I hear a lot of discussions in gym locker rooms about how to burn the most amount of body fat and gain lean muscle during strength training. The good news is you don’t have to spend more time in the gym. In fact, it’s completely the opposite:
Spend less time – especially resting between sets!
[A watch or clock is essential for measuring rest periods between sets - even grandma's old clunker will get the job done.]
Will I Still Be Strong?
It depends on your goals. If you’re training to increase strength to be able to compete in power-lifting competitions then resting a bit longer would be a good idea – up to three minutes for movements like squats and deadlifts. But chances are you’re here at The Fat Loss Authority wanting to learn about losing fat. Being able to lift a small European car is not the primary goal.
Scientifically speaking…
Although plenty of articles will state that shortening rest periods is an effective fat burning technique, rarely do they tell you why or even point to research which backs up the claim. Thankfully there is research which supports the fat loss benefits of shorter rest periods and most of it was done by Dr. William Kraemer.
Research conducted by Kraemer has shown that resting between sets for 1 minute or less will provide you with a metabolic burn that will last well beyond 24 hours. In comparison, the metabolic rate after a workout using 1 minute rest periods was almost double that of an identical workout with 3 minute rest periods. Kraemer attributes this dramatic effect on resting metabolic rate to a faster heart rate, faster energy turnover, and greater hormone release – all topics that deserve there own time and space to discuss.
Rules To Reduce Rest Between Sets Correctly
There are several ways to implement shorter rest periods into your workouts (see Strategies to Shorter Rest Periods below), but first we need to cover two important ground rules.
1. You need to maintain fairly heavy weights (8-10 reps)
It’s easy to shorten your rest periods when you’re curling 2.5 pound dumbbells, but this defeats the purpose. Revving up your metabolism requires both heavy weight and less time between sets.
2. Listen to your body
Training with heavy weight and little rest between sets is hard on the body – in a good way of course. But that doesn’t mean you train until you puke! Listen to your body and rest longer as necessary while you progress to this style of training. Feelings of nausea and dizziness are symptoms that should not be ignored and are indicators that you’ve dropped your rest periods too quickly.
A good place to start is reducing your rest periods by 10 seconds from your current workout. Over time you will work your way back up to the same amount of sets and reps but done in far less time. Remember, slow and steady wins the race!
Strategies to Shorter Rest Periods
Here are 4 techniques to shorten your rest period and increase the post-workout calorie burn at your next workout program:
1. Try supersets, compound sets, triple sets or circuit training. See the Fitness IQ article for definitions. Essentially, these techniques will keep you moving from one exercise to the next with minimal rest.
2. If you’re training with a partner, rest only long enough for him/her to finish a set and then start your next set.
3. This isn’t a cocktail party so forget about talking or socializing with others. Bring an iPod to help you stay focused and on task.
4. Keep an eye on the clock or wear a watch. Frankly, there is no better way to measure your rest period and you’ll be amazed at how much work you can get done in a short amount of time.
If you’re looking for specific workouts that focus on minimizing rest for maximum fat burning results, I suggest you look up Turbulence Training in our fat loss program review section. He’s the same guy in the video above.
To Find a Fat Loss Program that’s right for you, click the button below:
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This is an awesome tip. I used to waste a ton of time walking around and checking the hotties out.
Great tip.
This will allow me to venture over to the weights and do my workout and leave before any guy comes over and offers a spot. Guys can be such dinks!
It’s amazing how doing the little things can make so much of a difference. This is one of them. Shortening your time between sets not only saves MASSIVE amounts of time, it also produces much better results.
Found you on Josh’s site (you commented on my humor — testicles vs. breasts — article. Love your site, will keep coming back.
Question: when we shorten the rest period between sets, does the metabolic effect differ if we go to a completely different muscle group, or does this pertain to going back to the same group and/or exercise. In other words, if we wait thirty seconds between a killer set of curls before hitting a killer set of leg extensions, is that the same effect as going back in after 30 seconds for a repeat set of curls?
Thanks. Gonna learn a lot here.
Welcome Larry.
Your post is probably the funniest thing I’ve read in the last couple of months. Kudos to you.
Regarding your question: First off, I would suggest skipping isolation movements like curls and leg extensions and instead go for more total body movements like squats, burpees, and chin-ups to name a few.
I actually wrote about total body movements in more depth here -> http://www.thefatlossauthority.com/fat_loss_tips/muscle-isolation-exercises-vs-total-body-movements-for-fat-loss-success/
Secondly, there’s plenty of studies that support supersets and compound sets for increased calorie burn but I don’t recall one specifically measuring the effect of attacking the same muscle group or a different one – a research gap for anyone reading this. If anyone knows of a study, please send it along.
Popular opinion would be to switch muscle groups every set to give you the best total body workout BUT I certainly wouldn’t discourage changing things up and attacking the same muscle group again after a 30 second rest. In fact, some of my best workouts were just that.
For example, I went from a set of pushups right into a set of pull-ups during one of my workouts last week. Really kicked my ass but felt fantastic for days afterwards!
Conclusion: Start with a total body approach but don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.
Mike
Thanks for the great article. I too have heard this many times but have not seen any research to back it up. The pointer about doubling the metabolic rate by reducing rest period to less than 1 minute is valuable.
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I am having problems trying to do the Squat routine. It leads to complications with my muscle tissue the following morning. Any advices? Thanks before hand and exceptional article.
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