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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM THIS ARTICLE: If you’re resting 1-minute (or even less) between sets, you are not stimulating as much muscle growth as you could be. This is a fact. Read on…

Whether you realise it or not, there is an optimal time to rest between sets for generating the most muscle growth possible…and it isn’t the standard 60 seconds. There’s solid proof.

 

If you haven’t heard my advice on this before, or you have but just aren’t using it – let today be DAY 1 of using these new rest times. From your very next workout, you’ll notice far superior results!

By the way, before I give you the facts and proof, I list all the rest periods between sets in my full and completely free Targeted Hypertrophy Training workout. All the best exercises, rest periods, rep ranges – it’s all in there. Just pop in your email and click the button.

You don’t have to go to your email to click a link; the download will appear immediately after you enter your email. Enjoy the best gains of your life! 🙂

BEST REST PERIODS TO BUILD MUSCLE

Check out this study – Title: Strength increases in upper and lower body are larger with longer inter-set rest intervals in trained men.

They said, “The purpose of the current study was to compare different rest interval durations on upper and lower body strength.”

They took 36 trained men and put them on a 16-week resistance training program. The men were split into 3 groups resting for 1 minute, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes between sets. They tested the maximal strength of all groups before the study, 8-weeks through, and after the full 16 weeks. They concluded…

“The findings of the current study indicate that utilising 3 or 5 min rest intervals between sets may result in significantly greater increases in upper and lower body strength beyond the initial weeks of training versus utilising 1-min rest intervals between sets.”

 

Remember, strength increases correlate positively with muscle size. Anyone who says otherwise is simply unaware of the facts. For example, as your bicep can curl more and more over time, it gets bigger.

I recommend 3 minutes rest between sets for larger compound movements like squats and deadlifts, and 2 minutes for smaller body parts like biceps or calves.

However, if you’re completely wiped after a particular set, don’t be afraid to take a little longer if you feel you really need it.

And it makes no difference if you’re cutting to get a nice shredded six-pack. You still train in this manner to stimulate growth while letting your diet take care of the fat loss. People tend to try all manner of weird training techniques when trying to get ripped and end up losing muscle in the process. No-one needs to lose muscle on a cut. Men & women on my fat loss system Total Six Pack Abs certainly do not lose muscle.

 

This 2-3 minutes rest between sets allows for the recovery of intra-cellular energy stores in the muscle. It is also adequate for flushing out any lactate that has built up from previous sets. This enables us to keep up our performance, strength and levels of intensity high throughout the entire workout.

This is bodybuilding, not an endurance contest. You are in the gym to trigger muscle fibers to get thicker, not to do the most work in the least amount of time possible. That’s a whole different mode of training and nothing to do with hypertrophy.

 

WANT MORE PROOF – AND PROOF OF ACTUAL SIZE GAINS?

 

Another study entitled “The effect of resistance exercise rest interval on hormonal response, strength, and hypertrophy with training” found that…

Arm cross-sectional area (thickness) increased more when trainees took 2.5 minutes rest as compared to a shorter 1-minute rest interval.

That’s pretty conclusive. And you can test it for yourself in your next workout. There’s no need to take anyone’s word for it.

Take 2-3 minutes rest between sets for the best muscle growth stimulation Share on X

 

Again, this is all taken into account in my THT Training program – because it’s a hypertrophy training system based on the evidence. That’s why the gains you get on it are unprecedented! Enter your details above to grab it and start making serious gains.

If you have any questions about this or other aspects of your training, ask me below 🙂

Mark McManus