What to do during rest breaks: keep it loose, calm and cool...

Taking a break, stopping to rest, a moment for self care…

A good strength training program includes rest breaks. Big iron balls to the wall isn’t a smart way to train. That might be hard to hear because skipping rest or rushing through breaks feels like we’re doing more, pushing harder and making that workout burn. 

Burn the calories, burn the fat, BuRn YoUrSeLf OuT…

The reason behind rest breaks is simple: the body needs time to recover from a movement to prepare for the next set and do it well. The more intense the movement, the longer typical rest needed to recover or manage fatigue (higher output results in higher fatigue).

Trainer talk before rest break advice: our body’s energy sources...

There are three systems that the body uses to produce energy (energy systems). These systems involve anaerobic and aerobic capacity (how the body uses energy), nutrition (what you eat and how it fuels the body) and muscle fiber type/size (big muscles can produce more energy and therefore use more). Understanding these systems allow us to give the body what it needs to increase performance through programming and nutrition. This includes how much power is being exerted and proper work/rest ratios.

ATP-PC: high power, short duration bursts of power

• Alactic Phosphocreatine energy system (you don't need to remember this)

• “fight or flight” survival instinct, run away life or death situation type of power

• doesn’t require oxygen to function (this makes it anaerobic)

• gives big muscles the most power possible and cannot be maintained or long periods of time (max approx. 15 seconds)

• largely determined by genetics and hard to train/change

• long periods of recovery needed after max exertions, especially for the nervous system

• sports like sprinting, olympic lifting, throwing (why pitchers have a throwing limit/need to be rested in baseball)

• typical work to rest ratio 1:10-1:12 (for every one second of work, 10-12 seconds of recovery)

• Example: 15 seconds of all outwork would require 2:30-3 minutes of recovery.

Anaerobic Lactic: moderate power/short duration

• also known as glycolytic energy system

• runs on carbohydrates, doesn’t require oxygen

• high force production for longer periods of time than ATP-PC (max approx. 30 seconds)

• a well-developed aerobic system allows for maximization of anaerobic capacity; these types of training must happen separately to best improve anaerobic fitness.

• Anaerobic performance does not improve by always pushing anaerobic fatigue (this is why HIIT training x5 per week doesn’t result in better performance overall).

• Typical work/rest ratio of 1:6 (for every one second of work, 6 seconds of rest) or 1:3 for an interval with more intended lactic fatigue.

  • Example: 30 seconds of work, 3 minutes of rest (1:6) or 30 seconds of work, 90 seconds of rest (1:3)

• This system includes true HIIT training, sprinting (running, cycling, swimming), gymnastics events...

Aerobic (oxidative): low power/long duration

• requires presence of oxygen and carbohydrates; burns fats, carbs and proteins

• aerobic production is always happening (even as you’re reading this)

• long bouts of energy expenditure at manageable stress levels

• essential for all athletes; better levels of aerobic fitness lead to faster recovery, even for athletes primarily depending on the anaerobic system for performance

• LISS (low intensity steady-state training), distance running, below-max gym sessions, moderate/light activity

• typical work/rest ratio of 1:1 or 1:3 when applied to strength training

  • for every minute work, 1 minute rest; for every minute work, 3 minutes rest

Although the energy systems are much more complex than we’ve detailed here, this small glimpse gives you a look at rest break ratios and why they exist. The body needs rest to increase performance, along with training variability. As much as we want to push and make every session in the gym “count,” leaving sessions feeling depleted, fatigued and completely spent by not understanding rest and intensity will lead to plateaus, exhaustion and potential injury. Knowing and respecting rest ratios will increase performance over time.

StOp dOiNg HiIt ClAsSeS fIVe DaYs pEr WeEk...

Looking through a lens of strength training: what happens in a rest break?

At Bells Up, we keep it loose, calm and cool...

Some rest breaks after big barbell lifts or kettlebell military presses could last 3-5 minutes. When Missy presses a 24kg bell for x1 rep, she needs 3-5 minutes before the next rep set. For x6-8 16kg presses, she might only need 1-2 minutes between rep sets.

When Lacee barbell deadlifts at 80% of her max, rest breaks could be 90 seconds-2 minutes depending on reps. The same is true for a moderate set of pull ups at 70-80% max effort. These breaks are a great time to change a laundry load, wash dishes, water plants, or do basically anything that requires easy movement.

If you’re not at home and/or have a shorter rest break duration to work with, keep it loose, cool and calm by moving the body side-to-side, pacing, fidgeting, or doing easy drills for feet/ankle/wrist mobility. Imagine you’re about to walk into an important meeting, give a speech, or do something that makes you a little bit nervous. Most likely, you wouldn’t prep by sitting in a chair and scrolling Instagram. 

Keep the body engaged physically and mentally; as you pace the room, visualize your next rep set and make it better than the previous. You could move through a bodyweight Turkish Get Up or practice breathing drills. 

Loose, calm and cool. 

Another pro tip: set a timer during your training sessions. Look at the timer when you finish a rep set and keep yourself accountable to long rest intervals as much as short rest intervals. If you don’t feel recovered after a rest interval (as in not fresh for the next set), take more rest and observe your personal rate of perceived effort (RPE). This could be an indication that weights/reps are off in relation to the intended stimulus of the program.

Remember that the nervous system needs to recover along with muscles; even if the body “feels” ready, rest breaks after high output activities are there for a reason.