Rest periods

Rest periods are the rest taken between sets or the rest taken between exercises. It should be noted that when referring to rest periods in this section it is in the traditional hypertrophy/strength and power resistance training sessions context. Circuit training for example, does not fall in line with these rest period recommendations.

Rest periods can range from 30 seconds to 5 minutes and allow for some recovery to take place between lifting efforts. During rest periods the players dissipate some of the fatigue built up from the resistance training set. The longer players can rest, the more fatigue they can dissipate, allowing them to lift effectively in the following sets. The coach, however, may not always permit 3-5-minute rest periods due to time constraints and in some instances may not want to allow the player to fully recover before the next resistance training set is applied. For example, if the coach is targeting muscular or strength endurance, a short rest period between sets of 30 seconds would allow for some recovery but not a lot, and as a result the player’s strength endurance would be challenged as they work through the sets.

For hypertrophy training, it was often thought that a shorter rest period would be more beneficial than a longer rest period for the growth of muscle due to greater build-up of fatigue and subsequent muscle failure. While bringing the muscle close to failure is beneficial for hypertrophy, by increasing the rest period, the player can perform more repetitions before fatigue sets in thus increasing the training volume. Training volume has been shown to be one of the main drivers of hypertrophy. The muscles are still brought close to failure with longer rest period training, but the volume completed will be greater before failure is reached compared to shorter rest periods. In general, a rest period of around two minutes is optimal for hypertrophy training.  

Strength and power training benefit from longer rest periods. When training for maximal strength, lifting repeated near maximal loads is extremely taxing on the body. A longer rest period of between 3-5 minutes allows for appropriate recovery to take place. For power training, the player needs to perform as explosively as possible, lifting, jumping, or throwing with maximal intent. With power training the emphasis is often on quality over quantity and fatigue can be detrimental. With short rest periods fatigue is not reduced as effectively as with longer rest periods thus power training requires a longer rest of 2-4 minutes. Table 5 below summarises recommended rest periods.

Table 5. Recommended rest periods