Rest-pause training is an advanced hypertrophy technique designed to increase effective muscle-building reps without significantly increasing workout time. Instead of performing one straight set and stopping, you take a very short rest period, then extend the set a few times in “mini-sets” using the same weight.
Because it extends a hard set beyond initial fatigue, rest-pause training is considered a high-intensity method, and it is taxing – not for the faint-hearted . When applied strategically, it can also be highly time-efficient, allowing you to stimulate more muscle growth in fewer total sets.
In this guide, I’ll explain what rest-pause training is, how to do it, what the research says about efficacy, and how to use it properly so you build more muscle without burning out.
Rest Pause Training: From Bodybuilding Origins To Modern Science
There aren’t that many studies about rest pause training, but when I was doing my weekly review of hypertrophy and exercise physiology science recently, I stumbled onto an interesting paper that was published in the journal, Applied Nutrition, Physiology, And Metabolism.
It confirmed that rest pause training is indeed an effective technique. But more than that, rest pause is also a versatile technique that can be used for intensity, time efficiency, and progressive overload.
Evidence now confirms that rest pause might even be the most effective all the high intensity techniques. But this really isn’t a new breakthrough – the method has been around for years.
Legend has it that Sergio Oliva used rest-pause training way back in 1969 when he became the only bodybuilder to ever defeat Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Mr. Olympia contest. Sergio was huge – his arms were ridiculous. They had to be to beat Arnold, right?
Over the years, this technique has become very popular among bodybuilders. Most competitive physique athletes know about rest pause, but oddly, I don’t think many average recreational lifters do.
That’s too bad because looking at the results top physique athletes have achieved using the rest pause method, it has been clear for a long time that it works. And now, the science agrees.
A study in the Journal Of Applied Physiology, Nutrition And Metabolism in 2019 and another in the Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research in 2021 have both confirmed the efficacy of rest pause workouts.
What The Newest Studies Say About Rest Pause Workouts
On the surface, the recent research results didn’t look that exciting because in both studies, the scientists essentially said, “rest pause training works as well as traditional training.”
In one case, it was slightly better for strength, and in another case there was 11% more growth in the thigh muscles with rest pause.
But basically the researchers concluded the muscle growth was about the same compared to regular training.
So what’s the big deal then? Why are we raving about it? Why not just do regular sets?
The reason is because what the researchers did find is that the people doing rest-pause training achieved that same muscle growth in less time.
Rest Pause Training Is Time Efficient
Training techniques that give you time efficiency while not compromising your muscle gains, are the most valuable ones you can use when you are busy and short on time.
If you’ve followed me a while then you know I’m a big fan of supersets, especially antagonistic supersets. Superset training is so efficient it can cut your workout time by up to 50% with little or no compromise in muscle gains.
It’s no surprise that my superset training program – TNB TURBO – which has been around since 2018, is still my best selling weight training program of all time.
But supersets aren’t the only time-efficiency technique you can use. Rest pause training can be used in a variety of ways, and using rest pause workouts for time-efficiency is one of them.
In fact, the authors of one of the recent studies said that the results of 1 set of rest pause were similar to the results of 3 sets of traditional training.
The other huge benefit of rest pause is that it can be another method of progressive overload
Saving time isn’t the only use for rest pause. In fact, the second benefit of rest-pause is the main reason I use it myself: to guarantee that you achieve progressive overload at every workout.
Progressive overload on a well-designed training program is the key to muscle growth. It’s so important I wrote a whole book about it.
A big reason people still struggle with this is because they think progressive overload only means adding weight. But what they don’t realize is that adding reps (even at the same weight) is also a form of overload.
Make no mistake, adding weight is still the most effective way to overload. But since we can’t add weight to the bar at every workout, or even every week, we need other ways to do it, and they all have to do with increasing volume (total sets and reps performed).
Unfortunately, we can’t just keep adding more and more exercises and more and more full sets with 2 or 3 minute rest periods because if we do, now time efficiency goes out the window and we’re in the gym all day. Not to mention, the risk of overtraining goes up.
Just like supersets, rest pause is a game changer because you can get the same muscle gains in less time, and you don’t have to increase the weight you lift to get those gains.
What’s really exciting is that the rest pause technique is so simple, I can explain it to you in seconds in a short punch list.
How To Do Rest-Pause Training
- Perform a set as usual with a weight that lets you do 8 to 12 reps and take it to within 1 or 2 reps short of failure (a hard effort).
- Put the weight down and rest, but only briefly (about 15 to 20 seconds).
- Since you’ve rested just long enough for partial muscle recovery (50% regeneration of ATP in 20 seconds), you can now do more reps (the number can vary, but it’s usually about 3 or 4 more, maybe 5).
- Put the weight down and rest again for 10 to 20 seconds. That’s one round of rest-pause. (Some people call these rounds of additional reps “mini sets.”)
