Resting between sets was something I never really thought about. I usually just went to the weight room and did a set then waited till I was ready again. One time I might wait 30 seconds, the next time it could be 3 minutes. I spent so much time on the program design of the workout and nothing on the rest period. Looking back over so many years of lifting I screwed up. This is one area I think many of us overlook. The rest between the sets and exerices is important. Whether you want to increase your cardio or your size you must map out your rest periods.
Since I am focusing on adding muscular size that is what I will talk about and not deal with the cardio rest with this blog. If you are looking to gain that muscular size then you need adequate rest between your sets and exercises. This will vary slightly but once I start to get up to the moderate weight of each exercise you want to give your body between 2-3 minutes of recovery. Why? You need to replenish your ATP stores which is one of your energy systems. This system helps to give you the energy needed to go back at it hard for the next set. So if I want to push heavy weight so I can break down the muscle (read my blog on lifting Moderate to Heavy weight) I need to give my body time to recover so I can go back at it heavy on the next set.
Take pride in working on the rest periods when doing a program. Don’t spend all day between sets but a good 3 minutes break when you get heavy is great!
Contact Dave at dave@exsp.biz or 717-571-1262.
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