I've only rested until I feel ready so far, anything from 2-5 minutes depending on the exercise. When I get back to serious strength training again, I'll keep that in mind and try it. Thanks for the tip.
@@mitchellhooperstrongman What do you think about extended rest period for someone trying to prime their body for lifting again? I've gone through a torn MCL, bulging disc in my l5-s1, and thyroid cancer all back to back. I used to be 228 lbs solid. Now I'm near 300lbs with massively diminished muscular strength. Repeatedly I've had to deal with strains in my back and neck when trying to just get back into things. Something as simple as extending my arm over the side of the bed trying to REACHHHH for something beside the bed would cause a strain right inside my shoulder blades. I'm now trying to ease into things as slowly as possible. I'm talking about 6 lb reverse delt flies, lateral raises, front raise, and at most 40lb barbell rows. Doing very slow movement and I mean VERY slow as controlled as possible. I'm doing this at home obviously so would taking elongated breaks hurt me in anyway during this process?
Honestly, thanks for this video Mitch! I usually rest maybe 5 minutes or so between heavy lifts (often less). Today, I rested 18 minutes before attempting a new deadlift PR, and I got it! I have failed this weight twice before. The extra time between sets definitely made a significant difference. Thanks for this tip!
last week i struggled with my sandbag carries after Deadlifts and Log, this week i had an appointment half way through my workout(20 Minutes or so) and went on after, had to do the same weight as last week but 5 more runs, felt easy. 20 minutes is spot on
Deadlifts, sandbags and log on the same day? I would have checked out a long time ago if I was your CNS. Also, too much stress on those lower back muscles and spine in one session. My 2c.
Thank you for this video. By going from 4 minutes to 6 minutes, I increased 2 reps per set for 3 sets from last week. This must be why at 60, I hit walls so much. I do 3 straight sets from 5-8 reps. trying to get size and strength. you may have just changed my life. T\It was great to meet you at Myrtle Beach.
My god, I have been waiting to hear this for ages. I used to always use 5 minute breaks, my body would do anything to try to make me wait til 6 or 7 and Id feel bad about it. Then Hafthor made a video saying something like "Guys, if you are doing compound lifts, dont even worry if you wait 10 mins between sets, no problem." Which has helped me a lot, but even then my body was doing anything to make me extend that to 11 or 12 minutes. Now, I get 15-20, which is amazing, though hopefully it doesnt mean Im in the gym for 5 hours.
Another fantastic video. Mitchell, I knew nothing about you a few months ago and I simply cannot believe how much knowledge I have acquired from you in this short amount of time. You could have made a fortune by charging people for all of this information and you give it out for free.. This says a lot about the man you are and you are the people's champion in my book, even if some may not know your name yet!
That last statement is not necessarily true. For example I know a guy that started off trying to be a marathon runner and then a couple years later ended up being the world's strongest man...
I trained to be an endurance athlete and I accidentally became a strongman 😂 But, to be serious: my rest time is until my HR drops under 100bpm (usually 45ish sec to maybe a minute or two) and then I can go up in weight for the next set 😉
Thank you for that info moose. I love the fact that your explaining the science behind muscle building and muscle endurance. Again love the info and cant wait to see all you guys next season
The only other person I've ever heard promote rest periods of this duration is Paul Anderson. I met him in 1986 when I was 21 and a competitive power lifter. I had the privilege of talking with him for about an hour and, naturally, I quizzed him about his training philosophy and methods. He told me he used to rest 15 minutes between sets and rest for an hour between different exercises. Interestingly, he would superset every set of any exercise with a set of dumbbell or barbell pullovers. He stressed the importance of this.
That’s really interesting! I once read that he would set up two squat stands with bars at the opposite ends of a little field outside his house. He’d do one or two reps of squats then slowly saunter over to the other side, rest some more, then do a couple reps of shoulder press with the bar at that end. He’d repeat all afternoon, just going back and forth, for some three or four hours.
The only reason to rest 2-3 min is because you are in the gym with nothing else to do and don't want to waste your life waiting. Do curls and tri extensions at home with 5-10 min rest while you watch a movie/read a book and watch your arms blow up, trust me I am the science.
I don't disagree. I work out at home and most times work at home, so I can do a set, do some work, then do the next set. Curls and extensions I usually take a couple of minutes, but bench and squat is usually 5 to 10, or even a bit more if I'm maxing.
@@peterleggatt3642 I think it's very individualized, but a valid point to consider. I've never been into much warmup or stretching or things like that myself. I work out first thing in the morning, so I do some activation worker a couple of minutes and then some ramp up sets to get the CNS primed, then go at it. If I am delayed between sets more than like a half hour, I'll throw in an extra medium weight set just to make sure everything is still firing correctly and for confidence, especially if I'm doing heavy singles. I think a lot of it is just what you are used to, really.
