REST TURNED UPSIDE DOWN By Jim Stoppani Forget what you know about rest. Switch your between- sets rest periods to elicit greater gains Stop me if you've heard this one before: A powerlifter, a bodybuilder and a triathlete walk into a gym. The powerlifter trains really heavy, doing only a few reps per set — lots of singles, doubles and triples. And he rests for a long time in between sets, like four or five minutes.
The bodybuilder trains heavy, but not as heavy as the powerlifter. He does sets of 8–10 reps. He doesn't rest as long, either, around 2–3 minutes. The triathlete, not surprisingly, lifts even lighter resistance than the bodybuilder, not to mention the powerlifter. He performs 15–20 reps and barely seems to rest in between sets — at most a minute, but more like 30–45 seconds. Now for the punchline: All three guys are using the right amount of weight, but their rest periods might just be back to front. The programme you're about to encounter requires doing the exact opposite of what you're probably used to: you'll rest longer between high-rep sets and shorter between heavy sets. THE SCIENCE OF REST Turning your rest periods upside down is a tricky proposition, considering that practically every expert in the field of exercise science, many of whom truly know their stuff, would tell you that the heavier you lift, the more time you should rest between sets, and vice versa. But think about it: what takes more out of you — a set of one rep or a set of 15? The set of 15, right? Then why wouldn't you want to rest longer after the more taxing set? Physiologically, it makes sense to switch your rest periods. The time you take between sets is intended to replenish the energy systems you depleted during the set. Reps of 1–6 rely mostly on stored ATP (the energy currency of all cells) in the muscle fibres, which is relatively quick to be replenished; doing 7–10 reps uses creatine phosphate (the form creatine takes in muscle cells to supply immediate energy) to a greater degree, in addition to stored ATP, which takes significantly longer to restock; and sets of 10 reps and up use even more creatine phosphate and rely on muscle glycogen levels, taking the longest of the three to replenish. Research backs this up. In one study, scientists at the University of Memphis (Tennessee) had 17 trained weightlifters do two one-rep max (1RM) sets of squats with either one minute, three minutes or five minutes of rest between sets. After resting just one minute between sets, 13 of the 17 lifters were able to lift their max weight again on the second set. After resting three minutes, 16 of 17 were able to complete the second set, and after five minutes, 15 of 17 were successful. The lesson here is that although you have a better chance for full recovery after three minutes, most individuals will be fully recovered after just one minute. If you're currently resting four, even five, minutes between heavy sets, you could be wasting your time. In another study, University of Wisconsin (Whitewater) scientists tested three different methods for resting between sets of squats, using approximately 85% of the subjects' 1RMs (a weight they could lift for about 6–8 reps). In the first method, the subjects rested three minutes between sets. The second method was called "self-perceived readiness" and involved the lifter deciding on his own when he "felt" ready for the next set, which averaged about 31⁄2 minutes. The third method involved measuring the lifter's heart rate; when it was down to 105 beats per minute, the next set was performed. The average time between sets here averaged around two minutes, and subjects were able to complete the same number of reps per set over the six sets regardless of the resting method. When training in the 6–8-rep range, then, you probably don't need much more than two minutes between sets to recover. Chances are, this is roughly consistent with how you've been training already. To learn how much rest it would take for muscles to recover from sets of 10–12 reps, University of Kansas scientists had 28 weight-trained males perform sets of the bench press to failure at about 75% of their 1RMs. Most were able to do about 12 reps on the first set, which they followed by resting either one, three or five minutes before performing a second set with the same weight. When the subjects rested just one minute between sets, they could complete only five reps on average. Yet they were able to do around 10 when they rested three or five minutes. Stands to reason, then, that when doing sets of 10–12 reps (assuming all are to failure with the same weight), you'll need to rest a full three minutes between sets, though resting any longer doesn't appear to offer much benefit. The pay-off is that you'll be able to do more total reps in the same number of sets. So try out the six-week programme. You'll see that it cycles reps and rest periods every week, which offers myriad benefits: The "Max Heavy" weeks increase overall muscle strength and will train your muscles to rapidly replenish fuel stores; the "Light" weeks encourage muscle growth, offering plenty of time for replenishing fuel sources so that you can do as many reps as possible each and every set; and the "Moderate-Heavy" weeks elicit both size and strength gains by replenishing fuel sources quickly, buffering acid levels more efficiently and boosting growth hormone levels. M&F REFERENCES ›› Greno, A.R., et al. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 35(5 supplement):S272, 2003. ›› Matuszak, M.E., et al. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 17(4):634-637, 2003. ›› Richmond, S.R., Godard, M.P. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 18(4):846-849, 2004.