Even light weightlifting until exhaustion makes your body release hormones that are linked to muscle growth, no matter how long you rest between sets.

Even though your body releases similar growth hormones after light workouts whether you rest a little or a lot, you still get stronger and bigger muscles either way.

If you lift lighter weights with only 30 seconds of rest between sets, your body might spike growth hormone and make your muscles look bigger right after the workout—more than if you lift heavier weights and rest for 3 minutes between sets, as long as the total amount of lifting is the same.

For people who already lift weights, it doesn’t matter much if you rest 30 seconds or 2.5 minutes between sets of light weights — you get the same muscle growth and strength gains either way.

Whether you rest a short or long time between light weightlifting sets, your body releases about the same amount of growth-related hormones right after the workout.

Whether you rest 30 seconds or 2.5 minutes between sets of light weightlifting, you end up with about the same muscle growth and strength gains after 8 weeks.