Training Guides / Training science
How long to rest between sets
Rest periods affect how much work you can do in each session. Here is what research suggests for strength, muscle growth and conditioning, plus ways to save time without losing results.
Rest between sets is not wasted time. It lets your muscles restore the energy they use for hard efforts and lets your nervous system recover so the next set is as good as the last. Rest too little and your later sets suffer; rest far too long and sessions drag on.
What the research says
For years, short rests of 30 to 60 seconds were recommended for muscle growth, based on the idea that more hormonal and metabolic stress meant more growth. Later studies, including well-known work by Brad Schoenfeld and colleagues published in 2016, found that longer rests of about 3 minutes led to more strength and similar or better muscle growth than 1-minute rests when people trained with multiple sets. The main reason is simple: with longer rest you can lift more total weight across your sets.
Practical guidelines
| Exercise type | Suggested rest |
|---|---|
| Heavy compound lifts (squat, deadlift, bench, press) at 1 to 6 reps | 2 to 5 minutes |
| Compound lifts at 6 to 12 reps | 2 to 3 minutes |
| Isolation exercises (curls, raises, leg curls) | 60 to 120 seconds |
| Core and conditioning circuits | 30 to 60 seconds |
A good rule of thumb: rest until you feel ready to give the next set full effort, and your breathing has mostly settled. If your reps drop sharply from set to set, rest longer.
Rest for different goals
Strength. Take the longer end. Heavy sets rely on fast energy systems that need a few minutes to recover.
Muscle growth. About 2 minutes on big lifts and 1 to 2 minutes on smaller exercises is a sensible default. You want each set to reach close to failure with a decent load.
Conditioning. Short rest periods are the point when your goal is fitness or work capacity, as in circuits or HIIT. Just know this is a different goal from maximum strength.
Saving time without losing results
- Supersets of opposing muscles. Pair a push with a pull, such as bench press and row. Do a set of one, rest about a minute, then a set of the other. Research suggests this can save time with little loss of performance.
- Pair upper with lower. Overhead press with Romanian deadlift, for example.
- Use your rest. Load the next weight, write in your log, sip water, do a light mobility drill for a non-working area.
- Cut junk sets rather than cutting rest.
Common mistakes
- Scrolling your phone for 8 minutes. Use a timer.
- Rushing heavy sets because short rest "feels" more productive.
- Supersetting two exercises for the same muscle when you want maximum strength on both.
Most phones and gym watches have an interval timer. Set it to 2 or 3 minutes for main lifts and 90 seconds for accessories, and record your actual rests for a week in your training log. Many people discover they rest far longer than they think.