Even though short rests make your body release more hormones like testosterone right after lifting, that doesn’t help you build more muscle — longer rests work just as well or better.
Scientific Claim
The hypertrophic response to resistance training is not meaningfully influenced by acute hormonal changes induced by short rest intervals, as longer rest periods — which reduce hormonal spikes — still produce comparable or slightly greater muscle growth.
Original Statement
“However, emerging research suggests that transient post-exercise hormonal elevations may not play an important role in eliciting muscle hypertrophy... McKendry et al. reported that short rest intervals (1 min) blunted the myofibrillar protein synthetic response to RT compared to longer rest intervals (5 min) despite higher acute testosterone elevations in the short-rest condition.”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
probability
Can suggest probability/likelihood
Assessment Explanation
The claim is framed as a mechanistic inference supported by cited studies and consistent with the meta-analysis findings. Language avoids definitive causation and aligns with probabilistic interpretation.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
Give it a rest: a systematic review with Bayesian meta-analysis on the effect of inter-set rest interval duration on muscle hypertrophy
Even if you rest longer between sets and don’t get as big a hormone rush, you still build just as much muscle — and sometimes a bit more — than if you rush through your workout.