Can Short Rest Periods Between Weight Lifting Sets Promote Greater Muscle Gain?
One of the numerous bodybuilding variables that weight lifters must consider when constructing an effective workout program is rest between sets, with some feeling that short rest periods provide a greater amount of muscle overload, leading to larger muscle gains. This ideology is based on the overall body fatigue felt when participating in a weight training workout with short rest between workout sets, as the assumption is, if such a workout is more difficult to endure, the muscle gains must therefore be superior compared with longer rest between sets. The issue with this theory is that the fatigue felt when rest periods between weight training sets are shortened does not stem from greater overload to muscles, but rather occurs due to increased involvement of the cardiovascular system, where the heart is pumping much faster to support the continual workload, similar to a heavy elliptical workout. Because of this, the amount of weight used during workout sets drops dramatically during
