Most people at the gym worry about whether they are doing enough. More sets, more sweat, less time sitting around. But personal trainer Borja Yus is pushing back on that familiar feeling: “If you spend more time resting than training at the gym, you’re doing it right.”
His point is not that workouts should become social hour. It is that muscle growth often depends on what happens between sets, not just the moment you are lifting. Rest too little, and the next set may become weaker before your muscles get the stimulus they need.
The pause matters
The pause between sets can feel like wasted time, especially when the weight room is busy and your phone is buzzing. However, that pause is part of the workout. It gives your muscles and nervous system a chance to recover enough to produce force again.
Hypertrophy is the word trainers use for muscle growth. Put simply, it means muscle tissue gets bigger after repeated training stress and recovery.
The National Strength and Conditioning Association describes hypertrophy as an increase in muscle size and points to mechanical tension, muscle damage, and metabolic stress as key triggers.
Why rushing can weaken a workout
Yus argues that not resting enough between sets can limit progress and slow muscle gains. His advice lands because many gymgoers treat 30 seconds as discipline. In reality, it may just be rushing.
That burn can fool you. If you lift a weight for ten solid repetitions, rest briefly, then only manage six with the same weight, your muscles do not suddenly forget how to work. They were probably still tired, and the set may have lost some of the tension needed to push growth.
Two minutes is a useful starting point
Yus recommends at least two minutes between serious sets, and often two to three minutes when the work is intense. That does not mean every exercise needs the same rest–a heavy squat is not the same as a light curl.
The better question is simple: can you repeat the next set with real effort, good form, and enough intensity? If the answer is no, that extra minute may do more for your progress than another rushed set.
The three gym profiles
Yus describes three common gym profiles. The first person rests twenty seconds, does forty repetitions, and keeps the intensity extremely low. The second loads up the bar, then spends five minutes talking with friends.
The third person is the one he wants lifters to notice. They train hard enough that they need two to three minutes to recover and perform well in the next set. It is not laziness, it is proper pacing.
Research is catching up
A 2024 research review in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, led by Alec Singer and colleagues at CUNY Lehman College’s Applied Muscle Development Lab, analyzed randomized studies comparing different rest times.
The researchers found a small muscle-building advantage for resting longer than one minute, although the evidence did not clearly show that going beyond about a minute and a half always adds more growth.
That nuance matters. The review also said current evidence is not tidy enough to give one perfect number for every lifter, every exercise, and every goal. For the most part, very short rest can cut the amount of weight or repetitions a person can handle in later sets.
An earlier study led by Brad J. Schoenfeld compared young resistance-trained men who rested one minute with others who rested three minutes during an eight-week resistance training program.
The longer-rest group gained more maximal strength in the squat and bench press, and showed greater muscle thickness in the front thigh.
How to rest without wasting time
A practical rule is to start around two minutes for hard sets aimed at muscle growth. For heavier compound movements like squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows, two to three minutes may make sense. For smaller isolation exercises, such as curls or lateral raises, a shorter break may be enough.
A 2018 review in Sports Medicine reached a related conclusion for strength. It found that short rests can still produce gains, especially for beginners, but longer breaks appeared more useful for maximizing strength in trained lifters.
Rest between sets cannot rescue a poorly built routine. Eating enough, drinking enough water, and sleeping well still matter. At the end of the day, the muscle grows when the training signal and recovery line up.
The main research review cited here has been published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living.
