Rest During your Workout

At Core Results Gym Chichester we have a process we take our members through. Have a scroll back through our blogs and you will find a number of posts explain in a bit more detail what you can expect on your fitness journey with us.

On a number of the phases of our programme we work on a “Rest Based Training” principle. In short, this mean “work until you can’t, rest until you can” This is particularly the case when fitness and work capacity is something we have highlighted as the focus. What this means is we do not schedule rest into your programme. What we ask you to do is keep going until you have to rest. Whatever point in the workout that is, you stop, have a sip of water and get your breath back. When you feel you have the energy to continue and your are sure you can maintain good technique, you carry on. We affectionately refer to these phases as hot and sweaty phases – bring a sweat towel with you!

These tend to be the workouts when people experience the burn. Unfortunately, a lot of people assume that if you don’t experience the burn and you do not almost swim out the gym covered in sweat, then you have not had a good workout. However, this is not the case and not all workouts chase fatigue. Some workouts are trying to illicit a different adaption and this may be strength, power and hypertrophy.

Now, this blog is not going to turn into a physiology and programme design lecture, so trust me when I say, resting in a workout can change what outcome you get from a workout. If we use the Rest Based Technique when doing hypertrophy and strength work and you don’t rest when scheduled, you will turn that workout into a workout that challenges the metabolic systems and again, it becomes a hot and sweaty workout.

I was recently working with a Core Results Gym member on a more strength style programme and she managed her 10 reps on the first set of bench press’. Second set she failed on 7 reps and she wanted to drop the weight so she could do 10 reps. However, she had not even taken a rest period as she just wanted to get on with it. So even though she was doing a 4 exercise circuit (so was getting some time between sets of bench press), she had not had enough time to recover between sets.

Think about it, if you can complete the prescribed reps with a weight on the first set, then really, if you get the rest period correct, you should be able to do a second set.

So if you find this happening regularly during your workouts, then it is time to have a closer look at your rest times. Get them right and you can get some good quality volume into your workout. If strength and hypertrophy are important to you, these need to take priority in your workout over chasing fatigue.

Let us assist you in achieving your health and fitness goals. We welcome you to come and visit us in the gym and find out more https://www.coreresults.co.uk/contact/