How Long Should You Rest Between Sets (for beginners, hypertrophy, Muscle, Strength)?

Rest is a training tool that you can manipulate to achieve your fitness goals. Depending on how long you rest between sets, you can optimize potential muscle growth, endurance adaptations, and even strength and power gains.

So, how long should you rest? We’ll break down everything you need to know about resting between sets (including why it’s worth pulling out a timer) below.

How long should the rest time be between sets?

Experts say rest time between reps often depends on your fitness goals. There are many ways to use rest to get the desired training effect. For example: The range of acceptable rest intervals between sets is quite wide, from about 10 seconds to 5 minutes.

The ideal rest period depends on whether you’re a beginner and just figuring out your form, whether you’re trying to build as much muscle as possible, whether you’re looking to improve your endurance, or whether you’re aiming to develop maximum strength and power. You may also need to vary your rest periods depending on the exercise you’re doing; for example, the ACSM recommends at least two to three minutes of rest for heavy compound exercises (such as squats, deadlifts, or bench presses), but for isolation exercises, accessory exercises or equipment, they say one to two minutes is enough.

Remember: it’s not feasible to take too many breaks, otherwise you’ll just stand still and your workout will be greatly reduced. To prevent yourself from falling into this trap, don’t pick up your phone or open a new computer tab during your breaks.

With that in mind, here’s how to decide how long to rest between sets based on your goals.

• Rest time between sets for beginners: 1-2 minutes

For beginners, moderate rest between sets is recommended, so one to two minutes. Beginners fatigue quickly, and this is when we usually see a drop in form. Leaving at least a minute of rest time usually allows you enough recovery time to keep you in good form.

• Rest time between sets for hypertrophy (aka muscle-building) training: 30-90 seconds

Resting time for hypertrophy (aka muscle building) training should generally be 30-90 seconds. This is enough time for your muscles to regenerate a lot of ATP, but not fully recover—which is a good thing. Not fully recovering between sets creates the right environment for metabolic stress, which is key to building muscle.

As mentioned above, the rest time you need also varies depending on the muscle group you are training. Larger compound movements like squats and deadlifts, as well as high-intensity training that takes you to failure, require longer rest periods. Training smaller muscle groups like biceps, triceps, and calves requires shorter rest periods.

• Muscular endurance rest intervals: 30-60 seconds

If you are training to improve muscular endurance (your muscles’ ability to work or move for a long time), then you might do more repetitions with lower weights and shorter rest intervals. This also includes bodyweight strength training. (For example, planks can build endurance in your core muscles.)

If your goal is endurance, you can shorten your rest time to 30 seconds to a minute. Here, we are trying to challenge the body to recover from fatigue, which will build your endurance over time.

• Strength and power training rest intervals: 2-5 minutes

If you are strength training and are lifting fairly heavy weights, such as a one-rep max, then you might rest for five minutes. Rest times for strength and power training will be longer, from two to five minutes. This allows full ATP stores to be replenished and maximizes strength and power.

Sufficient rest time between sets is especially important for heavy lifting and breaking personal bests. It’s not ideal for muscle growth, but if your goal is to lift as much weight as possible, then you want to make sure you recover as fully as possible between sets.

• Rest between sets for strength and conditioning: 10-40 seconds

We’re going a little different here than with resistance training, but it’s worth considering how rest periods fit into workouts like metabolic conditioning, interval training, or circuit training. Rest intervals are typically much shorter than with pure resistance training. For example, during HIIT, you might use a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio (think: 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest), or in Tabata, a 2:1 work-to-rest ratio (20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest). These strength-cardio hybrid workouts are designed to maximize efficiency by keeping your heart rate elevated, working your cardiovascular system, and maintaining metabolic stress. All of this is driven by shorter rest periods.

Why is rest so important?

First, this is because strength training is not only a physical challenge, it’s also a neurological challenge. Rest intervals allow the central nervous system to recover so that you can properly mobilize all the muscle fibers needed to perform the remainder of the set. Additionally, during strenuous exercise, your muscles use a substance called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as fuel. Rest gives your body time to regenerate ATP so that you can eventually continue to perform.

Rest between sets is also important from an injury prevention perspective. Rest helps reduce the risk of injury by ensuring you don’t become overtired during a workout, which can lead to impaired form and technique. Most injuries in the gym happen when we push ourselves to the limit, which is necessary to see the changes we want, but when we start to fatigue we need to pay attention to our form and technique.

Why is rest time between sets important?

The purpose of rest is to prepare yourself for the next effort. Giving yourself some time to refuel will not only impact your immediate recovery, but also allow you to optimize your performance and complete your entire workout without feeling exhausted.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) confirms that the amount of rest between sets and exercises can significantly impact the body’s metabolic, hormonal, and cardiovascular responses to resistance training, as well as the training adaptations (i.e., results) you will see, as well as your Performance in subsequent groups.