Top Tyr here Mitch! I enjoy watching all of your content but these scientific/bio-mechanical breakdowns with explanations of how and why it works are amazing.
It's no surprise that Mitch won his first WSM so soon. Guys an incredible athlete and man does he know his stuff. Great vid Mitch. There are so many fitness tips on RU-vid but you are living proof that your tips obviously work better than most.
This is a great justification for what we frequently see in powerlifting programs where people work up to a top set (either heavy or an AMRAP) and then do some back off work using a shorter (3-5 minute) rest time. Most people don't have time to take 20 minutes to repeat maximal effort so they do it once and then use the back off work for a bit of additional strength/hypertrophy/skill even if it isn't as specific as the maximal effort.
Thank you for making this video, Mitch. For whatever reason my body is quite susceptible to developing symptoms of severe overreaching / mild overtraining. Something many gym-goers are adamant doesn't exist. I often feel guilty for even resting 4-6 minutes. I'll try to rest for longer when needed and see if it helps. I remember once doing a 2 rep max on DL and efter resting 5-8 minutes or so, the bar wouldn't budge, I'm talking incrementally dropping the weight by 50 kgs or more in total and the bar wouldn't move. 2 fucking weeks later or more I still had not recovered from that stupidity.
I love that this dude has experience with both spectrums of physical sport: endurance and explosiveness. Coupled with his educated mind. He can tell us so much. We can learn so much from him.
You see this a lot with high level sprinters resting 15-30 minutes between 100M sprints,reasons being; 1. They are capable of exhausting themselves more than anyone else can by sprinting 2. Because training less than 99.9% of what they are capable of is a huge detriment so they need to make sure they are fully recharged every time. Now that does mean they don't do intervals and regular conditions in the off season.
Track cycling sprinters too. They'll warm up, do a 10-15s max effort, and then cool down. That will take 15 to 20 minutes all up. Do that 3 times and it's an entire training session.
Pudzianowski is THE greatest strongman in history, I thought I'll kick off with that. Lol Mitch is a freak, from marathons to WSM?? Unheard of. On top of that you are a pleasure to listen to, smart as hell, articulate, entertaining and so on. Thank You!!
The most rest I’ll take is around 5 minutes for my top set. I feel like after more than that the weight actually feels heavier than if I would have gone a little sooner. Like my body is cooling down too much before the next set
thats the nice way to put it i always wanna tell ppl your just not strong enogh to need to rest for 20 minutes becuase ur not killing ur cns with the weight ur lifting for very long but never do becuase i dont wanna be rude but ill just coppy ur commet@@miker20 thank u bro
Great video. You sure need to give the muscles 90 sec to 2 min rest. It’s the time under tension and correct form which you should worry more about during the exercise. Less 1 min or less is just going to take more load off like Mitch explains
Just started working out and getting serious about my health. This information will help me a lot with performance. Thank you for putting this out there.
This was really useful information. I have the American College of Sports Medicine's "Resources for the Personal Trainer" Text book sitting next to my bed (and I've read it) but it doesn't cover rest period timing between sets in this detail. I understand how to program rest periods much better for specific goals after watching your video.
Lactate doesn’t cause the burn. If anything it reduces the burn even. Also lactate is not produced in absence of oxygen it does not need it but there’s plenty of oxygen available.
Going for a one rep PR tomorrow dead lift, one that I have failed 4 times now, I will test this give a 15 minute rest after doing one set of warm up and one 70% set before doing my one rep max.
try screaming and getting as hyped as possilbe its gets ur adrenlin pumping i failed a pr once took a break starting screaming and got 10kg passed for a pr
Sadly no, it lifted from the ground, but it was a bad day, my 80% max was more like 90% max, so yeah an other time when I have recovered more from a "cold"@@cobalt5421
Thank you for speaking more about the nervous system. I remember one time I was at the gym with my friend and my nervous system shut down. I couldn't lift anymore, energy was super low. Great advices here, keep them coming Mitch ! 👍 By the way, that rebound almost hit your head (7:00) 😵Better be safe than sorry 😉
Interesting. Great concise info.If i don’t eat enough or too long since i last ate it means what was optimal rest becomes insufficient for this training session. Same thing if i have had consecutive nights poor sleep my cns cannot recover between heavier sets as quick as if i was well rested. Besides the compound lifts mentioned in the video i also find heavy farmers walk needs a shit load of rest between sets. I experienced it before that a weight i picked up and walked with a few session ago felt like it was actually glued to the ground because i did RDLs & overhead press too not realising that despite my muscles were recovered my nervous system was fried & could not provide repeated high intensity. I sometimes think i should focus on one exercise for 45min in the morning & another different exercise 45min at night. This would address many problems but thats a big commitment though i may try it for two - three weeks.
