When measuring overall body muscle growth by weight (not direct scans), shorter rest periods don’t seem worse — and might even be slightly better — because the tools used aren’t precise enough to see real muscle changes.

When measuring overall body muscle growth with scales that can’t tell muscle from water or bone, resting longer between sets doesn’t seem to help — and might even look worse than resting shorter, but that’s probably because the measurement isn’t accurate.

When measuring overall body muscle growth by weight (like with DXA scans), longer breaks between sets don’t help — and might even seem to hurt a little — probably because these scans can’t tell the difference between muscle and water or other tissues.

When measuring overall body muscle growth using common scans like DXA, resting longer or shorter between sets doesn’t seem to make any real difference — and shorter rest might even look a tiny bit better, but it’s probably just noise.