Rest: The Most Important Part of Building Strength

Rest and recovery is a really hot topic right now in the fitness industry.  At this point I think we all are aware that we need to take rest days to feel our best, as well as to perform at our best.  But what about rest between sets?  Look at any fitness class and you’ll see participants move from one exercise to the next with little-to-no rest in between.

Is this a bad thing?  Not necessarily, unless training true strength and power are your goals.  If that’s the case, then you are definitely going to want to take more time between your sets if you want to see your numbers go up.  Let’s get into it!

The Three Energy Systems

When we think of energy, we think of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.  But our bodies don’t actually use those directly to make energy.  Rather our bodies use carbs, proteins, and fats as fuel to create our biologically usable type of energy, a molecule called ATP.

ATP as a molecule stores a lot of energy.  So our body actually breaks down ATP and when this happens, the reaction releases energy and that’s how our cells get the energy they need to carry out all of our processes including voluntary and involuntary processes.  Pretty cool right?

So in order to have continuous energy, our body needs to keep creating and breaking down ATP.   Depending on the intensity of what we’re doing, our body has three different energy systems to provide ATP at different rates.

We have our Phosphagen System which produces ATP the fastest.  This is great but the downside to producing ATP so quickly is that it doesn’t produce very much ATP.  The phosphagen system is used mostly during high intensity, low duration movements, like max squats (1-3 rep range) or short but fast sprints.

Then we have our Glycolytic System.  This is our middle ground system.  It doesn’t quite produce ATP as quickly as our phosphagen system but it does produce ATP fairly quickly.  This energy system provides energy for high intensity, longer duration activities (30s-3min).  This is generally the energy system that is dominant during transitional strength training (5-10 rep range).

Then finally we have our Aerobic System which means that this system requires the use of oxygen.  The perks to that is that it can produce very large quantities of ATP.  The downside to that is that it takes a long time to do so.  This energy system is dominant at rest, as well as during all long duration and low intensity exercise (like distance running).

So if we’re doing a lot of circuit style training, we are using mostly our aerobic system.  This isn’t a bad thing, it just means we aren’t lifting weights at a high enough intensity to see the largest strength gains.  

Because traditional strength training is done using predominantly the glycolytic system, that means it doesn’t produce ATP at a fast enough rate in order to sustain us over a long period of time.  So therefore, by adding in sufficient rest times between sets, we give our bodies a chance to restore ATP to levels high enough to perform our activities.

Work-to-Rest Ratios

Phosphagen System:  The typical exercise time for this system to be dominant is 5-10s.  It has a work-to-rest ratio of 1:12-1:20.  That means if you max lift and your set takes about 10s, you need to rest anywhere from 2-3.3 minutes.  It’s not uncommon to see powerlifters or olympic lifters take 5-7 minutes between sets.

Glycolytic System:  The typical exercise time for this system to be dominant is 15s-30s.  It has a work-to-rest ratio of 1:3-1:5.  That means that if your set lasts 30s, you need to rest anywhere between 1.5-2.5 minutes.  I usually have athletes start with about 3 minutes to be on the safe side during strength training.

Aerobic System:  The typical exercise time for this system to be dominant is greater than 3 minutes.  It has a work to rest ratio of 1:1-1:3.  So if you perform an exercise for 3 minutes, you should rest 3-9 minutes between sets.  1:1 is usually the standard with aerobic intervals.

So what does all of this mean for strength training?

Well it means that rest is super important for true strength training because if we don’t wait long enough, we don’t give our bodies enough chances to recover between sets.  And when this happens, it means we usually can’t sustain the weight or the repetition count over sets.  Or worse, our form starts to deteriorate!

So if you do 2 sets of an exercise, and during your first set you start with 20lbs of weight, and then the second set you drop to 15lbs because 20lbs feels too heavy, it usually means you haven’t rested long enough.

It’s the same thing if you start with 10 reps of an exercise, and the next set you can only do 8 reps.  It means you probably didn’t rest enough.

For true strength training, we want more consistency to see better results.  Doing multiple sets at a higher weight will do way more for you than if you can only do one set.

And I know what you’re probably thinking. What about Crossfit athletes?  They’re super strong and they do a lot of circuit training.  While of course that’s true, the top athletes do a lot of separate strength training outside of the WODs.  And I’m sure a lot of Crossfit coaches recommend that their amateur athletes should do the same thing.