The rest time learning has been huge, atleast waiting to you stop breathing heavy during Strength training has helped, love the education #lhbk #teammoose
I used to rest around 5 mins between working sets, this helped me personally to "find the energy" to get through my sessions (i was training really late at night when i should really be in bed). But i realised that although i was getting stronger i never got a pump. I brought my rests down to around 3 mins maximum for big lifts and less for smaller stuff and now i get a pump and feel its a better balance in my circumstances.
I big part of my training journey has been learning how to understand the cues that my body gives me. They are sometimes NOT intuitive at all. I like that you pointed out how our bodies are great a taking care of themselves, but the communication is terrible.
What Mitchell says might be out of the norm but correct to a certain extent. In season, training with 1-3 reps per set, which is maximal effort, it just makes sense to give your CNS and your lungs adequate time to rest. Even if it is 15-25'. Excercises like heavy sled pulls for example where you need to show both aerobic and anaerobic capacity, need at least 5-10' of rest in between sets. But, if you are working submaximal, lets say 5-8 reps for example, I would consider 20' of rest too much for two reasons. You get cold. Cold means prone to injuries, especially when working deadlifts and squats. Also, your CNS might be resting but your mind is getting defocused and you lose your rhythm/technique while going for these heavy reps. That's why the sweet spot for these reps is 3-5' in terms of rest.
Kettlebells are on way on the lighter side, it's not strongman stuff, but I've been increasing my rest times as I go up in weight. At first I felt somewhat "guilty" about longer wait times, but I'm hearing more and more advice supporting longer rest times especially from strongman, powerlifting and bodybuilding coaches. Some people go as far as saying that you shouldn't even track your rest times. As I get stronger, I'm trying to be more mindful about how I feel and less about how much time has passed from the last set and I don't mind taking longer pauses toward the end of my workout if that allows me to hit my work capacity with good form.
Generally the best advice is lift when your ready. If you're just focused on performance than lift when you're ready to perform again. If you're focused on hypertrophy then lift when you're ready to repeat that set again. Regardless, lift when your ready. 20 min rest times make sense for a man dead lifting 450kg but if you're deadlifting sub 300 then likely you're probably ready to lift in less than 20 min (or at least hopefully your cardio isn't so bad you need 20 min between sets of 240kg deads)
Muscle building is not a topic I'm well versed in, but I'd think 2 min between sets would be a good compromise for building strength and muscle, for most beginner to intermediate lifters. Goals may very, but if your main goal is getting stronger and possibly adding muscle, thats likely a good target, (that being said if you are doing squats ... 2 min may still feel like cardio maybe increase the rest time for those, maybe deadlift, cleans, snatches, and similar total body lifts).
I take 2-3 minutes for isolation type work depending on the muscle group (3 minutes for bigger muscles, 2 for smaller) and at the very least, 5 minutes for big compound movements and even longer if it's really heavy to let my CNS get some rest. I learned very early on just through my own evaluation of my training results that shorter rest periods weren't effective at building muscle and strength. It went against all the bro-science at the time that longer rest periods would kill your gains, but I always got better gains when taking longer rest periods. So I stuck with it and got laughed at by some of the guys in the gym. Once I was outlifting them, the steroid rumors started and that's when I knew I was doing something right lol.
What do you think about Rest-Pause sets like DC training for HYPERTROPHY vs straight sets of 5-8 reps with 5 mins of rest in between? Rest-Pause Example: Repeating the same weight for 3 failure points, taking 10-15 breathes (30 secs) in between each failure point. e.g: 100 x 8-10 reps. (10-15 deep breathes). 100 x 4-5. (10-15 deep breathes). 100 x 2-3. Then progressive overload next time either via reps or weight.
iam doing 2-3 min for isolations and 3-5 for not so hard compounds like lat pulldown incline db presses etc in the higher rep range but for squats deadlifts ohp etc i do lower reps and rest 5-10 min
I go 2-3 min, basically my goal is to be able to do 5-7 6-8 reps in 5-7 sets on heavy load without diminishing.. then I’ll try to “overload” the muscle by taking some weight off and doing something 12-15 reps for few sets. That’s for bench though, I don’t do the high reps when I do squat or deadlift, I’ll do some other workouts like leg extensions or press tbar rows etc
Good stuff! I remember doing mile time trials straight into a series of fast 800's when I did track competitively. Coach would give us 5 minutes after the mile, and while breathing and muscular fatigue felt almost normal, the 800's even a bit slower than mile pace were always a huge struggle. Letting the nervous system recover is important!
Could you please do a video on your log clean and press? I saw the clip from the crossfit video you did and would like to hear more in depth regarding the hand placement. Thank you!
Do you have any thoughts on training for arm and forearm strength? Elbow flexion, pronation, supination, wrist flexion, wrist rise and chop, grip strength etc? I can only imagine these muscles would have different recovery periods etc. Thanks!
