How Long Should You Rest Between Sets During Your Workout?

You probably know that you need to rest between sets of exercises at the gym.

But.. do you know how long you should be resting?

You may have heard that short rest periods will keep your heart rate up, which will burn more calories and give you a more effective workout.

Maybe you heard that short rest periods are better for building muscle, and if you rest too long you’ll be killing your gains.

Hell, you might be thinking that how long you rest between sets during your workouts is a trivial topic, but it might be the very thing that’s holding you back from achieving the body you want!

By the end of the article, you’ll know exactly how long you need to rest to see the best results in the gym.

Let’s dig in.

Why are you working out?

When you’re in the gym working out, your goal should be to build muscle and get stronger. 

You should not be trying to burn as many calories as you can in your workout.

If you want to lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. Working out will burn some calories, but it’s probably not as many calories as you think. And it’s definitely not as many calories as your smartwatch says, either!

Studies have shown that working out without getting your diet in check is pretty unlikely to result in weight loss (1). The main reason is that you’re probably going to eat back the calories burned, or you’ll move around less later in the day which offsets the calories you burned.

The best way to lose body fat is by making sure you’re in a calorie deficit through your diet.

Getting stronger and building muscle is going to give your body the shape you want. Want a bigger butt and more defined arms? How about a chiseled chest and abs? Strength training is the answer.

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Why resting between sets is important

In order to build muscle and get stronger, you need to be using weights that challenge you. This means you’ll need to be lifting close to failure.

To lift weights that challenge you, you’re going to need to rest long enough to allow the muscles you’re working to recover. If you cut that rest short, you won’t be able to lift as heavy on your next set because you’ll be taxing your cardiovascular system more than your muscular system. 

Think about how you feel after doing a set of deadlifts. You’re breathing heavy, palms sweaty, knees weak, arms heavy..

If you try to do another set of deadlifts too quickly, your muscles won’t have time to recover. On the next set, you’ll be breathing heavily but you won’t be challenging your muscles enough for them to grow bigger or stronger.

Over time, you’ll be lifting less weight for fewer reps.

Lifting heavier weights that challenge your muscles is going to build more muscle and allow you to get stronger.

How long should you rest between sets during your workouts?

The short answer is.. it depends. 

Several studies have looked at rest times and strength training. Resting at least 2 minutes and in some cases up to 5 minutes allows you to train heavier and closer to failure on each set compared to shorter rest intervals (2).

In some cases, it can make sense to use shorter rest times for certain types of exercises that use only one muscle or smaller muscles in general.

How long you need to rest between sets during your workouts is going to depend on the type of exercise you’re doing, how heavy you’re lifting, and whether or not you’re pairing exercises together during your workouts.

Different types of exercises

You can generally split up exercises into two categories: compound exercises, and accessory/ isolation exercises. 

Compound exercises use multiple muscle groups and multiple joints. They are usually performed first in your workout when you’re the most fresh. You’re going to be able to lift the heaviest on your compound exercises because you typically do them for lower reps and focus on lifting the most amount of weight you can with them. Examples include:

• • Barbell squats
  • Barbell deadlifts
  • Barbell bench presses
  • Dumbbell rows
  • Dumbbell lunges

Accessory/ isolation exercises usually use one muscle group and or one joint. They are typically done last in your workout for higher reps than your compound exercises. Some examples of accessory and isolation exercises are:

• • Bicep curls
  • Tricep extensions
  • Hamstring curls
  • Lateral raises
  • Calf raises

How long should you rest between compound exercises?

Because compound exercises use multiple muscle groups and are done for lower reps, it’s a good idea to take full recovery between sets. Remember, the goal is to lift heavy on these exercises! You’re also going to accumulate a lot of central nervous system (CNS for short) fatigue with your compound exercises. 

I recommend resting 3-5 minutes between your compound exercises to make sure you’re ready to lift heavy on your next set.

How long should you rest between accessory/ isolation exercises?

Since accessory exercises usually only involve one joint and one muscle group, you’re going to be lifting a lot lighter than on your compound exercises. Even though the weight is going to be lighter, you still need to push these exercises close to failure to see results.

Resting 1-2 minutes between accessory/ isolation exercises will give you enough time to recover before hitting your next set.

What about supersets?

If you got this far in the article and you’re thinking that there’s no way you can rest that long between exercises, don’t worry. There’s a way you can cut back on the time you spend in the gym and still rest long enough to see results.

A superset is where you pair two exercises together in a workout program.

When you pair two exercises together, you’re going to save time because you’re cutting out the rest time of an entire set.

Let’s say you’re going to pair a dumbbell bench press together with a dumbbell row. Here’s what it might look like in a program:

1A) Dumbbell bench press 

3 sets of 10 reps

1B) Dumbbell single arm row 

3 sets of 8 reps each arm

*Rest 2 minutes between sets

Since you’re performing these exercises back to back, you’ll be resting a total of 6 minutes during this pairing of exercises.

Here’s what it would look like if you did each exercise on it’s own:

1) Dumbbell bench press 

3 sets of 10 rep

*Rest 2 minutes between sets 

2) Dumbbell single arm row 

3 sets of 8 reps each arm

*Rest 2 minutes between sets

When doing the workout this way, you would be resting 12 minutes! Pairing the right exercises together saves you time while allowing you to recover enough to build muscle and get stronger. 

What about cardio workouts?

When it comes to cardio, you have two options:

1. • Steady state cardio is where you perform an activity like brisk walking, biking or running for a prolonged period of time.
   • Interval training is where you perform shorter, more intense bouts of an activity like battle ropes, sled pushes or assault bike intervals for a period of time followed by a rest interval.

During steady state cardio, you’re not going to be resting at all. You’ll be performing whatever activity you’ve chosen at a low enough intensity that you won’t need to rest.. even if you want to!

When performing interval training, making sure you rest long enough is going to be key. For an interval training workout to be effective, you need to be training at a high intensity! If you’re not taking enough rest, you won’t be able to push yourself hard enough during your work intervals.

Make sure you’re using at least a 1:2 work to rest ratio and you keep the work intervals 10-30 seconds, max! 

I personally like a 1:3 work to rest ratio. A typical interval workout I would program for clients would be 15 seconds of work, followed by 45 seconds of rest.

Wrapping up

So there you have it.

Now you know exactly how long you should rest between sets during your workouts.

Don’t cut your rest periods short to keep your heart rate up. It’s a waste of time and you’re not going to get the results you’re after.

Take the time to fully recover between sets. You’ll be able to lift more weight for more reps, which will help you change your physique over time. 

If time is an issue, make sure you’re being smart about supersetting exercises together. It can save you a ton of time in the gym.

When doing your interval training, make sure you’re taking enough rest so you can hit the next interval with enough intensity.

If you need help putting this all together, you can apply for coaching to see if we’d be a good fit for each other. I’ll take all of the guesswork out of your training and make sure you’re getting the most out of your workouts.

Let me know if you have any questions below!