Reps/Sets/Rest

[aero93]

Something that has been confusing me for a while..

When talking about routines and reps/sets/per exercise etc how much rest should you allow between each set and then again how much between each exercise.

I have seen reference to no rest between sets which seems crazy as would that not make 3 x 12reps without rest just 36 reps? Does it vary on how you feel or split vs Full body routine etc?

Anyone want to put their routine up with rest time included?

[GBDG]

Depends what you're doing, so say it's a chest day:

Warm up, stretch for 5 minutes

Bench press
10 reps with bar only
Rest for 30 seconds and add probably around 20kg to the bar
10 reps
Rest for 1 minute then add another 10kg to the bar
10 reps
Rest for 2 minutes, add weight to bar to be working sets. This would be whatever the most I can lift for 8 - 10
Do 8 - 10 reps
Rest for 2 minutes - if the previous set felt good I might add a little weight to the bar
Do 8 - 10 reps
Rest for 2 - 3 minutes
Drop set - Go to failure (usually 6 - 12 reps) then immediately drop the weight, NO rest, take off maybe 20-30kg off the bar - Do as many reps as possible (usually 6-8 reps)

Have a 2-3 minute rest, then move on to the next thing, say incline dumbell flys.

Start with something super light again, maybe 6kg
Rest for 30 seconds then grab a slightly bigger weight
The same format as previous regarding sets

I always start with heavy compound exercises and then do isolation at the end of the workout.

[Halb]

aero93 said:

Anyone want to put their routine up with rest time included?

It depends on goals and time mostly. Mine is all over the place.
When I was lifting 'heavy' for me, I'd have rests of around 5 minutes. I don't have anything like that now.
The longer the rest, the better the recovery and if you're chasing numbers this is the accepted route. People like Mark Ripptoe advocate 10 minutes if it is needed when you have low reps and are going for PBs.
A lot of the low rests and the 'zero' rests you see on here are circuits where peope move from exercise to exercise.
Currently I do pyramid sets for dips, press-ups and heaves and have anything between 15-60 seconds rest. I do some barbell work with rests of 60-120 seconds. I do lung bursting complexes/circuits with 30 seconds or no 'rest' or whatever I need to make the time up.

Strength endurance, stamina, hypertrophy, explosive strength, maximal strength. Change you rests periods and routine to what you want to achieve.

[Hoofy]

However long it takes my training partner to do his set is how long I rest. But this rest is slightly longer when it's sweltering as we don't have a/c in the gym nor do we have windows that open.

[BenM77]

It is all to do with your goals, what do you want to get from your training ?

[aero93]

BenM77 said:

It is all to do with your goals, what do you want to get from your training ?

Things are now becoming clearer.. There is no right or wrong with rest times and varies depending on what you are trying to achieve.

My immediate goal is weight loss. I am 6ft 2" and now weighing 15st 10.. At a rough guess I need to lose two stone. I have started running again and getting out on my bike every day to every other day for cardio. I have varying free weights at home, kettle bell, barbell and weights bench so plenty of equipment to use but just a lack of idea how to use it efficiently and effectively. And that is the main problem for me, if I don't feel that I am being efficient and/or effective then I lose interest.

[Hoofy]

I started a thread late last year regarding my routine. It was well-critiqued by those who had used weights a fair bit so worthwhile reading their comments.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[BenM77]

aero93 said:

BenM77 said:

It is all to do with your goals, what do you want to get from your training ?

Things are now becoming clearer.. There is no right or wrong with rest times and varies depending on what you are trying to achieve.

My immediate goal is weight loss. I am 6ft 2" and now weighing 15st 10.. At a rough guess I need to lose two stone. I have started running again and getting out on my bike every day to every other day for cardio. I have varying free weights at home, kettle bell, barbell and weights bench so plenty of equipment to use but just a lack of idea how to use it efficiently and effectively. And that is the main problem for me, if I don't feel that I am being efficient and/or effective then I lose interest.

A kettlebell you say

What weight is it ?

If your main goal is weight loss then IMO you can do quite a mish mash through the week. Cardio and a good diet will get the weight off and you can use the weights to keep your strength and give you a decent shape once you are down to your target weight.

[aero93]

BenM77 said:

A kettlebell you say

What weight is it ?

If your main goal is weight loss then IMO you can do quite a mish mash through the week. Cardio and a good diet will get the weight off and you can use the weights to keep your strength and give you a decent shape once you are down to your target weight.

I said Kettlebell but it is actually a KettleBlock (http://alturl.com/umbiy), goes with my Powerblock dumbells (http://alturl.com/v5mbe). I think the weight of the Kettleblock goes up to 16kg

[BenM77]

aero93 said:

BenM77 said:

A kettlebell you say

What weight is it ?

If your main goal is weight loss then IMO you can do quite a mish mash through the week. Cardio and a good diet will get the weight off and you can use the weights to keep your strength and give you a decent shape once you are down to your target weight.

I said Kettlebell but it is actually a KettleBlock (http://alturl.com/umbiy), goes with my Powerblock dumbells (http://alturl.com/v5mbe). I think the weight of the Kettleblock goes up to 16kg

It should be okay for this little circuit.

6 rounds at reps 25,21,18,15,12,9 . No rest between exercises. Rests between rounds will be longer for the first few.

Push ups
Sumo deadlift high pull
Swing

This is a nice introduction to circuit training

[Halb]

Evil.

[Lost_BMW]

aero93 said:

BenM77 said:

It is all to do with your goals, what do you want to get from your training ?

Things are now becoming clearer.. There is no right or wrong with rest times and varies depending on what you are trying to achieve.

My immediate goal is weight loss. I am 6ft 2" and now weighing 15st 10.. At a rough guess I need to lose two stone. I have started running again and getting out on my bike every day to every other day for cardio. I have varying free weights at home, kettle bell, barbell and weights bench so plenty of equipment to use but just a lack of idea how to use it efficiently and effectively. And that is the main problem for me, if I don't feel that I am being efficient and/or effective then I lose interest.

I'm in a similar situation (well, worse!) so lately many of my workouts are circuits of between two and four different activities either run back to back with no rest at all (for 20 to 30 minutes absolutely non stop) or 30 seconds between circuits, or 30 seconds between rounds/sets. In that case usually 3 to 5 mins or multiple reps of an exercise, often beyond 100 a set. This has helped me shed 5 stone in 15 months. Strength is down but not so much I can't live with it.

But, when I was training for strength, post warm up I'd rest anything from 2 to 5 minutes between heavy sets, lower reps and between 3 and 5 sets usually, sometimes with faster/higher rep set at the end as a finisher but not always. More than doubled my starting strength - which wasn't too bad due to boxing and bodyweight stuff - on that type of routine.

The last few years since speeding up I find waiting even 2 minutes so boring and frustrating I've not been able to stick to it!

[BenM77]

Halb said:

Evil.

OP

To answer your original question, for weights a very easy and effective rep/rest scheme is the tried and tested 3x10 with 1min rests. Once you can do 3x10 with 1min rests then up the weight a little and start again. Progressive failure is good for monitoring progress.