I rest 5-8 min on my strength workouts. I am employed in a gym so I can do long workouts but for a normal person training the way I does is not going to be realistic. Workouts takes to long. With warm up Im 2 hour+ in the gym. Guess you could cut away lots of exercises but still going to take a good while to finish.
Supersets are the way. Superset 2, 3, 4 exercises (whatever is within your work capacity) and grab 2 minutes of true rest in between and each muscle group is getting plenty of rest. You’ll pack in quality volume in reasonable-length workouts.
Is there a 'better hour' to train? Does it make a difference for those who go at the mornings vs evenings? If you go late at night after you ate most of your calories is it different to going at the morning fasted? A video about these details sounds cool
Most people dont lift heavy enough or close enough to failure to need the long rests. When I do compound lifts like weighted pull ups after a set I do a drop set body weight and then I cannot even think about starting another set for about 8 mins.
Dear Mitch you forgot a critical component - heat. You come from cold climate just like me. Say you worked out outside (as I do year around) even as there is - 15 deg C cold in the winter. I do not want to rest 15 minutes. There is some science to it - the guy who invented CoolMit or wth it was called. He claimed you reduce the res times your muscle metabolism requires dramatically by cooling your hands after every set. In my experience it works - not as magical as the claims but there is significant component to it. In summer time and in indoors gym I soak my hands in cold water after every set - it helps me reduce the avg rest tome to 5..7 minutes for maximum recovery. Tbh I do supersets - rest 4..5 min between different exercises and between blocks I rest 10 minutes. Supposedly ATP supply gets turned of fast as muscle approaches 40 deg C internal temperature - and supposedly in case of elite athletes this condition is not hard to reach.
I’d hate to lactate while training. Being a man I’d be a bit surprised to see milk coming out of my nipples. I know you mean lactic acid but I have a weird sense of humour.
I have a hard time waiting 20 seconds between sets. I prefer to do two different exercises that work different muscles at the same time and just alternate between them. I haven't got all day. And I like working cardio at the same time. I know I'm not maximizing size or strength but I'm plenty strong and I'm only exercising for health.
I do like 12-14 sets - including warm up sets - of bench/dead/squat with 5-20 min rest in between. I do 1-5 reps but the volume/workload is like 5.000 - 10.000 lbs in total. But in the end I think I can "escape" everything lol not only bc I am drunk rn.
I get it if you own the gym, but when it's peak hours, the gym is packed and there's a dude camped out on the squat rack for an hour and has enough time to sh!t, shower, and shave between sets it's just too much. One of the guys @ my gym is doing 3 sets with 25 minute rests between sets. No bueno. Love your videos and your candor btw.
"Build-up of lactate causes the burn". Never thought I would hear an exercise physiologist saying this in 2023. I'm a big fan Mitch and I have a lot of respect for you so I hope you said this just as an oversimplification!
When I hit mabouty personal best deadlift, my workout is over. Nervous system is fried, I can't sleep the next night and it takes about 48hours to be able to think straight and calmly. How on earth can you recover your nervous system in 25 minutes? I really need to know.
I found this video while searching for if resting for more than 30-60 before the next set and a few minutes before the next kind of exercise was ok. Seems I was overthinking it. I'm currently obese, losing weight quite quickly and want to keep the most important muscle categories on or even gain a little while dropping the weight. Got a personal trainer to form a full body program I wanted to do 2 times a week depending on how I feel or at the very least 1 time a week when I don't feel good. Got a home gym consisting of a training mat, training bench and a good set of hex dumbbells because I don't want to travel all the way to the gym or deal with others, much rather just go and train when I feel the energy. Also nice with speakers listening to audio books or whatever music I want. Did a fair amount of training sessions but I found it harder and harder to continue since it would leave me getting a very high bpm and I'd feel nauseous, dizzy, lightheaded, generally feeling like I'm about to die, having to sit or lie down waiting for the feeling to pass. I realized that my issue is taking it too quickly. Every full body training would take 70 minutes or so and I would only leave at most 30-60 seconds between sets, as I get more and more tired, I would be forced to pause longer between sets but I'd always get back into it as fast as possible as if my gains would escape if I didn't push myself. After this I realized that I should rest a bit more between sets, perhaps 5 minutes at least. That will likely make me feel much better and make training a bit more fun instead of just torture. I can just sit or lie down and listen to my audiobook while waiting. Good to know. I also have to keep in mind that I'm still morbidly obese and haven't strength trained in a long time and pretty much every exercise will have many extra kgs to deal with.
If i waited 15 minutes I feel not warm anymore and my joints seem stiff . I am 54 but still want to hit 500lb plus squats. I will actually time my rest better and see how it goes.
