Rest Periods (Westside)

[ehopkins932]

How long do you guys usually take for rest periods? Particularily for ME exercises, accessory work, and supplemental work. I'm finding Im spending almost 2hrs in the gym from warm-up to finish (and I compete raw, so getting gear on is not an issue).

[AdamBAG]

For max effort work I take as much as I need to feel ready, but I try to keep up a decent pace and not lollygag. Usually we've got several guy training the same movement so it just rotates through.

I tend to superset most of my assistance work to save time and keep the rest periods shorter.

[fasteddy]

For max effort work I take as much as I need to feel ready, but I try to keep up a decent pace and not lollygag. Usually we've got several guy training the same movement so it just rotates through.

I tend to superset most of my assistance work to save time and keep the rest periods shorter.

untill i can breath almost normal again

[ehopkins932]

I appreciate the above advice, but I was more referring to actual time in min/seconds. I use a stopwatch and go by that primarily (allowing extra time if needed).

[Lones Green]

On max days its usually about 1.5 hours. We have a crew of around 5-6 guys, and when we squat, we just go in rotation with no rest periods. Someone is always lifting.

After that we break off and do assistance work and we usually fly through that.

Dynamic effort days everything is fast, takes about an hour usually.

[44pirate]

ME days I take 1.5-2.0 minutes on the Main movement. Accessories I take 1 min.
DE days for the 3x9 about 20 secs and accessories 45 secs.

[chris mason]

You should be able to complete a raw ME day in under an hour.

[ehopkins932]

You should be able to complete a raw ME day in under an hour.

I feel this way as well. I guess I will shorten my rest periods and see how things go. I usually take 3-4 min on ME movements (for the top sets, 2-3 min so the others), 2:30 for secondary movements, and 90sec-2min for the accessories. Ill try to get the time down and see how things go.

[AdamBAG]

I appreciate the above advice, but I was more referring to actual time in min/seconds. I use a stopwatch and go by that primarily (allowing extra time if needed).

This is almost impossible to do if you train with a group.

I think that 1-2 minutes is about right for your top sets. If you are concerned about total gym time then keep the rest periods for your warmups really short.

[dedsqtbnch]

on me days i was taking 5 to 10 min on some lifts towards the end of the workout and 3 to 5 in the begining

[Brian C]

Dont use a stopwatch to time your rest periods. Listen to your body to let you know when your ready. I usually take 3-5 minutes on a ME workout. Once your ready, your ready. Saying that you HAVE to be ready to go in 1.5 minutes is rediculus. Everyone is different.

[ehopkins932]

This is almost impossible to do if you train with a group.

I think that 1-2 minutes is about right for your top sets. If you are concerned about total gym time then keep the rest periods for your warmups really short.

I train with one other person (my roomate). I will keep warm-up time shorter and work on lowering everything. I am just starting training again from a meet so now is the time to test things.

[ehopkins932]

Dont use a stopwatch to time your rest periods. Listen to your body to let you know when your ready. I usually take 3-5 minutes on a ME workout. Once your ready, your ready. Saying that you HAVE to be ready to go in 1.5 minutes is rediculus. Everyone is different.

I hear what youre saying. I treat the stopwatch as more of a guideline of ME movements and to keep things structured and moving along for the accessories. If the stopwatch goes off and I feel I need some more time I take it.

[Sean S]

Keep the rest periods short for your warm-up sets on your ME work. You only need to rest 3-4 minutes for your very top sets. Cut down the rest periods on your secondary and assistance movements. Particularly some of the "smaller" assistance movements. I've trained with one training partner for a few years and the longest we every went was 90 minutes and that was when we were in full gear. Most sessions were done in 60 minutes or less. We never took a ton of time between the lighter warm-up sets and we moved quickly between sets on the assistance work (i.e. I do a set then he does a set as soon as I'm done then I do my next set as soon as he's done, etc...).

[MarcusWild]

On ME days, I go as quick at the number of people in the rotation allows until the last 2-3 lifts. Then if the rotation is 4-5 that's fine. If it's only 2-3, then I'll take an extra minute or two. You don't need much rest for accessories. I try to work in the supplemental stuff between sets of accessory work. I'll do hip abduction between sets of hamstring work, etc.

[ehopkins932]

Thanks for the replies guys. I lowered the rest periods today and it definitely was a bit more challenging....still have to work on pacing and lowering them more in the upcoming weights

[NickAus]

Long rests for max effort work and short rests for assistance work.

Top sets 4-5 mins, assistance work 30 sec- 2 mins.

I agree with Brian..........do not use a stop watch, you will be more focused on time than the lift and that is a terrible idea.

[elilliebridge]

You should go whenever you are ready. I usually wait 5 minutes between each set through all of my warm ups, and i do a lot of warm ups, like the bar, 135,185,225,275,315,365 are typically all of my warm ups and they are always the same amount of reps on each set for the bench. After my warm ups i like to go between 6-8 minutes as the weights start to increase so that i have time to stretch and rest for a few minutes between my next heavy set. When i start training for a meet, my heavy sets are normally 10 minutes apart because it's usually a good 10-12 minutes in a meet before you're up again lifting depending on how many guys are in your flight, so i make sure that i'm prepared for the extra time between sets so that it's not such a shock to my body when i'm there at the meet waiting between my attempts.