How Long Should You Rest Between Sets? What the Research Says
Short answer: For most people training to build muscle, rest at least 2 minutes between sets, and 3–5 minutes on heavy compound lifts like squats and deadlifts. Longer rests let you complete more reps per set, and that extra training volume drives growth. Resting under about 60 seconds tends to cost you results.
By Will Cho, NSCA-CPT, CSCS · Austin, TX
Ah, the age-old rest interval question. For years, gyms have been full of people rushing back to the bar after 30–60 seconds, convinced shorter rests mean a better "pump" and more growth. The research tells a different story.
Why rest length matters: it's all about volume
The biggest driver of muscle growth you control is training volume: the total quality work you do, roughly sets × reps × load. Rest length matters because it directly changes how many reps you can do on each set.
Between sets, your muscles need time to rebuild their immediate energy supply and clear the fatigue byproducts that build up during hard sets. Cut the rest short and that recovery is incomplete, so your next set loses reps. Over a whole workout, those lost reps add up.
What the studies show
Trained men, one workout: In a 2018 study, 10 resistance-trained young men did the same full-body session three times, resting 30, 60, or 120 seconds between sets. With 30-second rests they lifted significantly less total load than with 60 or 120 seconds, and blood lactate was no different across the three conditions (Lopes et al., 2018).
Trained women: In a 2021 study, 14 resistance-trained women did four sets to failure on chest press and leg press with either 1-minute or 3-minute rests. With 1-minute rests, they lifted significantly less total volume on both exercises (Millender et al., 2021). This is one of the relatively few rest-interval studies done specifically in trained women.
Trained men, over 8 weeks: In Schoenfeld and colleagues' 2016 study, 21 trained men followed the same program for 8 weeks, with one difference: half rested 1 minute between sets and half rested 3 minutes. The 3-minute group gained more strength and more muscle, with significantly greater thigh muscle thickness (Schoenfeld et al., 2016).
The big picture (meta-analysis): A 2024 systematic review pooled the randomized trials on rest intervals and muscle growth. It found a small benefit to resting longer than 60 seconds, likely because short rests reduce volume. But it found no clear additional growth benefit beyond about 90 seconds (Singer et al., 2024). The authors also note that most participants in these studies were untrained, so the findings may apply differently to experienced lifters.
What this means: "Longer is better" holds up to a point. The clear win is avoiding very short rests. Past roughly 2 minutes, the extra benefit for muscle growth is small. Longer rests still help you keep performance up on heavy, demanding lifts.
"But don't short rests build more muscle?"
The old argument for short rests was that they spike hormones and "metabolic stress" (the burn and buildup of byproducts like lactate), which were thought to drive growth.
Two problems with that:
Short-term hormone spikes after a workout are associated with training, but they haven't been shown to cause meaningfully more muscle growth.
Short rests don't necessarily raise metabolic stress much. In the study of trained women above, average blood lactate was not significantly different between 1-minute and 3-minute rests, even though the short-rest sessions were more fatiguing and produced less volume (Millender et al., 2021).
The same was true in the men's study: blood lactate didn't differ between 30, 60, and 120-second rests (Lopes et al., 2018).
So you're not giving up some hidden growth signal by resting longer. You're mainly gaining reps.
My practical recommendations
Exercise type | Examples | Rest |
Single-joint and machine exercises | Biceps curls, lateral raises, machine chest press | 2–3 minutes |
Multi-joint free-weight exercises | Barbell squats, deadlifts, bench press | 3–5 minutes |
Go by feel too. If you're breathing normally and feel ready to match your last set's reps, you're probably recovered. Letting readiness guide your rest is a reasonable approach for experienced lifters.
Short on time? Use shorter rests, but make up the lost reps with an extra set or two. Supersetting opposing muscle groups (like a chest exercise paired with a back exercise) is another way to save time without sacrificing much volume.
Training for maximal strength? Lean toward the longer end. Heavy, low-rep sets need more recovery to keep performance high.
Frequently asked questions
Is 60 seconds of rest enough to build muscle?You can still build muscle with 60-second rests, but the research suggests you'll likely build a bit less than with longer rests, mainly because you'll complete fewer reps.
Should I rest longer for strength than for muscle growth?Generally, yes. Heavy compound lifts benefit from 3–5 minutes so you can keep load and reps high from set to set.
Should older lifters rest less?Possibly. One 8-week study in older men found shorter rest intervals produced better body-composition and performance results (Villanueva et al., 2015). It's a single study, so treat it as a reason to experiment, not a rule.
What if I only have 45 minutes to train?Prioritize your heavy compound lifts with full rest, and use shorter rests or supersets on smaller isolation exercises. Adding a set can offset reps lost to shorter rest.
Related reading: How many sets per muscle per week · Best rep range for muscle growth · Should you train to failure?
Want a program with rest periods, sets, and reps already built in? Train Like Will 1.0 is my self-guided, research-based program with 3-, 4-, and 5-day splits and 123 exercise tutorial videos. Get Train Like Will 1.0 →
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References
Lopes, C. R., Crisp, A. H., Schoenfeld, B., Ramos, M., Germano, M. D., Verlengia, R., da Mota, G. R., Marchetti, P. H., & Aoki, M. S. (2018). Effect of rest interval length between sets on total load lifted and blood lactate response during total-body resistance exercise session. Asian Journal of Sports Medicine, 9(2), e57500. https://doi.org/10.5812/asjsm.57500
Millender, D. J., Mang, Z. A., Beam, J. R., Realzola, R. A., & Kravitz, L. (2021). The effect of rest interval length on upper and lower body exercises in resistance-trained females. International Journal of Exercise Science, 14(7), 1178–1191. https://doi.org/10.70252/EADO7587
Schoenfeld, B. J., Pope, Z. K., Benik, F. M., Hester, G. M., Sellers, J., Nooner, J. L., Schnaiter, J. A., Bond-Williams, K. E., Carter, A. S., Ross, C. L., Just, B. L., Henselmans, M., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(7), 1805–1812. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001272
Singer, A., Wolf, M., Generoso, L., Arias, E., Delcastillo, K., Echevarria, E., Martinez, A., Androulakis Korakakis, P., Refalo, M. C., Swinton, P. A., & Schoenfeld, B. J. (2024). Give it a rest: A systematic review with Bayesian meta-analysis on the effect of inter-set rest interval duration on muscle hypertrophy. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 6, 1429789. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2024.1429789
Villanueva, M. G., Lane, C. J., & Schroeder, E. T. (2015). Short rest interval lengths between sets optimally enhance body composition and performance with 8 weeks of strength resistance training in older men. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 115(2), 295–308. PMID: 25294666
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