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.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

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Give it a rest: a systematic review with Bayesian meta-analysis on the effect of inter-set rest interval duration on muscle hypertrophy

Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Human

2024

The study found that whether you rest a short or long time between sets, your overall muscle growth is about the same — and any tiny difference is probably just because the measurement tools aren’t perfect.

Contradicting (0)

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No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Give it a rest: a systematic review with Bayesian meta-analysis on the effect of inter-set rest interval duration on muscle hypertrophy

Score: 55

DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1429789

Similar Assertions

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.

76%

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.

76%

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.

75%