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    strong lifts - does it really take you 45 minutes?

    Posts: 286 Member
    edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
    I have done Strong Lifts in the past, was successful but got pregnant, so I stopped. But now i have started again and have read up about it again. They are saying you should wait 2-4 minutes between each set of reps! Is that really necessary? Will it make my workout better if I do? If I'm feeling "ok" can I just wait a minute or thereabout? (I realise that as I increase the weights, I will probably need to increase the time in between to get my arms/legs to want to work again...)

    Thank you

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    Replies

    • Posts: 1,225 Member
      The guy behind SL recommends either waiting until your pulse is back to normal or waiting 1.5 minutes if the set felt light, 3 minutes if it felt heavy or 5 minutes if you failed to get all 5 reps.
    • Posts: 286 Member
      But from your experience, is that really necessary? I find myself standing around doing nothing for ages, feels like a waste... If it will make it a "better" workout, I suppose I will do it, but just wanted to find out
    • Posts: 196 Member
      edited October 2015
      The point of the 2-4 minute range is to give the body some ability to recover ATP used for muscle contraction during the set. The best test results I have seen say it takes 10-12 seconds of rest for every second of work for the ATP cycle to occur. Since this is the short duration, high output energy pathway this is what you are trying to allow to recover. And it is the most applicable and best pathway for strength development. Generally you start SL at a low enough percentage of 1 RM you should be able to recovery quickly.

      Rest as long as you feel you need to. You may even want to time your rest periods if you have not in the past. 120 seconds can go by very quickly. If you realize you are struggling to recover increase the rest period.
    • Posts: 1,225 Member
      Once the weight gets heavy you'll have no choice. But if you're just starting out and the weights are really light, I'd say start the next set when you feel ready for it.
    • Posts: 286 Member
      armylife wrote: »
      The point of the 2-4 minute range is to give the body some ability to recover ATP used for muscle contractions. The best test results I have seen are it takes 10-12 seconds of rest for every second of work. Since this is the short duration, high output energy pathway this is what you are trying to allow to recover. Since you generally start SL at a very low percentage of 1 RM you should be able to recovery quickly.

      Rest as long as you feel you need to. You may even want to time your rest periods if you have not in the past. 120 seconds can go by very quickly. If you realize you are struggling to recover increase the rest period.

      Ok, so you are saying it makes sense that at the moment when I'm only doing 12.5kg or something like that, that my recovery time is quick, whereas in a month it will take me much longer to do?
    • Posts: 4,979 Member
      The heavier it gets the more likely you'll find the need to rest that long. It rests both your muscles and your central nervous system. I ran it for 25 weeks and couldn't finsh a full 5x5 without about 2-3 minutes between sets without my form breaking down. So by the end it was over an hour for the whole work out.
    • Posts: 196 Member
      LernRach wrote: »
      show previous quotes

      Ok, so you are saying it makes sense that at the moment when I'm only doing 12.5kg or something like that, that my recovery time is quick, whereas in a month it will take me much longer to do?

      Yes, but I still think you should time the rest periods and make sure you are going short.
    • Posts: 4,979 Member
      armylife wrote: »
      show previous quotes

      Yes, but I still think you should time the rest periods and make sure you are going short.

      Yes, time it. The SL app has a timer built in.
    • Posts: 61,406 Member
      LernRach wrote: »
      show previous quotes

      Ok, so you are saying it makes sense that at the moment when I'm only doing 12.5kg or something like that, that my recovery time is quick, whereas in a month it will take me much longer to do?

      Exactly this, but probably more like several months to half a year or so, depending. Go ahead and take less rest now but be aware that you'll need more once you start to use weights that "feel" heavier.
    • Posts: 15,357 Member
      When I started I took short rest periods, and the total workout took about half an hour. As the lifts got heavier, rest periods got longer, and it took about an hour. At that point, the workouts were just too long, so I dropped to 3x5 instead of 5x5.
    • Posts: 1,542 Member
      Try super sets. It's will give your muscles the rest time while working another. No time wasted or feel like wasted time.
    • Posts: 61,406 Member
      sith78 wrote: »
      Try super sets. It's will give your muscles the rest time while working another. No time wasted or feel like wasted time.

      Then she wouldn't be doing stronglifts
    • Posts: 5,178 Member
      sith78 wrote: »
      Try super sets. It's will give your muscles the rest time while working another. No time wasted or feel like wasted time.

      But you cannot do supersets with a program like stronglifts. There are no isolation exercises.
    • Posts: 286 Member
      DavPul wrote: »
      show previous quotes

      Then she wouldn't be doing stronglifts

      Lol correct! I don't actually know what super sets is but I know strong lifts has worked for me in the past so why not do it again!!

      Thank you for your responses, I suppose I wil persevere, make sure I take a reasonable break and see what happens.... Time is of essence when I'm in the gym as I have a 7wk old baby so I need to make sure I use the short time I have wisely
    • Posts: 1,004 Member
      I don't know how big the effect is, but Mark Riptoe suggests that women need less rest between sets than men.
      https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10269471/strength-training-for-women-rippetoe-article

      At the same time, from experience I know that occasionally I need to really have some rest to catch my breath. So just wait for how long feels right to you.
    • Posts: 441 Member
      LernRach wrote: »
      show previous quotes

      Ok, so you are saying it makes sense that at the moment when I'm only doing 12.5kg or something like that, that my recovery time is quick, whereas in a month it will take me much longer to do?

      Exactly. Early on I waited about 60 seconds between sets and was out of the gym within 20 minutes.

      6 months in I was waiting 3 minutes between sets regularly, and it took a lot longer!

      In each instance I was waiting so long as I felt I needed to, just later on the lifts took so much out of me I needed real time to recover
    • Posts: 559 Member
      AsISmile wrote: »
      I don't know how big the effect is, but Mark Riptoe suggests that women need less rest between sets than men.
      https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10269471/strength-training-for-women-rippetoe-article

      At the same time, from experience I know that occasionally I need to really have some rest to catch my breath. So just wait for how long feels right to you.

      Exactly. Take the time necessary to have a successful workout. You don't want to fail a set when an additional minute would have given you enough recovery to be successful. I understand time constraints and the need to get out of the gym but that is a balance that you will have to strike for yourself when the weights get heavier.



    • Posts: 286 Member
      Ok I will certainly take this all into consideration! Even as the weights increase now I can see it definitely takes me longer to recover then it did originally....
    • Posts: 712 Member
      Right now I rest about 1.5-2 minutes between sets but I expect it to move to 2-3 as the weight increases.
    • Posts: 53 Member
      Lift when your ready
    • Posts: 96 Member
      It is personal preference and can change from day to day exercise to exercise. Trust your body and push yourself. Your mind is weak but your body is strong.
    • Posts: 730 Member
      Are you doing them for gaining strength or growing muscle?
    • Posts: 286 Member
      summerkissed wrote: »
      Are you doing them for gaining strength or growing muscle?

      I suppose growing muscle... As in, toning and that type of thing... I'm just after a baby so I need to get back into shape... I'm doing c25k as well! Aiming for a half marathon next October
    • Posts: 730 Member
      LernRach wrote: »
      show previous quotes

      I suppose growing muscle... As in, toning and that type of thing... I'm just after a baby so I need to get back into shape... I'm doing c25k as well! Aiming for a half marathon next October

      Send me an inbox message I can't send one to you......ill explain what I do and why...to long to put on here :smile:
    This discussion has been closed.

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