So next time you’re in the gym, bring your phone to set a timer between sets.  I’m sure you’ll have a much better workout and you won’t leave the gym feeling quite so gassed.  And overtime, you’ll definitely see better results.

And if you want to create even better results for yourself, it’s best to work with a qualified coach!  I’m taking on in-person clients in the evenings in Bend, OR however, Online Training will be available as of July 17th!  Click here to contact me for a free 15 minute consultation to see if online training is right for you:)

The Five Pillars of Effective Strength Training

The story goes like this.  You realize that you want to get stronger for various reasons (muscle mass, injury prevention, bone density, etc).  So you decide to join a gym.  When you walk into that gym, you see countless trainers and classes telling you how to get strong.

You decide to join these classes.  In the class, you’re definitely feeling like you’re getting a great workout in.  You’re breathing heavily and sweating.  Initially you seem to get a little stronger but you notice after a couple of months, you aren’t seeing any more improvements in your strength.

You may feel fitter, but you don’t necessarily feel stronger.  That’s because typical classes in the gym aren’t actually structured to get you stronger.  They’re structured to keep you moving and keep your heart rate up.  

And by the way, I’m not saying these classes are bad, I’m just saying that if your goal is to get stronger, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) isn’t the way to do it.  You would think more work, in less time gets you the results that you’re looking for but unfortunately this isn’t the way that our bodies work.  There’s no shortcut in strength training.

However, the good news is, getting stronger is a lot simpler than you think.  Here are the five pillars of strength training that will make all the difference in your strength goals:

1. Keep It Simple.  When you scroll on Instagram or Facebook, you see tons of athletes and trainers doing absolutely crazy and creative exercises.  They don’t do this because that’s how you gain strength, they do it because they need to stand out on social media.  And of course everyone wants to be able to do cool things, but the bulk of strength training is actually relatively simple.

   The types of movements you should train are basic.  You need push exercises (pushups, bench press, overhead press), squats, hinges (deadlifts), pull exercises (pullups and rows), and some core work.  That’s the foundation of a good strength training program.  Pretty simple, right?

2. Learn Good Form.  Now that you’ve chosen your exercises, make sure you learn proper technique from a qualified instructor so that you can lift safely.  A lot of exercises are pretty nuanced but once you learn the basics, you’re ready to go!

3. Keep the Volume Lower.  Doing light weights with a ton of reps (12-15+ repetitions per set) isn’t going to make you stronger.  A lot of reps per set is actually training muscular endurance rather than strength.  If you want to truly train strength, you need to lift weights heavy enough where you can only do 5-8 repetitions of a given exercise.

4. Rest Between Sets.  If you’re spending an hour at the gym, and running from one exercise to the next, you aren’t training very effectively.  In fact, you’re going to hurt your strength gains because you’ll completely deplete yourself of energy after your first circuit.  To effectively strength train, you have to rest longer than you think after every set so that your body has time to restore energy to our working muscles so that you can do the same thing again and as effectively.

   For strength training, you need a work to rest ratio of 1:3 or 1:5.  That means if it takes you 30 seconds to complete a set, you need to rest a minimum of 1.5-2.5 minutes between sets!

   If you don’t rest and you try to keep the weight the same, you’ll notice that your form starts to worsen or you won’t be able to hit your reps, so make sure you set a timer and actually rest!

5. Progressive Overload.  Over time as you train, your body adapts to your workout which is a good thing because it means that you’re getting stronger!  But it also means you’ll stop getting gains if you don’t start adding more weight or volume to make it harder in some way.  This means that when you workout, you should be striving to add more load consistently.  Sometimes this means adding in another set and sometimes it means going up in weight.  

   In the beginning of your training program, you’ll probably be adding weight fairly quickly, possibly even from workout to workout due to neurological benefits.  But if you train for a long time, you may notice that it’s harder and harder to add weight due to you getting closer to your genetic potential.  Regardless of how easy or hard it feels, it’s important to keep striving for progressive overload.

So now that you understand what it takes to actually build up strength, compare these pillars to your training now.  In what ways can you make your current workout more effective?  Do you need to rest more?  Do you need qualified instruction to lift safely?  Or do you need to actually lift heavier weights?

But wherever you are on your path to getting stronger, whether you’re brand new to lifting weights or you’re a seasoned lifter looking for some guidance to improve your current program, I’m sure that my 13+ years of knowledge and experience can help you on your journey.  Click here to book a session with me today.