Programming Improv Adding Weight + Rest Wins the Workout??

[mrdave100]

I'm getting ready to run a cycle of Reload. Fabio suggests adding more rest between sets as you get deeper into the program. As I take it, 5 minutes or more between sets, specifically week 4 and beyond, maybe as early as the 3rd week. If I remember correctly, Pavel implies a similar idea of 5 minutes or more in PTTP. As I looked back over my training, I think that's what I've always failed to do. I've always kept my rest times static (usually 5 minutes when running PTTP) and not taken advantage of milking a cycle a few more workouts because I was not resting more between sets. I guess the problem has always been if I complete a workout in 22 minutes and as the weeks go by, my tonnage is increasing and I'm still in the that 22 minute zone, well I'm really getting stronger then. (I think I got that idea from Ethan Reeves Density Training and Escalating Density by Charles Staley). So I finally come to my question and thanks to those of you who have managed to read this far without falling asleep. Should the number 1 priority each week be as the weight goes up, to rest as much as needed to complete the next set? I guess there comes a point, when 12-15 minute rest times may be too long and it's time to deload, recalculate, or adjust and start again. Is there a rest time threshold? If I'm having to rest longer than 8 minutes between sets, then maybe it's time to adjust things? Thanks in advance!!

 

[Adachi]

Assuming a completable set every time , given some loading scheme which will not induce a missed rep...

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longer rests will correlate with training up a higher net strength increase.​

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Shorter rests will correlate with training up a higher net conditioning effect.(and some hypertrophy)​

The weights would have to be adjusted to match the scheme, lighter for work capacity, or heavier for more pure strength.

 

[Steve Freides]

@mrdave100, you're thinking correctly about everything you said. Carry on.

-S-

 

[silveraw]

I guess there comes a point, when 12-15 minute rest times may be too long and it's time to deload, recalculate, or adjust and start again. Is there a rest time threshold? If I'm having to rest longer than 8 minutes between sets, then maybe it's time to adjust things? Thanks in advance!!

There are a couple constraints you might run into with super long rest periods. First just being the absolute time you are in the gym gets to be too long. Second is the difference between resting for 5 minutes and 15 minutes is less than the difference between 2 minutes and 5 minutes. After 15 minutes you are going to have rapidly diminishing returns on that rest.

I'd take a look at the updated PTTP program in the SF barbell course. Instead of just dragging out rest periods till you are spending 2 hours doing 4 sets of work, switch to a different loading scheme for a while that increases the volume at a given load.

 

[Pete L]

If the question is;

Should the number 1 priority each week be as the weight goes up, to rest as much as needed to complete the next set?

...then I'd say no. The number one priority is to do the reps and sets prescribed.
At some point in time the rest would be too long to call it, say, 5 sets of 5. But rather 5 discrete sessions.
Also, I've only found week 5 to be the real challenge. So that is perhaps one or two sets out of sixty odd over eight weeks that are a significant test. That plus the test.

 

[Mark Limbaga]

Years ago as an intern and then eventually as a young trainer at my old gym, one of the tasks that was given to me was to update members programs .

For majority, we were giving them a 5x5 variant which closely resembles the madcow version

Everytime I got an inquiry about why they failed a rep it's always these factors

1. They didn't sleep enough
2. They drastically dropped their calories in hopes to speed up the fat loss process
3. They were not resting enough between sets