The first two or three minutes were usually reserved for slowing down my breathing, talking shop with others around me, and just chilling. Rack the bar, load the weight for the next set and/or check the collars for tightness, sit down, wipe my forehead, grab a sip of water, and set the timer for five minutes. Why Use 300 Seconds?ДЄs a powerlifter, resting for five minutes between my work sets was easy.

Rest intervals are key to building strength. My observations of and experimentation with hundreds of athletes and clients in addition to my own powerlifting training over the years support the above findings. Conversely, some experiments have demonstrated that when testing maximal strength, 1-minute rest intervals might be sufficient between repeated attempts however, from a psychological and physiological standpoint, the inclusion of 3- to 5-minute rest intervals might be safer and more reliable. Similarly, higher levels of muscular power were demonstrated over multiple sets with 3 or 5 minutes versus 1 minute of rest between sets.

Why is this number and the resultant math to convert it to minutes important? This length of time, to those of you familiar with training with kettlebells and other metcon training methods, will seem like an eternity when told that is how long you should rest between sets when training for strength.Д«ut according to a 2009 study on rest intervals and strength training :Д®sting 3-5 minutes between sets produced greater increases in absolute strength, due to higher intensities and volumes of training.

Strength rest time