New Rule for Bodybuilding #4

4. Rest is very important. When you are finished lifting.

There are two meanings for "rest." Rest between workouts and rest between sets.

Muscle growth occurs while one is resting between workouts, not while one is actually lifting. Rest is therefore necessary--when you one is finished lifting CORRECTLY and HARD.

Rest between sets is overrated unless you're new to weight training. It's a must if you're learning the exercises. Later on, try to reduce the amount of rest between sets. Less rest between sets can be used to drive up intensity.

"Rest between sets

Less rest time can sometimes increase the amount of testosterone your body is producing," says Bracko. Try supersets--performing two exercises back to back without rest. For instance, do a set of bench presses immediately followed by a set of seated cable rows. Then rest for 90 to 180 seconds."

If you rest for one minute or two minutes between sets, that's great. Three minutes is too long unless you're supersetting, or doing 21's, or it's heavy duty day. If you need that much rest in order to complete your "8 to 12 reps" then you're doing too much weight. Try slowing down the movement of each repetition with less weight. Vary the time it takes to complete one repetition, for example, 2 seconds up, pause, 2 seconds down; 4 seconds up, pause, 4 seconds down.

You do not want to cool down completely after you get warmed up - until you are finished. If your routine is to lift very hard then rest for a long time, then you are a powerlifter. You don't want to look like a powerlifter because you want to look better naked. Occasionally, lifting like a powerlifter can help shock your body into new growth. Doing it every single time like that (3-4 heavy reps with 3+ minutes of rest) means you're a powerlifter. If you lift like a powerlifter, you'll end up looking like a powerlifter.

Few people time their rest between sets with a clock, but instead go by some sort of "feeling" of what is “about a minute." Most end up misjudging the time while doing their favorite between-set activities: watching others lift, talking shop about lifting for 5-10, etc. If I rest for five minutes, I might as well just leave the gym because warming up more than once leads to inefficient workouts.

A much better between-set activity is to contract the muscle you just finished working, but without the weight. This is called isometric contraction. Isometric contraction is necessary and should be done after completing each set: it can give clues as to whether you just did the exercise correctly or no and it may help “fill in the gaps” in the development of the muscle. Contract the muscle (hard) and think about the muscle. One great way to develop your mind-muscle connection is to:

1) contract the muscle before even doing a warm-up set

2) contract the muscle after each set

This, you don’t have to make into a permanent habit but it works. If you’ve ever tried to make your pecs “dance” this will help you achieve that goal. Doing that requires a well-developed mind-muscle connection.

Isometric contraction is not the same thing as posing. You don't have to “pose” unless you want to do so. Posing is a term used by bodybuilders who do their thing on stage. There are about 6 standard poses when every muscle in the body is contracted at once and held that way. They have names like "front double biceps," "side chest," "most muscular." Competitors pose this way because their entire bodies are being judged--from head to foot. They want to look the best they can. Posing is not necessary for building muscle, unless you plan to get up on stage.