In addition, unless you are using your cell phone calculator to add up the weights on the bar, turn off your cell and don’t use it, look at it, or even touch it during your training session. You shouldn’t have to worry about a bathroom road trip as that should have been done prior to the work sets starting. While all good questions, any question regarding what to do during the rest period should receive the same answer: rest. They ask, “What am I going to do during that time?” or “Can I do some mobility exercises?” or “Starbucks, anyone?” So when I mention that it is best to take three to five minutes between sets to almost or completely recover and therefore make the most of the succeeding set, I get looks like I just told them I was from outer space.įor some trainees, this time length seems like an eternity. These students quickly realize that ten to thirty seconds of rest won’t cut it when training for strength and expecting results. The SFL and the training required to pass the associated strength and technique tests usually mark the first time they have seriously trained with the barbell. Most of the students at the SFL Cert come from a background of kettlebells, metcons, and strength endurance where rest periods of ten to thirty seconds are normal. During part of the lecture, I discuss the 300-second period.
Rest Intervals for Barbell Newcomersĭuring the SFL Barbell Instructor Certification, we spend four hours on the programming lecture. Rest intervals are part of the technique you learn at the SFL Cert. That way you don’t rush through your training and potentially make costly mistakes with your body. Knowing this time requirement for the training session, I made sure I had enough time scheduled to complete the work sets as well as the rest of the session. As a result, these work sets alone might take me 20-25 minutes to complete. If I needed an extra minute or two, I took it. This allowed most of the physiological changes that occurred during the previous set to return to normal. What helped me accomplish this were those 5 minutes – 300 seconds – between sets. Good quality – maintaining good form and technique throughout all the reps and never sacrificing my body – was a must. You see, my goal when performing those work sets was not only to have quality reps, but also to achieve the quantity I had planned for that training session.įor example, if my training plan called for 4 sets of 5 reps at 82.5% 1RM, then my goal was to get all 20 reps. The last two minutes before moving into my next set were reserved for my mental state – making sure I was ready. The first two or three minutes were usually reserved for slowing down my breathing, talking shop with others around me, and just chilling. Rack the bar, load the weight for the next set and/or check the collars for tightness, sit down, wipe my forehead, grab a sip of water, and set the timer for five minutes. Why Use 300 Seconds?Īs a powerlifter, resting for five minutes between my work sets was easy. Rest intervals are key to building strength. My observations of and experimentation with hundreds of athletes and clients in addition to my own powerlifting training over the years support the above findings. Conversely, some experiments have demonstrated that when testing maximal strength, 1-minute rest intervals might be sufficient between repeated attempts however, from a psychological and physiological standpoint, the inclusion of 3- to 5-minute rest intervals might be safer and more reliable. Similarly, higher levels of muscular power were demonstrated over multiple sets with 3 or 5 minutes versus 1 minute of rest between sets. Why is this number and the resultant math to convert it to minutes important? This length of time, to those of you familiar with training with kettlebells and other metcon training methods, will seem like an eternity when told that is how long you should rest between sets when training for strength.īut according to a 2009 study on rest intervals and strength training :Įsting 3-5 minutes between sets produced greater increases in absolute strength, due to higher intensities and volumes of training.