How much Rest between Sets and Why Strong Side First

Quick common questions, quick answers, and more detail available:

What side to i start? Strong or Weak? It may seem counter intuitive, but when doing work with weights, one side at a time, start with your STRONGer side first. Here's more on why over at IAMFIT.

How Long should i Rest Between Sets: This is a common question. The answer, as usual, is "it depends"

There are pretty well-studied relationships between load, rep volume, rest and muscular effect (strenght/power, hypertrophy, endurance). In an article for DD (editor Pavel and Brett Jones), i walk through some of what the consensus in the literature is about rest between sets.

Overview based on energy systems:

• Strength/Power - Phosphagen System mainly -
  full recharge needs 2-5 minutes based on a high load few rep set.
  Can add volume (no. of sets) without changing rep scheme or break length
• Muscle Fiber Building/Hypertrophy or just want to get to somewhat longer sets.
  Taxing Glycolytic system and growht hormone triggering -
  recovery is not full recharge
  6-10 reps at 75% load-ish, 30sec - 1.5 mins rest
• Endurance - want to just keep going.
  Tapping into oxidative system with
  50%'ish RM loads (or less) lighter loads, longer sets, less breaks - 10-15 reps with 30 secs breaks, max, if trained; longer if not.

For insights into why the above, please do see the whole article. Let me know what you think.