(Part 3) Top products from r/nSuns

Exactly. Specifying a duration and sticking to it isn’t as helpful as looking at your body’s signals that it is not time to move on yet (heart rate too high) or ready to move on (heart rate dropping to lower zones already).

EDIT: After simply googling "weightlifting resting duration", the top result says:

>To get stronger faster, the best rest period is 3 to 5 minutes between sets. This is because much of the energy your body consumes during traditional strength training (heavy weight, 1 to 6 reps) comes from the Adenosine Triphosphate Phosphocreatine system. The ATP-PC system uses phosphagens to produce energy very quickly and without the use of oxygen. Your body has a very small phosphagen reserve, which lasts about 15 seconds. It takes your body about 3 minutes to fully replenish phosphagen stores (Fleck, 1983).
In one study, athletes lifted a weight more times in 3 sets after resting 3 minutes compared to when they rested only 1 minute (Kraemer, 1997). Another study showed a 7% increase in squat strength after 5 weeks of training with 3 minute rest periods.
The group that rested for 30 seconds only improved their squat by 2% (Robinson et al, 1995). Two more studies that examined very short rest periods (30 to 40 seconds) found they caused nowhere near the strength gains from longer rest periods (Kraemer et al, 1987; Kraemer, 1997).
You'll cool down too much if you rest longer than 5 minutes. No-one wants to increase their chances of injury.

According to this article and to your point, yes, a rest of 3-5 minutes (with no regard for heart rate during this time) has been shown to maximize strength gains compared to shorter or longer rest times. However, the article goes on:

>To get bigger quicker, the best rest period is 1 to 2 minutes between sets.
Typical bodybuilding/hypertrophy training (moderate-heavy weight, 6-12 reps) draws energy from the ATP-PC and glycolytic system (the glycolytic system gets most of its energy from the carbs you eat). The aerobic metabolism plays a very small part as well.
...one of the key factors in how much muscles grow is the amount of anabolic hormones your body produces after weight training (McCall et al, 1999). Short rest periods of between 1 and 2 minutes cause a greater release of these hormones than longer rest periods (Kraemer et al, 1991; Kraemer et al, 1990).
Short rest periods also cause other muscle-building bonuses like increased lactate production and blood flow to the targeted muscles (Kraemer, 1997; Kraemer et al, 1987). ...it's been shown that the increased blood flow to your muscles helps the protein get there quicker (Biolo et al, 1995).
Muscle fatigue, caused by lactate production, has also been implicated in short-term strength gains and significant hypertrophy (Rooney et al, 1994).

So according to this article, a shorter rest (again with no regard for heart rate during this time) can lead to muscle growth, and goes on to discuss that even shorter rests will increase muscular endurance. I think we can all agree that the nSuns programs are primarily geared towards developing muscular strength, so I just wanted to say that after some research, I don't think there's anything wrong with the 3+ minute rests you mentioned. I simply find it quite long to rest between EVERY set, as a rule. Not to say that I don't rest for 3+ minutes sometimes... just not between every set.

From the MORE popular FAQ available on the sidebar at old.reddit.com/r/nSuns:

>How long will I be in the gym on nSuns?
This largely depends on your rest period length and general conditioning. Assuming you're only resting 1-2 minutes between sets, it should take you 30-45 minutes to complete the T1 and T2.

I didn't want to create a debate here, but rather open a discussion regarding balancing endurance, hypertrophy, and strength with an nSuns program by allowing my heart to tell me if I should rest for a shorter or longer period between different sets. And in my experience, using this method has reduced the amount of time I'm in the gym, as I'm not watching a clock waiting to bust out my next set when I feel ready.

>References from the article
Biolo, G et al. Increased rates of muscle protein turnover and amino acid transport after resistance exercise in humans. Am. J. Physiol. 268: E514-E520, 1995
Donovan, C and G Brooks. Endurance training affects lactate clearance, not lactate production.Am. J. Physiol. 244: E83-E92, 1983.
Fleck, S. Bridging the gap: interval training physiological basis. NSCA J. 5: 40, 57-62, 1983.
Horswill, C.A. Interval training for wrestlers. Wrestling USA, Sept. 15, 1992
Kraemer, W. A series of studies-the physiological basis for strength training in American football: fact over philosophy. J. Strength Cond. Res. 11:131-142, 1997.
Kraemer, W et al. Endogenous anabolic hormonal and growth factor responses to heavy resistance exercise in males and females. Int. J. Sports Med. 12:228-235, 1991.
Kraemer, W et al. Hormonal and growth factor responses to heavy resistance exercise protocols.J. Appl. Physiol. 69:1442-1450, 1990.
Kraemer, W et al. Physiologic responses to heavy-resistance exercise with very short rest periods. Int. J. Sports Med. 8:247-252, 1987.
McCall, G et al. Acute and chronic hormonal responses to resistance training designed to promote muscle hypertrophy. Can. J. Appl. Physiol. 24:96-107, 1999.
Robinson, J et al. Effects of different weight training exercise/rest intervals on strength, power, and high intensity exercise endurance. J. Strength Cond. Res. 9:216-221, 1995.
Sleamaker, R and R Browning. Serious Training for Endurance Athletes. 2nd ed. Human Kinetics, 1996.