Whether you rest 1 minute or 3 minutes between sets, you burn about the same total calories—rest time doesn’t change your overall energy burn in these workouts.

Scientific Claim

Rest interval length (1 vs. 3 minutes) does not significantly affect total energy expenditure during or after resistance exercise sessions in healthy, resistance-trained men performing 5 sets of 10 repetitions with 15RM loads, regardless of whether large or small muscle groups are engaged.

Original Statement

“The total EE was not influenced by the RIs (p = 0.52, effect sizes from 0.44 to 0.78)... No significant effect on the total O2 could be accounted for the RIs.”

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 RCT design with repeated measures and non-significant p-value (p = 0.52) supports definitive language that rest intervals do not influence total EE in this context.

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

Whether you rest for 1 minute or 3 minutes between sets, your body burns about the same total amount of energy during and after the workout — what matters more is which muscles you’re using.

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

The strength gains from this study are about what you’d expect from regular weight training—whether you rest a little or a lot—so rest time doesn’t seem to change how much stronger you get.

79%

What matters most for burning calories during weightlifting is whether you’re using big muscles like legs or small ones like chest—not how long you rest or how fast you lift.

78%

You don’t need long breaks between sets to get strong—just do the same total amount of work, even with short rests, and you’ll get just as strong.

76%

Whether you take short or long breaks between leg exercises, as long as you do the same total number of reps, your inner and outer thigh muscles grow about the same.

76%

Resting more than a minute and a half between sets doesn’t seem to help you build more muscle than resting for about a minute — it’s not worth the extra time.

75%