BD's discussionaire

[stuward]

It makes it easier for readers to know what you're saying and what you're referring to when you use the quote feature.

[Dub]

That's three workouts in a row with strength decreases....only change has been changing the rest between sets from 5 min down to 3 min or 1 min. Not sure if I want to keep my rest time low just to support hypertrophy gains...

I Think the change in rest time is the reason for your results to drop. You don't recover completely like you did before, thus straining the muscle more. With reps like that, I think 1 to 3 minutes is good. it does support the hypertrophy gains. When doing maximal effort, rest longer. I always go by the feel on that issue. If it's bloody heavy and 5 or below reps, I usually rest from 3 to 7 minutes. With higher reps and lower intensity, I rest somewhere between a half and two minutes.

[stuward]

It's a good idea to cycle the reps, either between workouts or within workouts. For example, you could ramp up to a heavy set of 3 reps with 5 minutes rest before the final set, followed by 4 sets or 10 with minimal rest between sets. That will give you strength gains and hypertrophy. Document your rest periods in your notes so you can compare workout to workout.

[13lind Dog]

Hmmm. Yeah...good points. Sticking to longer rest times for those < 5 rep heavy rep work sets, even though it doesn't support the hypertrophy as much is probably more beneficial. ...And then just for the iso work, when it's 8+ reps, stick to that 60-90 sec of rest?

And Stuward, are you suggesting to work a bench press, for example, up to a 3 rep work set, followed by 4x10 with the bench as well? Or to do 4x10 with a different exercise? Just to clarify!

[stuward]

Yes, that's what I meant, the same exercise, or a similar one. That actually comes from 5-3-1, Boring but Big program. It's just an example, but one I do myself sometimes.

[13lind Dog]

Interesting! I'll try and educate myself over the holidays and read-up on it. Much thanks to yours and everyone else's input thus far :).

[Oscar_Actuary]

hello?