Rest-pause

Rest-pause is a technique where a set is taken close to failure, then rested for 10 to 20 seconds without racking the load, then continued for extra reps, repeating the cycle two or three times. It accumulates effective reps in far less time than separate sets, at the price of high local fatigue.

Also written as: rest pause set · myo-reps

In practice

It is the technique for the client whose problem is the calendar: one rest-pause set on an isolation delivers the stimulus of three sets in a third of the time.

The common mistake

Using it on heavy compounds. With technique already degraded by the first set, the extra reps of a squat happen in the worst possible position for the spine.

Related terms

DropsetA dropset is a set that, on reaching close to failure, immediately continues with a lighter weight and no rest, until approaching failure again Muscular failureMuscular failure is the point in a set where another rep cannot be completed with valid technique Training densityTraining density is how much work gets done per unit of time Isolation exerciseAn isolation exercise moves a single joint and concentrates the load on one muscle — the biceps curl, the triceps extension, the leg curl Resting too little between sets? Science says something different than you were taught Training close to failure works as well as going to failure — with less fatigue See the whole glossary

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Rest-pause

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