For guys who already lift weights, doing short bursts of heavy lifts with brief rests in between can help them lift a little more weight after 8 weeks than doing regular sets, even if they do the same total amount of work.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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Rest-pause and drop-set training elicit similar strength and hypertrophy adaptations compared to traditional sets in resistance-trained males.

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2021 Nov

In a study with guys who already lift weights, those who did rest-pause training got stronger on the back squat than those who did regular training—even though they did the same total amount of work. So rest-pause might be a little better for getting stronger.

Contradicting (0)

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No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Rest-pause and drop-set training elicit similar strength and hypertrophy adaptations compared to traditional sets in resistance-trained males.

Score: 54

DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2021-0278

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