- Repeat for about 3 or at most 4 rounds, doing as many reps as you can each time.
- That’s one rest pause set completed (the main set plus all the extra reps done in mini sets)
- Now take a normal full rest period (about 2 minutes or so) before moving on to the next set or the next exercise
- It’s normal for the reps to drop with each round so the reps in the rest pause rounds might look like this: 5, 4, 3, 3 or 4, 3, 3, 2, or 4, 3, 2, 1 or 4, 3, 2 or 4, 4, 3
You can see that essentially rest pause is a clever way to “sneak in” extra reps at the end of a regular set. The awesome thing about these extra reps is that they are what we call “effective reps.” Because these reps were tacked on after you were already near failure from the regular set, every one of those extra reps is growth-stimulating.
Lifters who are new to this technique might do only 1 round of rest-pause reps and they might only do it on one exercise.
Seasoned bodybuilders usually perform about 3 rest pause rounds and they might do rest pause sets on more than one exercise in a workout. Sometimes a lifter will keep doing more rounds until they can’t do any more – they keep going until they can barely even do 1 rep and that’s their signal to end the set. (Warning: that advanced method is brutal).
Keep the rest / pause periods short (15 to 20 seconds) and be judicious about too much training to failure
Some coaches or athletes say you should rest 30 or 40 seconds when doing rest pause, but I don’t agree. If you rest longer than 20 seconds, then in my mind, it’s no longer the rest-pause technique, it’s just a regular straight set with very short rest periods. I would call that “density training” not rest pause training.
Some people also say you must take the main set to failure as well as all the mini sets. That’s an option, but training to failure causes a large amount of muscle damage, makes you accumulate a large amount of fatigue and adds to your recovery needs. It also can’t be done on every exercise without exposing yourself to injury risk.
Also, if you go to total failure on the main set, then for sure you’ll get fewer reps in the mini sets, lowering your total volume load – which you do not want.
This is why it’s usually preferable to train close to failure (a hard effort), but stop the main set with 1 or 2 reps left in the tank.
(Note: you can safely go to failure more often on isolation exercises and some machine exercises. A lot of failure training on heavy compound exercises can zap you right into the ground).
When To Use Rest-Pause
Generally you would not use rest pause on every exercise for every muscle group. It’s more often used as a specialization technique to help bring up a slow growing muscle.
You could do rest pause for every set of an exercise for one particular muscle group. But an ideal way to use rest pause is to save it for the last set of each exercise.
This is what I usually do, so I don’t accumulate too much fatigue early in the workout and I don’t risk overtraining. I also do more rest pause sets or add more rounds of rest pause within a set as a way to increase volume (to overload).
If you wanted to use rest pause strictly for time efficiency, then if you were doing 3 regular sets of an exercise, you can do just 1 set of rest pause and expect similar results. This way rest pause becomes a technique for shortening your workouts.
If you’re not time-restricted, then in my opinion, the ultimate way to use rest pause is to to keep adding on volume in a time efficient way to guarantee you get progressive overload.
How To Use Rest-Pause For Progressive Overload
The longer you’ve been training and the closer you get to your genetic muscle building potential (ceiling), the less often you can increase the weights.
At this level, adding weight at every workout or even every week is impossible and shouldn’t even be expected. When you’re advanced and especially when you get to the end of a training block, it often gets hard to even add another rep every workout.
But if you use rest pause, you have a secret weapon that always allows you to add reps. Just do a set and take it close to failure. Put the weight down. Pause 15 or at most 20 seconds. Pick the weight back up and do a handful more reps. Overload achieved!
Granted, those reps may not have been consecutive reps, but you get the extra reps and your total volume for the workout goes up just the same.
You can continue to capture even more progression by doing additional rounds of rest pause or using the technique on more sets in a workout.
Now, go try some rest-pause training for yourself, and let me know how it goes!
I hope you give this technique a try. It’s a great one! If you have any questions, post in the comments below.
And even better, go try some rest pause sets in your next workout, then circle back here and let me know what you thought about it and what you felt! (circle back again in a month or two and tell me about the gains!)
Until next week,
Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto,
Author, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
Founder, Burn the Fat Inner Circle
Scientific References
Enes A et al, Rest-pause and drop-set training elicit similar strength and hypertrophy adaptations compared with traditional sets in resistance-trained males, Appl Phys Nutr Metab, 46(11):1417-1424. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2021-0278. 2021.
Prestes, Jonato, et al, Strength And Muscular Adaptations Following 6 Weeks Of Rest-Pause Versus Traditional Multiple-Sets Resistance Training In Trained Subjects.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2019.
Related Articles:
Time Efficient Strength Training Techniques
How To Gain Muscle With Drop Sets (11 Studies)
Do Supersets Build More Muscle?
Glossary of Hypertrophy Terminology
