So the question becomes: Is resting more than two minutes to get closer to 100% creatine phosphate restoration worth it? Studies show that when you lift until failure, your body has about 15% to 30% of the creatine phosphate levels it possesses when fully rested. Your muscles are running out of creatine phosphate to power ATP production, so lifting gets harder. If you feel really snappy and strong when you start a set of squats but then feel like you can barely complete the last rep, you’re experiencing creatine phosphate depletion. But this power source rapidly depletes after just 10 seconds or so of an intense activity like lifting weights or sprinting. When you’re lifting heavy weights, for the first few reps of a set, your muscles are primarily using ATP formed from creatine phosphate you’ve already had stored in your muscles. Your body makes ATP in three ways the primary way it does so while you’re lifting weights, is by recycling previously used ATP using creatine phosphate.

If you remember from your high school biology class, ATP is what powers your body.

It all comes down to how quickly your muscles can regenerate ATP. This is actually a well-researched topic in the world of sports science. So what’s the least amount of time you can rest between sets that will still allow you to recover enough to perform your next sets? That’s 90 minutes of doing absolutely nothing. But if you’re doing three of the major lifts (e.g., squat, bench, and deadlift) for three sets of five, that means you’d be resting for 90 minutes during your session. You could ensure that you get enough rest between sets by resting 10 minutes between them. If your primary goal is to get stronger and put on muscle, you’ll want to rest long enough between sets that you’re consistently able to complete all the reps in your subsequent sets. If Your Goal Is to Get Stronger: Rest ~2 Minutes So how long do you actually need to rest between sets so that 1) you recover enough to perform the next set, and 2) you don’t spend more time in the gym than you need to? Rest too little between sets, and you risk diminishing your performance due to fatigue. Rest too much between sets, and you needlessly extend your workout time. If you’ve got three to four lifts you need to perform in a workout, and you’re doing those lifts for multiple sets, how long you rest between sets will determine whether you’re able to get all of your work done in your allotted gym time.īut you face a problem when it comes to taking those rests: But if you’re like most regular joes, you don’t have hours upon hours to dedicate to working out. If you’re serious about your strength training, you likely want to get the most out of your time in the gym.

Does rest time between sets matter