How long to rest between sets

Rest is part of the prescription

Sets and reps get written down. The gap between them usually does not, which is odd, because it changes the session more than most of the things that do get recorded.

What the gap buys is the ability to repeat the set. Cut it short and the next set is lighter in everything except the number on the bar: fewer clean reps, worse positions, and a harder session that produced less work.

Roughly how long

These are rules of thumb rather than laws, and the right answer is always the one that lets you repeat the set properly:

• Heavy work in low reps: three to five minutes. You are waiting on systems that recover slowly, and rushing it only costs you the next set.
• The middle ranges, six to twelve: around two minutes. Long enough to repeat the work, short enough that the session still ends.
• Conditioning and circuits: short on purpose. Here the incomplete recovery is the point rather than a cost.
• Anything that felt ugly: longer. A set performed badly because you were still breathing hard teaches you nothing about the load.

Why there is a timer

Counting in your head drifts, and it drifts in one direction: the harder the set was, the longer the rest feels, and the sooner you start the next one. A timer is not fussiness, it is the only way the number stays the same on set one and set five.

The rest runs in the app while you are doing something else, and keeps running if you go and look at the next exercise. That is deliberate: looking something up should not quietly restart your rest.

When to break the rule

If you are short on time, cut the volume rather than the rest. Three good sets with full rest are worth more than five rushed ones, and the app's check-in does exactly this when you tell it how long you have.

If the rest you need keeps growing until the session doubles in length, that is information: the load is too heavy for today. Take it down and finish, rather than extending the session until it is abandoned.