t help but notice the heart and lungs comes into play in a very big way. In squatting or bent over rowing, for example, you often “run out of breath” at the point where you can barely get that final rep. Immediately after that final rep to failure, you stop and that’s where both the muscle your training has to regroup and recover, and it’s also the exact time where the heart has to recover. Specifically, training to failure can radically increase the heart rate and when the heart rate dramatically rises, you can’t truly train to failure again – to take a second successive set to muscular failure – until the heart rate has returned closer to its resting level. Imagine taking a set of leg presses to failure. When your legs say “no” your heart rate is racing like you just performed an all-out sprint. If you don’t rest long enough between sets, the heart rate will interfere with taking the muscles to failure and you wont be able to use a heavy weight. At least you wont be able to use a really heavy weight, one that’s required to stimulate big growth. On a simple level, imagine Ronnie Coleman squatting 350 kgs for 8 reps. At rep 8, his body as an entire unit is maxed out. His quads are fried and his heart rate is running through the roof. Do you think he waits only 1 minute before hitting set number two? Of course not. He rests as long as it takes to get the heart rate closer to normal. And that could be 4 minutes. Don’t forget, this is his mass training, so training with 30-60 seconds rest in between sets is definitely not the best idea for radical growth.
Principle #2 Short Rest Periods Short Circuit Contraction
When you train to failure, the muscles produce a lot of acid called lactic acid. Lactic acid is actually a by-product of the metabolism of sugar. When you call on glucose in huge amounts to power those big sets, the by-product is lactic acid. When you rest – between sets - the acid is sent to the liver and used as fuel. During the actual set, it (lactic acid) can’t be used as fuel. The problem with lactic acid is that it inhibits muscle contraction. When you take a set to failure, one factor causing you to no longer be able to continue with the set is a surge in lactic acid. Lactic acid irritates the endings of nerves that connect to muscles and prevent the nerve signal from firing. In short, lactic acid exerts an unfavorable effect on muscle contraction. Lactic acid clearance – how fast it gets out of the area – is related to rest periods.
If you wait a very brief time between sets, the acid remains within the muscle you are targeting which prevents you from taking your second set to failure in the same rep range as the first set. For example, in bench presses, you might do a set of 10 with 130 kgs. At the point of failure, you rack the weight and rest for a minute. Picking up the weight to perform the second set, you fail at rep number 8, two short of the first set. A reason you may not have been able to perform 10 reps as you did on the first set: a lack of sufficient rest between sets which prevent maximal clearance of lactic acid out of the muscle. To allow maximal clearance, you have to – in addition to following principle #1 – rest long enough to clear lactic acid. Rest periods for growth can be up to 4 minutes on major movements like squats, leg presses, bent rows, or dead lifts, with 2-3 minutes on shoulder exercises and most other back, shoulder and chest exercises. Because the arms don’t drive the heart rate up as much as large body parts, you can get away with waiting 1-2 minutes between sets. For growth, the 30-60 seconds rest between sets is, in my opinion, poor training advice.
Why Short Rest
The idea that shortening rest periods between sets is advantageous for muscle growth came about with limited understanding of how a bodybuilder approaches his training. On a theoretical level, if I do 10 sets of 100 pounds of bicep curls, I could establish the idea that I am actually doing more work if I wait only 1 minute between sets rather than 2 minutes. That idea is based on the formula that work and time are related. Short-rest enthusiasts push the point that the bodybuilder can add stress to the body – therefore resulting in greater growth – by performing the sets and reps he is currently doing in a shorter period of time. For example, if you do 4 sets of bench press with 125 kgs and 4 sets of inclines bench presses with 100 kgs followed by 4 sets of flies with a pair of 30 kg dumbbells – all resting for 2-3 minutes between sets, - you can benefit by bringing the rest to just 1 minute. Yes you can, or you could but in reality, when you shorten the rest periods, you either create a massive lactic acid build up or your body as a unit begins to tire. The result: you have to use smaller or lighter weights and lighter weights always translates into less muscle growth. With drastically cutting down on rest periods, the bodybuilder who previously performed 4 sets of bench presses with 125 kgs – resting 2 and up to 2 ½ minutes between sets – will not be able to handle 125 kgs for all 4 sets. In short, cutting back on rest periods is detrimental to the total amount of load you can place on the muscles.
So what is the best rest range?
For most the answer varies though you have to consider your heart rate.
If the heart rate is not close to normal, then the body as a unit will experience fatigue which can interfere with lifting the heaviest weight possible. Therefore the time to rest between sets will vary. For biceps, the ideal time could be a minute to 90 seconds while a larger body part or exercise that gets the heart rate up- such as bent over rowing – can require 3 minutes of rest. You need the full amount – or a greater period of rest – if you hope to push the heaviest weight possible on each successive set.
Besides trying to avoid an elevated heart rate, keep in mind excess lactic acid production can interfere with your training and taking greater rest periods can allow time for the acid to dissipate which allows for a more forceful contraction.
Bottom line; with less lactic acid clogging the contractile pathways, the more likely you can continue to use a heavy weight on successive sets.
