[liamgdr]

Hey, Ive recently started weight training, im in my 2nd week and im slowly getting used to it.

Something that I dont quite understand is rest periods, ive seen some people advising 3 days a week of training,MWF and having TTSS to rest, however I have alot of time and ive been going 5 times a week.

I have split my workout into specific areas, arms and chest, back and abs, shoulders and legs, doing only only 2 areas a session, so I have 2 days rest between the same workout.

Is this what is meant by a rest period? Is it resting specific muscles or resting completely from any work out?

Just one other thing, how long should I rest between sets? Ive been doing 30 seconds but im really struggling with fatigue on a weight that I can really easily lift.



Thanks, Liam.

[DynamicCoreSolutions]

liamgdr, on 22 February 2012 - 12:28 AM, said:

Hey, Ive recently started weight training, im in my 2nd week and im slowly getting used to it.

Something that I dont quite understand is rest periods, ive seen some people advising 3 days a week of training,MWF and having TTSS to rest, however I have alot of time and ive been going 5 times a week.

I have split my workout into specific areas, arms and chest, back and abs, shoulders and legs, doing only only 2 areas a session, so I have 2 days rest between the same workout.

Is this what is meant by a rest period? Is it resting specific muscles or resting completely from any work out?

Just one other thing, how long should I rest between sets? Ive been doing 30 seconds but im really struggling with fatigue on a weight that I can really easily lift.



Thanks, Liam.

Hi Liam,

Quantifying rest periods is an interesting subject and to be honest if you ask 3 or 4 different experts, you will likely get 3 or 4 different answers. In the end it is not something you can simply quantify with a set time or number of days, because it depends on a number of factors.

Training is about improvement through stress and recovery. So when you do a workout, you are not causing an improvement (whether it be strength gains, aerobic capacity, hypertrophy, endurance or whatever the goal) what you are doing is causing a reaction to the stress you have just exerted on your body.

For example, if you lift a heavy weight you cause microtrauma to the muscle fiber. So, in other words, you are weakening the muscle not making it stronger or bigger. However, if you then allow your body to recover correctly from this stress, it will recover stronger than before in order to compensate for the stress you have put on it.

So, looking at the rest between sets first, how long you rest for depends entirely on your ability to recover and what the desired effect is. If you want to improve your ability to recover, then you would put that as your primary goal and keep your rest periods short and continue to shorten them further as your ability to recover improves. In that instance you wouldn't be worrying about what you are lifting or for how many reps, you would just be taking yourself to the point of failure and then trying to go again as quickly as you feel able.

However, if your primary goal is strength, then you would want to ensure that with every lift you are able to give all you have (even if you weren't lifting at your maximum weight) so you would rest as long as necessary to FULLY recover for the next set. If you are far off your maximum, you might only need 20-30 seconds, however, if you are near the limit of what you can lift, you may want to take several minutes rest between lifts.

So really you have to work out what your goal is from your workout and adapt your rest periods as you would your choice of exercises or rep range etc. And you have to know what suits you and you will know that better than anyone. Person A may need 1min for a rest period, where person B may need 2 mins to recover to the same level and get the same effect. Just listen to your body and learn to know when you are at the right level to go for your next set.

With time between sessions it is a little different in my view. Here you are more looking to adjust your workout to the time you will have to recover.

Recovery between session is about 2 things, it is about the muscle itself recovering (which means by doing a split as you are, you are allowing more time for that muscle to recover before it gets hit again - though remember there are crossovers - when you train your back you will invariably be training your biceps, similarly chest and triceps...) and it is also about just recovery in general.

When you train you put a stress on your body, importantly you will stress your CNS (Central Nervous System) and regardless of how you split your body parts up, that still has to recover. But the recovery of your nervous system is dependent on more than your workouts, it depends on how much quality sleep you are getting, if there is anything else in your life causing you stress, such as work or a relationship. All these things are stresses on your body and so to is a resistance based workout (particularly those involving heavy loads, compound movements and a loaded eccentric phase to the movements).

Therefore, again, it is important to listen to your body's feedback.

If you are exhausted from lack of sleep or a heavy work day, it stands to reason if you then try to do the same volume of work in the gym that you would on a 'fresh' day, you will be over stressing your nervous system and it will take you longer to recover. If you don't give yourself long enough to recover you are not reaping the rewards of the workout and could even cause problems such as over training or illness (through a lowered immune system).

But my point is, someone who only trains 3 times per week can push to do more in their workouts than someone training 5 or 6 times per week.

There is no requirement for specific rest days. You could technically train every day and I actually believe that is the optimal route. You could even train 2 or 3 times per day, which would be even better. But you cannot push to the same level of failure and fatigue in each of those sessions as you would if you were training less. However, the total volume achieved has potential to be more without damaging your recovery level.

My general rule that I try to impart with PT clients, coaching clients, gym members or even strangers in the street (if they will listen) is, optimal training is always about doing the most amount of training you can and still fully recover. To find that level will take years of practice and getting to know yourself. But it is something you can begin to look for now. Start listening to your body and accept the feedback it gives you. It will tell you when you need more recovery or when it is time to stop or change to a less neurally draining movement pattern.

Don't rely on numbers, prescriptions in a book or what works for others. Find out what works best for you and do that.

Hope that helps,

Mark.

[fitnessman]

Hi liam

The way you are splitting your workout through out the week is great, you are giving your muscles plenty of time to recover and grow stronger.

As for rest periods between sets the general rule of thumb for the different training types is:

Muscle endurance: 30 seconds

Muscle Hypertrophy (size): 60-90 secs

Muscle strength: 2 -4 mins



Hope that helps

[DynamicCoreSolutions]

For a bit more detail on this have a look at this article on Rest and Recovery - I think this is important and could be very beneficial.

Mark.

[fitnessman]

Interesting read mark, very informative.