rest pause set bench

rest pause set to failure

To receive our latest news stories and workout routines as well as offers from our partners, sign up below

The Elite Fitness Community is the World's Most Trusted Source and Community

As many strength-trainers who started or have been doing for a long time know, there is a problem. You are busy. We all are. It doesn’t matter how you feel, what matters is that your time is not available to help you achieve your goal. Strength is a skill. Therefore, to become stronger, you should continue to practice compound lifts that recruit more muscle fibers. You need to lift heavy weight and do enough reps to stimulate your nervous systems to make this happen.

rest pause set bench

Consider the following personal differences:

Okay, so you're convinced and are ready to give rest-pause training another chance. But you still need a plan and it must be compatible with your lifestyle. There are many options available for training your own staff if you have limited time.

2) Set a 10-minute timer, and then load up 70 to 80% of your 1-rep max on your chosen lifting device. If you're really strong, choose a lighter percentage. A higher percentage is better for beginners. Hit as many singles to as possible while taking 15-20 second breaks between sets. Record your rep total so you can beat it next time.

how to perform rest pause sets

The Elite Fitness Community is the World's Most Trusted Source and Community

If traditional sets were to fail and some type of progressive overload was applied, strength and size would likely favor traditional set, especially when considering that longer rest periods are better than shorter ones for strength and muscle growth (5).

There are two main approaches to strength: one focuses on strength and one focuses hypertrophy, which is the increase in muscle size.

how to perform rest pause sets
pause rest set

pause rest set

Rest-Pause Methods for Training: Creating Intensity to New Muscle

1) Choose a weight that you can do at least 5-6 reps with no grinding. You can do up to two sets of five at 75% of the weight, with a one-minute rest between each set. Perform a warm-up set of 5-6 reps at your chosen weight. Rest 15-20 seconds and then do another set of 2-3 reps. Rest 15-20 seconds for another set. Done.

The design of this study is superior to most. It was conducted using trained people, with the same 1-rep maximum, and both groups completed 18 total reps. However, there were issues that would favor the rest-pause group.

cluster sets rest pause

Despite the fact that the rest-pause group did 32% more reps, strength increased between the two groups. This shows that even though rest-pause can increase volume, it doesn’t necessarily improve strength.

Contrast that with traditional lifting. They had to do the exact same amount of reps for 6 weeks using the same weight for the identical number of sets, regardless of whether or not the strength increased. Due to the strict design of the study, no progress was possible.

The best rest-pause training type for you is one that is based on your goals. It's possible to achieve great results with just a little effort.

cluster sets rest pause
rest pause sets 6 week program
rest pause sets 6 week program

I think it's more like the former, especially when it's compared to traditional lifting, which involves performing a set followed by a complete rest period before starting a new set.

This study can be taken as a whole. It shows that you can increase strength and muscle growth by switching to rest-pause sets. But if you take a closer look, you will see that you can't have both your cake and your bite.

A 6-10 rep set that has a 2-3 second negative can take 30-40 seconds. But rest pause training is able to allow you to lift for 20 additional seconds and work as hard as three 30-40 second sets. You shouldn't replace your 3 sets of reps with rest pause training, but you can use it to add some spice to your workout. Here it goes:

rest pause sets to failure

The number of reps that you choose will depend on many factors. However, the goal should be to do twice as many reps in each set than you were able perform in the initial set. If I can bench 8 reps of a weight in my first set, then I aim to rack up 8 more reps for the next sets. This would allow me to reach the goal total of 16.

Contrast that with traditional lifting. They had to do the exact same amount of reps for 6 weeks using the same weight for the identical number of sets, regardless of whether or not the strength increased. Due to the strict design of the study, no progress was possible.

Given all of this, it is easy to see why the traditional lifting group was not successful. However, the study also had another problem.

rest pause sets to failure