Right after leg presses with only 1-minute breaks, your body gasps for air more intensely in the first minute than if you took 3-minute breaks—but this doesn’t happen with chest flys.

Scientific Claim

The initial minute of postexercise oxygen uptake is significantly higher after resistance training with 1-minute rest intervals compared to 3-minute rest intervals during horizontal leg press, but not during chest fly, suggesting short rest intervals amplify the immediate metabolic spike after exercise in large-muscle movements.

Original Statement

“The comparison between RIs within a given exercise showed significant difference just for the LP at the first minute of recovery (p = 0.002 and effect size = 0.24).”

From study:The effect of Between-Set Rest Intervals on the Oxygen Uptake During and After Resistance Exercise Sessions Performed with Large- and Small-Muscle Mass

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

definitive

Can make definitive causal claims

Assessment Explanation

The study used precise, minute-by-minute VO2 measurements and reported a statistically significant difference (p = 0.002) specific to LP at 1-minute recovery, supporting definitive causal language within the study’s scope.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

The effect of Between-Set Rest Intervals on the Oxygen Uptake During and After Resistance Exercise Sessions Performed with Large- and Small-Muscle Mass

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2011 Nov

Lifting weights with big muscles like legs, and taking only 1-minute breaks, makes your body burn more oxygen right after exercise—but this doesn’t happen as much with small-muscle moves like chest fly.

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

The effect of Between-Set Rest Intervals on the Oxygen Uptake During and After Resistance Exercise Sessions Performed with Large- and Small-Muscle Mass

Score: 46

DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318212e415

Similar Assertions

When doing leg presses, taking only 1 minute of rest between sets makes you breathe harder overall than taking 3 minutes, but this doesn’t happen when doing chest flys—your body handles short breaks better when using smaller muscles.

84%

Your body burns more calories after leg presses than after chest flys—even if you rest the same amount—because your legs use way more muscles and need more oxygen to recover.

81%

How long you rest between sets doesn’t usually change how long your body keeps burning calories after a workout—unless you do chest flys with long breaks, then it stops sooner.

78%

You breathe the hardest not when you’re lifting, but right after you finish a set and are resting—your body is catching up on oxygen debt built up during the effort.

77%

After lifting heavy with your legs, your body keeps burning extra calories for about 40 minutes—but after doing chest flys with long breaks, it only lasts 20 minutes.

76%