Rest time between sets?

[rawcanada]

for bench press i wait 2-3 minutes
for squat 3 minutes or a bit more
for deadlift 3-4 minutes

is this about right?

and i wait a bit longer when im going for max attempts.

any advice on this?

thanks.

[rickhussey]

I would say those numbers are about average for me. It depends on how heavy the load is, but generally speaking 2-3 minutes.

[chancey]

I would say less than 3 for assistance work but for the meat and potatoes 3-5. I used to go about 2 minutes on my main exercises and someone pointed it out to me in my log that maybe I needed to take a longer break between sets. When I started forcing myself to go 3+ minutes between heavy benches I saw a dramatic increase in strength.

[3speed]

Less than 3 minutes does not allow you to maximal strength available for the next set. More than 5 minutes and you start to lose the benefits of doing multiple sets. This has to do with the phosphocreatine receptors in the muscles and muscle memory. Hatfield does an excellent job of explaining it.

[lance]

3speed said:

Less than 3 minutes does not allow you to maximal strength available for the next set. More than 5 minutes and you start to lose the benefits of doing multiple sets. This has to do with the phosphocreatine receptors in the muscles and muscle memory. Hatfield does an excellent job of explaining it.

Thanks 3speed for the technical explaination. I have developed that kind of training practice just based on what seems right to me. Now I have the facts to back up my view. I never wait more than 5 minutes.

[Deleted]

7 mins