In this section we’re going to cover Rest periods and the different considerations that need to be made to make sure you’re getting the biggest return on your effort for your hard work. If Tempo is the most commonly overlooked and underutilized tool, then Rest periods between exercises is probably the most commonly misunderstood and misused.
Let’s go back to our guiding principles: Quality over (or at the very least before) Quantity. So if the goal is to maintain a high quality of work, we need to make sure that you have enough energy to do what it is that you’re asking of your mind and body to commit to. One of the most common mistakes I see regarding rest periods, is that they’re kept to a minimum or they’re pretty much non-existent while going from one exercise to the next.
Common Mistake #1: Not Resting Enough
I can totally understand why it would be easy to think that this is more productive, and for some goals it might be, but the majority of times I see this being done it’s actually less than ideal for the person’s goals. Listen, I get it. It’s hard not to think you’re working your butt off when you’re drenched in sweat and you’re practically wheezing trying to catch your breath. The unfortunate truth though, is that things like: how much you’re sweating, how beat up you feel after a workout, or how sore you are the next day are actually very poor indicators of a productive workout.
Which is a bit of a hard pill to swallow, but it’s necessary to understand if we’re going to help you get the most out of your training.
Let me give you two different scenarios to consider.
Scenario #1:
Let’s say your goal is to lose some body fat and look leaner. You know it’s going to require some hard work, so you push yourself and turn into the Energizer Bunny. From beginning to end the workout is go go go, you’re moving from one exercise to the other. You’re sweating like crazy, you’re tired as hell, and you look like you’ve already taken a shower by the time you go back to the locker room.
Scenario #2:
Let’s say you have that same goal of losing some body fat and looking leaner. You know that to look leaner you have to build some muscle. You know the most effective way to do that is by training with an emphasis on getting stronger. So you still go through a series of exercises, but with a little bit more rest in between. Now you might still sweat a bit and be short of breath momentarily between sets…but not to the point where it detracts from your efforts. Because you’re giving your body adequate time to recover between exercises you can maintain a HIGH quality of effort for each and every exercise and push yourself harder, SAFELY, than you were able to in the first scenario.
Comparison on both scenarios
Now in both of these scenarios you worked hard. No one is denying that. But water loss and shortness of breath does not equal productivity. In the first scenario because there was so much effort on keeping up with a certain pace, something had to give. More often than not it’s either the technique which starts breaking down, or if that’s still intact then it’s definitely the amount of load you were using to allow yourself to be able to continue. Most of the time, that’s suboptimal from the standpoint of challenging your body in any meaningful way that would force it to adapt.
It’s important to remind yourself that you’re working out for a reason. You clearly want something or you wouldn’t be dedicating the time and effort towards bettering yourself. We just have to refine the approach to make sure your efforts are rewarded in a manner that you’ll appreciate.
Common Mistake #2: Resting more than needed
But first let’s briefly cover the other most common mistake I see being made in regards to rest periods while training. It’s the exact opposite: the person who rests too long between exercises. Either because they’re on their phone, they’re socializing with other members, or they’re just waiting until they feel 100% before going again.
Just as being an Energizer bunny detracts from the quality of work you’re able to put out, so does being a Tommy Texter or a Sally Soundtrack (please don’t sue me Cineplex). Whatever your goal is, you want to rest enough that you have the required energy to go again and keep a high quality of work, but you don’t want to wait so long that you’re essentially “cold” going into your next set. There needs to be a fine balance.
Now that you understand how your rest periods directly influence the quality of your work, in the next video we’ll be going over some of the specifics on what amount of rest is appropriate for your goals.
Asad Sayal
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